So, we move now on to item 7, which is the debate on the Children's Commissioner for Wales's annual report of 2016-17, which was postponed from last week. I call on the Minister for Children and Social Care to move the motion—Huw Irranca-Davies. 

Motion NDM6550 Jane Hutt

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

Notes the Children’s Commissioner for Wales’ Annual Report 2016-17.

Motion moved.

I thank you once again, Deputy Presiding Officer.

I'd like to begin my contribution to this debate as Minister for children by paying tribute to the work of the former Cabinet Secretary, Carl Sargeant. Carl was passionately committed to improving life for children and young people across Wales, determined to make a positive difference to their well-being and their prospects for the future. He realised the devastating impact of adverse childhood experiences and the importance of prevention and intervention. He supported the ACEs hub, and he introduced the Children First areas to bring people and organisations together to improve people's lives. He was passionate about the need to tackle the disadvantages faced by looked-after children and care leavers, introducing the St David's Day fund and pressing public bodies to recognise their responsibilities as corporate parents. He worked hard to promote positive parenting and prepare the way for legislation on physical punishment of children, and he worked tirelessly to ensure that the rights of children and young people were always recognised and respected across Government. I will do all I can to honour and continue his excellent work and unwavering commitment to children and young people, in his memory. 

As a Government, we want all children in Wales to have the best possible start in life. The early years are a key priority within our programme for government and our national strategy 'Prosperity for All'. We are focused on making a positive difference to the health, the well-being, the educational outcomes and the prospects for the future of all children and young people. However, they cannot be considered in isolation. Their well-being and family outcomes are inextricably linked with those of parents, families and communities. Through working collaboratively and listening to the voices of children themselves, and of young people themselves, we can bring about real and sustainable change. It is important that we have this regular, meaningful debate on our achievements so far in Wales regarding children's rights, but we should not stop there. We need to continue to make progress not just as a Welsh Government, but by working collaboratively across the public and the third sectors, and within our communities, including with children and young people.

I believe it is vital to have an impartial and independent voice for children and young people in Wales—one that can promote and safeguard their interests, and challenge the work of Government and others through the lens of children's rights. We have this now in the office of the Children's Commissioner for Wales, and I look forward to meeting with her soon to discuss how we can work together.

In her annual report, the commissioner has highlighted her achievements in the first year of her three-year strategic plan, in terms of project and core work. This includes 528 individual cases handled by the commissioner's independent investigations and advice service. While the rest of this debate is likely to focus on the commissioner's recommendations on general policies and programmes for children, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the importance of the service that she and her office provides for individual children and young people who need assistance.

In this year's annual report, the commissioner has presented 19 recommendations. Fourteen relate to providing children with what they need, such as education, healthcare and extra help if they are disabled, and five relate to protection, ensuring that they're safe from harm. As a Government, we share substantial common ground with the commissioner. We have and we will continue to work collaboratively with her and others for the benefit of children and young people. In the last year, for example, we have worked with the commissioner and the Welsh Local Government Association to improve transition for care leavers. The positive work in this area has been acknowledged in the report.

We are delivering on our commitment to transform the system for supporting children and young people with additional learning needs. The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill has children's rights at its very foundation. The new system will put children and young people at the heart of a person-centred process where everybody works together for their benefit. Subject to the Assembly passing the Bill over the coming weeks, it should receive Royal Assent early in 2018. Our focus will then shift fully to implementation, and we'll continue to work with the commissioner to ensure that the new system fully reflects a rights-based approach.

The First Minister will publish his response to the commissioner's report, including the recommendations for the Welsh Government, on or before 30 November, so Members will understand if I won't be detailing our response during today's debate. But it is important that we work together to maximise all of the opportunities to improve outcomes for children and young people that are afforded through our programmes, especially those that target the early years.

The evidence around adverse childhood experiences—ACEs—shows the importance of prevention and early identification and intervention, and why we need to work collaboratively to ensure that all children in Wales have the best possible start to life. The current focus on ACEs does not mean, however, that we are no longer concerned about the impact of other areas of disadvantage upon children, particularly those of neglect and poverty, and I will continue to focus on delivering for children and young people.

