Thank you. It has now been over a year since the commencement of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, which is now transforming the way that care and support services are delivered across Wales. I have been pleased to be able to see for myself how this legislation is resulting in improved outcomes for people within our society with the most need. It is also helping to ensure services are sustainable, despite the ongoing austerity imposed by the UK Government.

This statement updates Assembly Members on progress in providing the integrated and collaborative approach to care services, which is at the core of the Act, and is a statutory requirement of it. The Act provides for regional partnership boards as the driver for the integration agenda. Seven boards have been established across Wales on the health board footprint. They bring together health, social services, the third sector, private providers and citizens.

I have met with the chairs of these boards, most recently in July, to discuss their progress in delivering effective and efficient integrated services. I am pleased that these boards are now firmly established, and I pay tribute to their members for their leadership and their hard work to date. The Welsh Government, however, recognises the importance of engaging closely with them to support their ongoing implementation. We have held a series of events across Wales over the last 12 months to support regional boards and consider different aspects of their roles. This support will continue based on what help the partners tell us they need.

One of the boards’ notable achievements has been the publication in April of population assessments as required by the Act. I know undertaking these assessments involved a significant process of engagement and analysis. These valuable reports provide a clear evidence base at regional level of the broad range of care and support needs. Partners are now working towards the production of joint area plans in response to those assessments. These plans must be produced by April 2018, and they will set the agenda for regional partnership boards. I have instructed boards to use this process to consider strategically how they will further strengthen their integrated arrangements.

Alongside the legal framework of the 2014 Act, Welsh Government is also providing significant financial support to encourage further integrated and collaborative working via the rebranded integrated care fund. A further £60 million has been made available across Wales this year, and our programme for government includes a commitment to retain this important fund. Since it was established in 2014, the ICF has been used to develop a wide range of innovative models of integrated working. These are credited with having helped prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and enabling older people to maintain their independence. The scope of the ICF has gradually expanded so that its objectives now encompass regional partnership boards’ priority areas for integration. Whilst the fund continues to support intermediate care services, it is also being used to support integrated services for people with learning difficulties and children with complex needs, and now carers are within the scope of the fund. These objectives will remain in place for three years, and this will provide more certainty for regions and enable them to plan strategically in response to their population assessments.

An independent consultant was commissioned to help regional partnership boards identify good practice in relation to initiatives taken forward through the ICF. The findings have assisted in ensuring the fund’s objectives and improved reporting arrangements now focus on achieving well-being outcomes. Over the summer I visited a number of varied and exciting projects made possible because of the ICF, and saw clearly the positive focus.

I’ve decided to commission a large-scale review of the ICF during the next financial year. The purpose of this work will include identifying nationally the benefits of how this money is spent by the regional partnership boards and determining whether value for money has been achieved.

I am clear that the positive achievements of the ICF derive from it being spent collectively by partners. Doing things 22 times is not sustainable. The ICF therefore represents one clear example of regional partnership boards delivering their key priority of making more effective use of resources. A further example can be seen in the expectation contained in statutory guidance that partners put in place an integrated commissioning process. This includes joint commissioning strategies as well as common approaches to setting specifications, agreeing fees and quality assurance. This allows local authorities and health boards to focus on improved quality as well as securing better value for money.

Regions are required by the Act to establish pooled budgets in relation to the provision of care home accommodation for adults by April 2018. These pooled funds will significantly support, and be a natural progression of, their joint commissioning arrangements. I’ve consistently made clear that my expectation is that these pooled funds are established jointly at the regional level between the health board and all the local authorities within the partnership area. We are all committed to effectively delivering quality services that improve the well-being of our people, and that can only be achieved by determined collaboration between partners that leads to real and sustainable integrated working. Those outcomes cannot be fully achieved by anything less than a full commitment to working together. Local authorities and health boards must have frank conversations about how public money can be used to most effectively address regional needs. This approach to pooled funds is entirely consistent with the proposals for local government reform.

Following responses to a consultation in 2015, the requirement for pooled funds for care homes was delayed until April 2018. By any standards, partners have had ample time to plan for this requirement and I asked regional chairs to write to me by the end of September, setting out their progress. Whilst they identified challenges, partners generally expressed their ambitions to move towards regional joint commissioning progress, and I am encouraged by that, but there should be no doubt that this must include working to pooled budgets. The Welsh Government organised a national event to discuss the opportunities and challenges presented by pooled budgets last week. We will arrange additional support for regions in the coming months to help them establish and manage pooled funds on the basis that I outlined earlier. I will assess progress again early in the new year.

I acknowledge that regions have made progress in establishing these pooled budgets. I also recognise, however, that there remain issues about some regions’ ability to fully implement this requirement by April. If, however, I am not satisfied with the way this requirement has been delivered in each region by the end of the forthcoming financial year, I will need to consider options for more direct intervention. These are critical services that deal with some of our most vulnerable people.

We all recognise the challenges in delivering integrated and collaborative services. It will require new ways of working and significant cultural change. People, however, do not care where health services end or where social services begin. They want seamlessly integrated care and support services, and Welsh Government will continue to provide the leadership and the investment to ensure this essential change. Thank you.