I thank you for those questions. I’ll begin on the point that you made about access teams. Access teams are really important in terms of the gateway to all that the Act can offer individuals, especially through the assessment for all care and support needs, and so on. I’m aware that various different organisations have expressed concern that perhaps the access groups aren’t fully aware of an individual condition. For example, I met with organisations representing deaf people recently, and they felt that the access teams weren’t fully aware of the various adaptations that could be available for those individuals. So, I made an undertaking then to make sure that our access teams were made aware. If there are other conditions where people feel that access teams need more training and so on, then I’ll certainly explore doing that.

People can apply for direct payments, and local authorities should know that. We discussed it recently at the national partnership boards—the variation in terms of the way in which direct payments are being promoted across Wales—and that new direct payments group that I referred to has been tasked with ensuring that we do have a more consistent offer being made across Wales and that people are being made aware of their right to have direct payments. When people do have direct payments, local authorities must ensure that the value of that payment is equivalent to the estimate of the reasonable cost for the care and support that the person needed, and they must ensure that the value is sufficient to enable the recipient or their representative to secure that care and support as well. So, there’s no limit on the maximum or minimum amount of direct payment, and it must be sufficient to meet the outcomes. So, if we are hearing that people are being either denied the opportunity to access direct payments, or that direct payments are being offered at a level that isn’t realistic in terms of meeting the identified care and support needs, then, again, we’re the early stages in the Act—please let me know, and we’ll take action in order to address that.