I look forward to speaking to the children's commissioner, to practitioners working with children and, most importantly, to children and young people about how we achieve that. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Darren Millar.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I welcome the new Minister to his post? I look forward to engaging with him on children's matters and to working collaboratively with him where we can find some common ground. Also, I'd like to put on record my tribute to his predecessor, Carl Sargeant, in undertaking a role on behalf of children here in Wales. He was always very sincere with that role, and I know he cared passionately about driving the Government's agenda forward.

I also want to pay tribute to the commissioner and her staff. I've had some excellent contact with the commissioner since taking on this portfolio responsibility myself, and I really do appreciate the work that she puts into engaging with all Assembly Members in this Chamber of all political parties, and, indeed, the support that she gives from time to time with individual pieces of casework in my constituency where there are issues that I believe are of national significance. She's always extremely helpful and her staff are always very quick to report back and to respond to individual concerns. 

The report is a very wide-ranging report. It talks about all sorts of different issues, but i just want to focus on a few, if I may. One of the things that the children's commissioner and, indeed, her predecessor commissioners have been very interested in seeing established in Wales is a national advocacy service for children and young people. The Welsh Government has been slow to get local authority partners, I think, on board to be able to roll that national advocacy service out and to make sure that there's consistent access to high-quality advocacy here in Wales for the children who need it. And I wonder, Minister, whether you'll be able to provide us with an update today on just where that roll-out actually is, and what the current state of affairs is, because I know that this is a concern certainly to people in my own constituency, and when you look at the number of young people who are picking up the phone increasingly to the commissioner and her team, it is appropriate, I think, that we need to make sure that we nail this issue once and for all so that it's not going to be a repeated feature and we're not going to have this sense of déjà vu in future years when these reports are brought forward. 

The commissioner also, of course, refers to public transport costs in her annual report. She talks particularly about post-16 transport and the burden that that can put on children and young people. The Minister will be aware that my party has tried to offer a solution to that, which we genuinely extend to the Government and hope that you will explore and hopefully take forward, because we do believe that our green card proposal has the opportunity to make a real difference to young people across Wales and would help to solve the very issue that the children's commissioner has identified in her report about the cost, particularly of bus travel, to children and young people. Now, I know, Minister, that the Welsh Government has under review the home-to-school transport guidance that is issued to local authorities, and, again, I wonder whether you can give us an update on that, particularly in terms of post-16 provision, and perhaps you'll be able to tell us also whether you are going to now seriously consider, given the recommendation in the commissioner's report, our green card proposals.   

I wonder also whether you might be prepared to consider reviewing the powers of the commissioner and her office. The Public Accounts Committee produced a report a number of years back that compared the different approaches in terms of commissioners that we have in Wales and the lack of consistency that we've got with them in terms of their appointment processes and, indeed, in terms of the ranges of their powers. And I just wonder whether, working with your colleagues in Government, that is something that you might be prepared to take forward. It's not mentioned specifically in the commissioner's report, but I do know that it's really important that we have commissioners who have teeth so that when they bare those teeth or bite people from time to time that there's actually an appropriate response from the different public agencies and parts of the public sector that we need that response from. 

And just finally, I record also my hopes that the additional learning needs Bill will progress through this Assembly very soon. Obviously, we've got Stage 3 coming up next week of that Bill. One of the most important amendments that still needs to be made to that Bill is in respect of putting on the face of the Bill reference to the United Nations principles on children's rights. And I think it's really important that we've got reference to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the face of that Bill, and I wonder whether you can tell us what the Welsh Government is minded to do in response to some of the amendments that have been tabled that seek to get a reference to those on the face of that legislation. Thank you. 

May I also congratulate the Minister on his appointment and endorse the comments that he made about the contribution of his predecessor? I know that Carl Sargeant dealt with issues in relation to children's rights from the heart, and if the current Minister undertakes his role with the same committment and passion then I'm sure that the position of children in Wales will be strengthened and will continue to improve. 

