Thank you very much for those questions, and I’ll deal with the last issues you raised first, in terms of what we’re doing to ensure that social care in Wales is safe, and that has to be absolutely the starting point in terms of ensuring that care is safe. CSSIW does a series of inspections and undertakings in all care settings across Wales, and they do a very good job in terms of ensuring that the care and support that people receive are safe and of a good standard, and they provide an annual report, which I would recommend Members read in terms of understanding the issues in the sector. It’s very important that we have a workforce that is well trained and well paid and well motivated, and one of the exciting things that we’re doing through the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act is registering the domiciliary care workforce by 2020. Not only will that give those workers the kudos and the recognition that they deserve, but it will actually give them the opportunity to have a career structure as well, and Social Care Wales is doing some excellent work in terms of looking at the future for domiciliary care. They recently published a five-year plan, which I recommend to Members who are interested to have a look at, as well. That looks right across the homecare system and what we can do to make improvements, both in terms of quality, but also in terms of ensuring that the workforce is much more stable. Because, as we know, the turnover in the workforce can be around a third in some providers, which obviously is bad for business, but more importantly is bad for the individual receiving the care as well, because we know people like to have consistency in terms of the workforce that is looking after them.

You mentioned direct payments, and direct payments are really important in terms of giving people autonomy and giving people choice, and I think there’s a lot of potential there. We have actually seen the numbers of direct payments increasing, because they can be used to meet any eligible need that is a care and support need under the Act. It does give people that voice and choice and control that the Act is all about as well. Local authorities are embracing the concept, but I think it’s fair to say that there is some variation across Wales, and so, to ensure that we maintain the momentum, I’ve asked officials to bring together a cross-sector group of practitioners from local authorities, as well as service providers and direct payment recipients, to look at what more we can do to promote uptake across the sector as well. And there are co-productive models that we can use to encourage people who might be nervous or might not want to take on an employer kind of role as well. So, there is some work going on in that sector, or in that field, as well. That new group will also further raise the profile of direct payments and explore alternatives to the traditional solutions of meeting people’s care and support needs as well.

I think it’s also important to say that we have removed a number of the historic restrictions limiting the use of direct payments. So, now, we permit direct payments to be used to pay a relative living in the same household for the provision of care and support, or to help in managing the payments, if appropriate, for promoting the well-being of the recipient as well. So, direct payments are much more flexible and responsive to people’s needs than they have ever been before. I think that’s to be welcomed.

You mentioned co-operatives. As I’ve said before, I think this is one of the really exciting parts of the Act, in terms of giving new impetus to the sector, looking at different models, different—you know, models that can be really responsive to society and to the different needs of different communities. I do have some good examples of those, which I’m more than happy to write to you about—different things going on in different parts of Wales within that kind of work as well.