Diolch. Thank you. You might recall that in the last Assembly I brought forward a private Bill proposing a community care (direct payments) (Wales) Bill. The then Minister, your predecessor, Gwenda Thomas, said that, if I withdrew it, she would work with me, because there was much common ground. And reference to, for instance, the co-operative care she referred to, came from my Bill, which, in turn, had come from lobbying from the sector, and also reference or agreement that there would be the need to acknowledge the need to promote and support direct payments. That wasn’t on the face of the Bill, but I was told it would be put into the codes. How, therefore, would you address concern raised with me as recently as Sunday, at a World Autism Day event, that not only are some people still not receiving the promotional support, but people who receive care are still, in some local authorities, being told they can’t have direct payments, even when they ask for them? This is managing expectations, managing understanding, and ensuring that local authorities’ officers at a senior level understand this is no longer an option; it’s Welsh law.

Secondly, and finally, the social services and well-being Act places a specific duty on local authorities to promote the involvement of people in the design and delivery of care and support services. Code 2 to the Act

‘recognises that disabled people can achieve their potential and fully participate as members of society, consistent with the Welsh Government’s framework for Action on Independent Living’, which expresses the rights of disabled people to participate fully in all aspects of life. Your statement says,

‘the citizen voice is increasingly present in the decision-making process, ensuring solutions are being co-produced with input from all of those involved.’

However, in north Wales alone, since this has come into play, and over recent months, I’ve had members of the deaf community saying they’ve had their British Sign Language support and wider support taken from them; a haemophiliac being denied employment by the local authority after a medical; a person with Down’s syndrome not being involved in the decisions over their supported living; wheelchair users being denied access to public footpaths; and people on the autism spectrum facing officers who don’t have the basic autism awareness needed to understand them. As chair of cross-party groups on neurological conditions, disability, autism and others, I’m aware there’s a Wales-wide issue with some local authorities over how the introduction of integrated generic access teams is being used as an excuse to withdraw that personalised condition where condition-specific support is needed. How, urgently—not waiting for the review, but how, urgently, will you intervene with local authorities now, or perhaps after the election, to ensure that officers and the new elected executive members understand that this is your requirement, the requirement of your Government, and the requirement of this whole Assembly?