May I also endorse the thanks to the commissioner for her work? I welcome the report. As with every year, perhaps, it’s an opportunity to remind ourselves of the priorities of children and young people, and an opportunity to enhance the Government’s thinking around children’s issues, and to focus on the priorities that need to be taken into account in accordance, of course, with the aspirations of the children and young people themselves through what’s included in the commissioner’s report.

The most disappointing factor for me in this report is that there are so many issues that were raised last year that still haven’t been sufficiently tackled, in the view of the commissioner. If you’ve read the report, you will know that the commissioner notes a traffic light system—red, amber and green. There are a number of items that are red, which shows that there has been no progress made. Now, one of those is home schooling. The recommendation in last year's report was that the Welsh Government should strengthen the requirements for parents to register as home schoolers and that all children taught at home should see a professional worker at least once a year, so that they can express a view about their educational experiences.

Now, the Government, of course, has been considering this area in various ways, over a number of years. Guidance has been reintroduced a short while ago, but introducing a register and statutory requirements that are more robust to ensure that children are seen and that someone does speak to them is still a priority for the commissioner, and, as the report notes, remains for the Government to take sufficient action on. Ideally, I’d like to hear today where the Government is moving on this. When will we see action, and what is your intention in this specific area? But, given what you said earlier about the First Minister’s intention to respond by the end of the month, I would very much hope that specific reference will be made to this area and that there will be a clear statement of intent in terms of what the Government intends to do on this particular issue.

Another issue that is noted as being red is child poverty. Now, we know that children are facing the impact of austerity on their parents’ income, as well as cuts at the other end in terms of the services available to mitigate the impacts of poverty, as those services are being cut at the moment. Now, we’ve previously raised the need to have a strategy to tackle child poverty. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, UK Government cuts to benefits are likely to lead to an increase of 4 per cent in child poverty across the UK, with Wales being impacted disproportionately in terms of problems, particularly in terms of universal credit, and that is one reason for that disproportionate impact. Now, some of the changes to tax credits and changes to benefits have already been implemented and have had a disproportionate impact on children, particularly children in single-parent families, or families where there are more than two children, so it’s more important than ever, I think, that a plan is in place in order to tackle this problem.

Also, one valid and interesting point that’s raised by the commissioner is that provision of 30 hours of high-quality childcare should be provided for all children at three or four years of age, rather than simply for families where the parents are in work. Now, that, of course, was the exact Plaid Cymru policy in the last election, with the rationale as outlined by the commissioner. The danger is that those whose parents don’t work, who are, perhaps, at greater risk of falling behind in terms of education—the risk is that they will fall even further behind if others are given that additional support. Now, I understand that there’s been a strong focus on parents in work and ensuring that parents can work more hours in light of that provision, but the main focus should, of course, be on the children themselves. That is, if there’s a positive outcome for the parents as a result of that, then great, but it’s the children who should be at the heart of this policy, and I would strongly argue in favour of what the commissioner has called for. I would like to hear, as a result of that, confirmation, perhaps, that the Government’s intention in the longer term is to ensure that that provision is available for all children.

I'd like to echo the Minister's statements about his predecessor, about Carl Sargeant. One of the lessons I've learnt from Carl Sargeant about how to deal with Ministers was during the election campaign, when I had a difference of opinion with the Government and I came here, on the invitation of Jeff Cuthbert, to meet with Carl Sargeant, and I said, expecting a big row, 'I have a difference of opinion with you, Minister', and he said, 'Work it out yourself in your constituency and we'll settle the difference when you get back at the ranch', which I very much appreciated. I did manage to set out my opinion, which I was then able to have dialogue on with the Minister subsequently. And I hope that, in his post, the new Minister will also follow that excellent pattern of behaviour.

With regard to the children's commissioner's report, I wanted to raise two issues. One is on page 25 of the children's commissioner's report. She references the Welsh Government's childcare offer and says in the second paragraph that:

'Universal childcare should be at the heart of our ambitions for public services in Wales and whilst I am, in principle, pleased with its developments to date, we must recognise the growing evidence base supporting the development of a universal system, which promotes social mobility as well as economic prosperity, by extending entitlement to affordable, high quality childcare and early education.'

