7. What action is the Cabinet Secretary taking to prevent children in Wales from suffering adverse childhood experiences? OAQ(5)0147(CC)

I thank the Member for his question. We are committed to working across departments to ensure help to mitigate the effects of ACEs and provide support to vulnerable families in Wales. In addition, we are contributing £400,000 in 2017-18 to the establishment of Cymru Well Wales’s ACE support hub.

The Cabinet Secretary will be well aware that one of the most prevalent ACEs in Wales is that of parental separation, which can have a hugely damaging impact on children and young people. Given that, what action is the Welsh Government taking to support couples to stick together for the benefit of their children, and will you comment on what support is available, funded by the Welsh Government, in Wales at the moment?

There are many aspects of parental separation and drivers behind that, and they are often very complex. What we’ve got to do as a collective is understand what those impacts are. That’s why we’re investing in Families First, in Flying Start, in educational promotion programmes and in positive parenting programmes. And the ACE profiling of individuals is just one small part of the ability of complex families to move forward. Of course, I think that, where we can encourage parents to stay together, it’s the right thing to do, but, sometimes, in the best interests of the individuals and children, these things happen to take their course. But we are absolutely hoping to make some interventions in the areas that cause pressure. Employment issues around the household often cause family stress. We’re looking at improving job prospects for individuals, and finances, and making sure we can tackle the issues that Janet Finch-Saunders raised around mental health issues, too.