7. 5. Debate on the Children Young People and Education Committee Report of the Inquiry into Statutory Advocacy Provision

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:50 pm on 29 March 2017.

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Photo of Carl Sargeant Carl Sargeant Labour 4:50, 29 March 2017

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome the report and thank the committee for the inquiry. It has undoubtedly helped move the approach forward. During the inquiry, the committee heard from providers and the Children’s Commissioner for Wales on the importance of advocacy and I echo their sentiments.

Our young children and young people, particularly those who are most vulnerable, must feel able to express themselves and be heard. I’ve heard and listened carefully to the comments made by Members today.

The approach will improve the provision of advocacy services and meet the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. I remain dedicated to securing a securing a sustainable approach to advocacy and the Welsh Government’s commitment to this has never faltered. We’ve always sought to drive progress in the face of delay. Let’s remember that the focus is about ensuring children across Wales get a consistent service. The Welsh Government has fully backed this from the outset.

Advocacy is not a new provision for local authorities—it has been a statutory duty—but I do recognise the active offer is a new requirement. That is why I’m committed to providing additional funding to meet the full cost of the active offer. The Welsh Government recognises the need to support this approach and funded a secondment dedicated to developing a robust business case, but since the plan was agreed, we’ve continued with this funding by funding an implementation manager, which was referenced during these discussions, to co-ordinate progress and ensure the national service timetable is delivered.

Dirprwy Lywydd, if I can turn to the report now. The report contained eight recommendations for Welsh Government. We accept six in full, accept another in principle and reject one for reasons that I will set out later.

I can confirm, since the inquiry, the implementation plan has progressed well. In December, I received written confirmation from the WLGA that national support had been gained by all 22 leaders. The Welsh Government will also take forward its commitment in the plan. At the end of the month, we will commence a 12-week consultation on the national independent advocacy standards and outcomes framework, and we will update the code of practice on advocacy to take account of the national approach. A technical group will be established this spring to advise on the changes to the code, which I intend to lay before the Assembly in the winter.

I listened carefully to the contribution by Julie Morgan with regard to a stakeholder advisory panel. While I won’t reference them today, I will give that further consideration in my broader aspects of deliberation. The Welsh Government has also recognised that when the approach is implemented we need to consider the wider provision of advocacy services, including Meic, and how they align. We must ensure that all advocacy services are accessible and avoid confusion for children and young people about what is available for them.

Turning to the two recommendations that the Welsh Government could not accept in full. Recommendation 8 that an independent review of progress took place at the end of the first year of implementation: I accepted this in principle because reporting on progress is crucial to the future development, however I can’t accept it in full as the implementation plan has to be developed by the Association of Directors of Social Services in Wales. It’s they who will report to the Welsh Government through the senior leadership group and, at that point, I will update the committee. So, it’s just a process issue that was preventing us from fully supporting that recommendation.

I rejected recommendation 4, Ddirprwy Lywydd. I have agreed to provide up to £550,000 to the regions through a regional grant, which will include terms and conditions to enable the Welsh Government to monitor expenditure for the early stage of implementation. The funding will then be placed into the revenue support grant and monitoring will be through the annual report of the regional partnership boards. I often hear discussions in this Chamber about the amount of grants that we send out and how some should be pushed into the RSG and some shouldn’t, and there’s debate around all of that. I want to be confident that, before we release this into the RSG, we do have a good service. And I will consider that whole aspect of this in terms of the comments made around a stakeholder advisory group. I genuinely want to have, like you, a good service for our young people. I hope that, in both cases, Members will recognise that this question of the precise means of achieving our shared goal of implementation and monitoring, and our commitment to those, is quite clear.

I thank the committee for highlighting the challenges of implementing the national approach. The evidence presented to the committee and its report will provide a solid basis for ensuring the implementation of the national approach going forward. This inquiry has positively reinforced the shared commitment of this Welsh Government and all its partners in providing statutory advocacy for children and young people. This is an evolving approach, which will be successful with everybody’s commitment. We must allow time for it to embed and be implemented properly so that the service offered to children meets the standards we expect for those children who need it.

I’m confident that, through the national approach, there will be consistency of access to advocacy that will improve the experiences of children and young people in care, and promote positive outcomes for them. Finally, we are in regular dialogue with local government about the approach, and I will maintain personal oversight of the progress. But I am assured that the national approach will be in place by 27 June, which I know Mohammad Asghar was asking about in his contribution.

Dirprwy Lywydd, it’s been an interesting discussion, but at the back of all of these deliberations, it’s about children and young people and we must have our eye on making sure that we create the right environment and the right services for them, for which I’m very grateful for the report from the committee.