And that being to children of non-working parents. The only way I can understand that is where it's put into the context of Flying Start areas, and an ideal way of doing that would of course be universal provision of Flying Start. But, given the UK Government's position on austerity, it makes it incredibly difficult to achieve that. But I would like to just notify the Minister of what the children's commissioner said in evidence to the Children, Young People and Education Committee. She said, and I quote:

'I think the programme could be flexed in some way, and could be adapted in some way, to make it a broader offer to more children, because, for me, it’s about the impact on children, rather than it just being a service for parents.'

I'd like to know what dialogue the Minister plans to have with the children's commissioner to resolve that issue, because one of the things she said she would do is return to committee and give us more specific policy ideas about how she'd proceed. And therefore I think it's really important that the Minister speaks to the children's commissioner about that.

The second issue is one that was very close to Carl Sargeant's heart, and that's the issue of adverse childhood experiences and resolving those. Again, the children's commissioner said the concept of ACEs was irrefutable but that she had

'concerns about any discourse that puts most of our response to child poverty...just in this context.' 

And I'm very encouraged by what the Minister has said in his statement that recognises that. I think my concern would be if we start talking about three or more ACEs that then become a trigger for social services action. I would be concerned that ACEs become less a concept and more a threshold that children must meet in order to trigger action, and I don't think that would be a helpful use of ACEs, because I think it's far more qualitative than that, and one ACE could have a devastating impact on families, and we need to recognise that and see it as a useful concept for understanding childhood experiences but not one for triggering interventions by that criterion.

So, all I'd really want the Minister to be able to tell me is: first of all, with regard to that issue of Flying Start, will he open that dialogue with the children's commissioner, and also, with regard to ACEs, will he recognise it as a concept but not as a trigger for action?

I welcome Huw Irranca-Davies into this post. You've got some very big shoes to fill, but I'm sure you will bring your thoughtful and learned approach to this particular area of public policy, as you have to others in the past. We face a pretty difficult situation for children, and I think the children's commissioner's report reflects that in part. Under 'Provision', she highlights the fact that children have rights to have their needs met, including safe and warm housing, food, education, healthcare, extra care if they're disabled, and access to leisure, culture and play and extra help if families are living in poverty. But it's very difficult to see how we're actually going to achieve that in the current set of circumstances we face. I mentioned earlier in questions to the First Minister the exponential rise in child poverty that is projected by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the difficulties that we have in any way mitigating the consequences of that, because we know that poverty will increase the number of adverse childhood experiences, and that, in turn, will increase the numbers very badly affected for the rest of their lives.

We've also learnt within the last week that the UK is now regarded as the most obese nation in western Europe, and we don't need to run for the statistics to know that Wales is probably at the top of this particular league table in relation to other parts of the United Kingdom. So, I'm particularly concerned as to how we can address both those issues (a) in terms of ensuring that all children have the very best start in life, starting with breastfeeding and the continuing concerns about insufficient support—consistent support—for breastfeeding to ensure that all families are able to breastfeed their children. I think that we also need to ensure that families are supported to wean their children effectively. Unless people are able to combat the barrage of commercial messages that come across—. People are being sold these baby foods that contain sugar, which, frankly, ought to be banned, and there's really nothing more depressing than seeing a clinically obese child, who absolutely is a victim of the situation. They can't choose what is put in front of them, and it's really distressing to see that families and commercial interests are getting in the way of the child's interest. We have to use our schools as a place to re-educate those children who haven't had that level of support in their nutritional interest at home. But this is a really, really challenging situation. In my own school, where I'm a governor, a secondary school, I know that only 30 per cent of children have had breakfast before they come to school, and that is without exploring exactly what that breakfast constitutes. So, I think that's a major issue for me.

There's a particular issue that I wanted to raise around strengthening the requirement for parents to register if they choose to electively home educate their children, because I think there's a real loophole in the law here. We're not talking about this being a safeguarding issue as a general rule, but, when parents make a decision to bring their children out of state education, they are making very big choices about the future of their children, and the socialising, as well as the learning, that they are denying them, unless there's very, very good alternative provision at home. So, I'd be particularly interested to learn what you think might be able to be done there.

But I think that the—. Overall, I think it's going to be extremely difficult for us to safeguard all children in the light of the reduction in the amount of child benefit, as well as the overall reduction in benefits and the introduction of universal benefit, which is going to plunge more children into poverty. So, I welcome the Minister's response as to what we can do, working with the children's commissioner, to ensure that all our children are safeguarded.

I too welcome the opportunity to debate the important findings, recommendations and priority areas outlined in the Children's Commissioner for Wales's annual report. It certainly is fitting that it's being discussed during Anti-Bullying Week. I think it's right that we take the opportunity to both reflect on what has been a year of progress and achievement for children's rights in Wales, but also to look ahead to the challenges of what remains to be done.

I was pleased to see that safety in the community, school and home is one of the six priority areas for the commissioner. Children have an absolute right to feel safe in their schools, in their communities and at home. Bullying can and does have lifelong detrimental consequences on both the physical as well as the mental well-being of children that experience it. Many of us here will know that, earlier this month, Chris Elmore, Labour MP for Ogmore, bravely spoke about his horrific experiences of bullying in school, which he said resulted in him needing surgery for his injuries and having multiple mental breakdowns. Chris said that his attackers had attacked him because, and purely because, they thought that he was gay.

I was happy to read about the progress made in this priority area through the creation of 'AGENDA: A young people's guide on making positive relationships matter'. It's a resource available to young people online, and it provides a range of creative ideas that enable young people to lead healthy relationships—education to prevent and combat bullying related to sexism and homophobia. It's a fantastic resource that's been created by young people for young people in conjunction with the NSPCC, Cardiff University, Welsh Women's Aid and Welsh Government. AGENDA helps young people to develop creative ways of confronting gender-based and sexual violence. It aims to raise awareness of how gender-based and sexual violence affects not only young people here in Wales, but around the world as well. I'd like to urge my colleagues to become familiar with it, because it really is a great research.

It was only yesterday that the Church of England released new guidance to their schools that advocates allowing primary school children to dress how they choose without comment from teachers or pupils. This new guidance came about as polling from the Anti-Bullying Alliance found that two in five children were hiding aspects of themselves. I would be keen to know if the Minister feels that, in light of that, and the fact that there are many schools run by the Church in Wales—or voluntary-aided schools—we might need to revisit guidance given to non-church-controlled schools within the rest of Wales, because the last thing that any of us would want is two sets of guidance for pupils in Wales.

There are a few more speakers, but I just will make a gentle reminder that, if you wish to speak, you should be present in the Chamber at the start of the debate. However, today is quite a challenging day for a few—but if we just could bear that in mind for the future. Michelle Brown.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome the commissioner's report, and would like to thank her for all her hard work to date and for producing the report. The commissioner says, and I quote:

'My vision is for every child in Wales to have the equal chance to be the best they can be'.

This is a laudable vision—one I hope we all have—but why does it take someone outside Labour's Government to say this before they listen? Labour seem to be increasingly outsourcing their policy making, to the extent that many people—myself included—cannot help but come to the conclusion they're devoid of any good ideas of their own. After 20 years of uninterrupted power, why are these announcements still having to be made? No doubt Labour will say they've always been committed to equality of opportunity for the children of Wales, so why, after two decades of uninterrupted power, have they not achieved it? Perhaps they should farm out more of their policy making, because it is clear they can't do it themselves. They've outsourced children's equality; they outsource their education policy, as we heard from Kirsty Williams recently, saying she would adopt a third party's recommendations on learners being entered into GCSE exams early; and the Government has even taken to outsourcing its own Cabinet positions.

Why did it take a commissioner to point out that some local authorities are providing good provision for care leavers, and some aren't? Why, after 20 years of Labour, is that happening? I doubt it's a new phenomenon, so it must have been ignored, or incompetence at governmental level has failed to solve the inconsistency. Why, after 20 years of Labour, does the commissioner need to highlight that many parents of deaf children are still being left without the ability to communicate with them, due to a lack of provision to learn British Sign Language? Can anyone here imagine the sadness and difficulties caused by not being able to communicate with your own child?

We hear lots of talk from this Government about rightly making efforts to improve provision for people to communicate in the Welsh language, but nothing about helping those with communication difficulties, even when they're children. Why, after 20 years of Labour, does the commissioner feel she has to highlight that, rather than reducing differences, inequalities of access to mental health support for children and young people are being perpetuated? Why, after 20 years of Labour, does the commissioner have to beg the Government not to take travel subsidies away from 16 to 18-year-olds, even though many of those young people are still in education or training, and the legal definition of a child is nought to 18 years old?

There are many other examples from the report that I could cite that show the shortcomings of the entire Government, but limited time to speak prevents me. There are 10 press releases on the first page of news on the Welsh Labour Party website. Not one of them is about what they have done or hope to do for our children, and I wonder whether that's because children can't vote. Call me a sceptic, but a third of the articles on that page are dedicated solely to slagging off other parties.

So, in conclusion, this report proves two things. The first is that the children's commissioner is knowledgeable about the issues facing the children of Wales, aware of many of Labour's failings, and genuinely committed to achieving the best for our youngsters. The second is that, after 20 years of uninterrupted rule, Labour either cannot or will not do what is needed to give our children the best start in life. Leaving it up to someone else to spot the problems and suggest policy is not grown-up government. It is lazy management that shows a lack of passion, a lack of ideas and a total lack of competence. Thank you.

Mark Reckless. 

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, in particular, for your consideration. Can I also congratulate the Minister on his appointment? He knows he has big shoes to fill. From my own part, I have to say I have great confidence in his serving the Government in Wales as ably as he did the UK Government previously.

I welcome the report from Sally Holland, the children's commissioner, and thank her for the evidence she gave to the Children, Young People and Education Committee on 18 October. I think one area she deserves particular congratulation on is the lead she has taken in galvanising local authorities around the care leavers agenda. In particular, the £1 million bursary scheme, I think, is an excellent initiative. I think, relative to so many of the top-tier local authorities in England, the average Welsh local authority is relatively small for the social services workload that they will face, and I think having the children's commissioner there is an additional area to support those local authorities. To encourage them and to advise on the work they're doing with young people, I think, is valuable. I think one example we've seen, in Torfaen—the council tax and not having to pay that if you've recently left care—I think that's a very valuable thing, and I hope other local authorities will follow that lead.

One area I just want to flag when we're talking about looked-after children is when looked-after children are adopted. We have, in the school admissions code, that

'all admission authorities must give highest priority in their oversubscription criteria to looked after children as required by the Education (Admission of Looked After Children) (Wales) Regulations 2009 and previously looked after children as required by this Code.'

Now, in my own experience—and this is with a four-year-old and a five-year-old child currently—I've looked at quite a number of school admissions policies, and certainly my impression is that right at the top there is that category referring to looked-after children. I haven't, as yet, seen or understood that also to apply to previously looked-after children, including those who have been adopted, and I don't see the reference in the regulations. So, I just wonder whether the children's commissioner or the Welsh Government—. If we do want to have this guidance and we do want to see previously looked-after children, including those who are adopted, given this preference as well, could something more be done to ensure that actually happens? For instance, we might put out guidance that says, for the purposes of the admissions code, previously looked-after children should be considered to meet the definition of looked-after children. Because, otherwise, I fear this guidance is there, but I'm not, myself, as yet, convinced that school admissions policies in the main are changing to reflect it.

I think one other area where perhaps the children's commissioner in particular could assist is saying to schools, 'What are the particular needs of adopted children?' I do think there is potential value in highlighting to a school when a child has been adopted so that they are aware of that and there's appropriate guidance in place to help them support those children who, I think at least in some circumstances, do have very particular needs that need recognition.

Moving on to the National Deaf Children's Society issue, again, I think one thing in particular I'd like to see is accessible and affordable support, and in particular having British Sign Language support at all different types of level. I think that's very important within a home context.

Lastly, if I can just touch on two areas where the children's commissioner is perhaps somewhat more generous to Welsh Government than we on these benches might necessarily be. One of those is transport to school, and local authorities, and whether there's confusion and whether they're sufficiently clear about their legal responsibilities. I think more does need to be done on that. I also think, with the link to the twenty-first century schools programme, and where we are—. On integrating sixth-form colleges, for instance—again, to give a Torfaen example—we're going from three sixth forms down to one; what are the implications of that for school travel, and are local authorities doing enough, and getting enough support from national Welsh Government to do what needs to be done in this area?

Finally, in terms of the national advocacy service, Darren, I think, has much more experience of seeing the Welsh Government make announcements but not necessarily follow through as much or as quickly as we would like in this area. But it seems to me that, if we have a national advocacy service, or if that is the ambition, yes, there are some examples of local authorities who have good practice in this area, and that is to be welcomed, but if Welsh Government does believe that it should be a national advocacy service, we should surely move beyond that. If the Government can't afford that, or doesn't believe it can work at a national level, or they want to leave local authorities to do as they think best, they should say so, rather than continue to say there'll be a national advocacy service while not necessarily following through on the implementation. Thank you.

I'd first of all like to congratulate the Minister on his new position whilst acknowledging the outstanding commitment made by Carl Sargeant to the role.

I would like to thank the children’s commissioner and her team for their continuing hard work standing up for the rights of Welsh children and young people. As the commissioner has highlighted, the Welsh Government have accepted all the recommendations of the 'The Right Care' report and the Welsh Government have set up a task and finish group to deliver change for those in residential care in Wales.

However, the change is not happening fast enough, particularly for children and young people within my region of South Wales West. Bridgend council’s provision is particularly poor. Yesterday, media outlets reported on findings by the new director of social services and well-being that show that a high number of children are being placed in out-of-county care because the courts simply do not trust the service. These children who have already had the worst possible start in life are being taken away from the area, miles away from anyone they know. 

This isn't the only time in the last few months that children's services in Bridgend have been the recipient of bad press. Earlier this year there were warnings that children in care in the county could be at risk of of sexual exploitation because the homes were based in areas where criminal activity, threats to kill and child abuse have taken place. These concerns appear to have placed significant doubt with the courts for them to have no trust in the service's ability to look after the children in its care.

The children's commissioner has shown that care homes have an important role to play in providing the right kind of care for some children and young people in Wales. She challenged the Welsh Government to improve the system. It is clear that not enough has been done to date. I am grateful to the children’s commissioner for her commitment in her annual report to continue to press the Welsh Government and local authorities to meet the duties under the social services and well-being Act. Bridgend council are not meeting the needs of children in care and I urge the new Minister for Children to take urgent action. Diolch yn fawr.

Thank you very much. I call on the Minister for Children and Social Care to reply to the debate—Huw Irranca-Davies.

Thank you all very much. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer.

I'm delighted to respond to this debate. There's only one thing I'm sure of already—I don't think I'll be able to respond to every single point that's been raised in the time available, but I will try and do my best.

Can I first of all just thank everybody for their kind words and comments about Carl Sargeant and the legacy that he leaves in this field? It's been remarked upon several times today—across the wide portfolio of ministerial positions he held in senior positions in Government—the impact that he had and how he drove through legislation and drove through the right policy with, in its heart, the right things in mind, the outcomes for the people we represent, and this is certainly one of those areas. So, I thank you for those comments and also for congratulating me in coming into this position. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, I'll try and do his legacy—and the legacy of other Ministers in this position—proud.

So, let me try and deal with some of the issues that were raised. If I don't get to all of them, I'll be happy to write in some detail to Members who've raised individual matters as well. Let me deal first of all with the issue of advocacy, which was raised by several people, including Darren. Within the children's commissioner's report, they raise the issue of advocacy, of course. Let me say that, although the national approach to advocacy isn't delivered directly by Welsh Government, we are indeed supporting its implementation and keeping an eye on how this is done.

We've got a funding commitment of up to £550,000 for the social services regional collaboratives, to deliver the active advocacy offer in full and to support the approach. But it's not enough to do that, we've got to monitor how it's happening. So, we will be monitoring the use of this grant funding on a quarterly basis and we're already committed to reviewing the implementation at the end of the first year—so 2018-19— and we're also looking at a longer term evaluation over the first few years of implementation. We want to make sure that this does work as active advocacy.

Several people, Darren included, have mentioned the issue of transport and transport subsidies. I can't respond directly to the particular Conservative proposal on a green card, but what I can tell you, Darren, is: on the youth concessionary fares, as you know, the Welsh Government is currently consulting on discounted bus travel for young people. It's an exercise aimed at capturing the views of young people and other key stakeholders. We're very keen to explore the appetite to extend the range of discounted travel up to 24-year-olds. And based on the outcome of this consultation, which is ongoing, a new scheme for young people will, we hope, be introduced in April 2018—one that best reflects the needs and preferences of our young people and helps further boost bus travel as an option. Again, a key thing to all of these areas is listening to children and young people in developing those offers. 

If I can turn to the issue of duty of care and the incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly within the ALN Bill, which is currently going through—as Members will be aware, during Stage 2 of the Bill—and I look to my colleague on the right here as well, in terms of her committee chairing—the Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language committed to considering whether a direct reference to both the UNCRC and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as well could be added by amendment to the Bill at Stage 3, and work is indeed under way to consider this and to see what can be brought forward. It'll be an interesting few weeks on the committee now to look at this issue.

Llyr raised a range of issues, not least the RAG ratings. I would say we're not always going to be in total synchronicity and agreement with everything the children's commissioner puts forward under her traffic light system within the RAG ratings as well. She has a purpose to fulfil there, and it's important to challenge and hold the Government to account and push in certain directions. We won't always agree.

We've noticed the commissioner's inclusion of RAG ratings in the report, analysing our responses to recommendations made last year. It's important to say I'm content, as a Minister, that we have responded as we feel appropriate to last year's recommendations. But let me also say: going forward, we are continuing to work to improve the outcomes highlighted in the report for children and young people in Wales, and it's about working across Government to achieve those priorities, as we've set out in 'Prosperity for All'.

It is really unlikely that any Government would ever agree to every recommendation the commissioner will make. However, there are many factors we have to take into account, but we do, however, engage, we listen, we respond, we debate, we discuss, we meet with the children's commissioner and we make changes where appropriate based on a strong evidential base. And, of course, the RAG ratings are based on the commissioner's perception of matters. For example, just to highlight the red rating against the recommendation for a specific child poverty delivery plan doesn't take into account the response that we've already provided to the commissioner. We've said clearly already that we do not believe a separate plan is needed; it's that cross-cutting thing right across Government that will come to some of the areas of policy that help in that. So, therefore, we believe that applying a red rating in that issue has little purpose, but we'll keep the dialogue going. 

If I can turn to an issue that several Members have raised, which is to do with elective home education—a brief update here: officials of mine have met with home-educating parents to gather their views on revised guidance, and where they think as well there's a need for further clarity and support on issues such as legislation and training and so on, and my officials will continue to engage with members of the home-educating community. We are now looking at how current legislation is being used and the barriers that might be preventing some local authorities from using it. And we're also looking at patterns of elective home education that include developing a better understanding of why families decide to home-educate. And finally on this point, Members will be aware that the national independent safeguarding board commissioned the Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre at Cardiff University to undertake the review in the risks to children and young people who are educated at home. Now, when that report becomes available, we will carefully consider it and its recommendations. 

If I could turn to the issues that have been raised by several Members around poverty—and this is a cross-cutting Government issue, I have to say, and is not within one silo—and just to highlight some of the areas, but there are many I could—things such as tackling holiday hunger, which is very much in the forefront of people's minds these last holidays. That, for example, was identified as a key priority in the Welsh Government's 2015 child poverty strategy for Wales, recognising the need to use all available policy levers to support low-income households in the here and now. So, further funding of £500,000 has been provided to support summer school holiday food and fun clubs last summer, and the money was offered to councils in the most deprived parts of Wales to help provide play schemes and meals over the long break. But it's also an issue of fuel poverty and what we do with Nest and what we do with Arbed, it's how we make sure that local authorities are making the best use of things like school uniform grants and so on and so on. It's an accumulative effect right across Government.

If I could turn to the issues in, probably, the minute or so remaining, Hefin raised the issue of whether we'd continue to have dialogue with the children's commissioner on issues such as universal childcare, flexibility of Flying Start, ACEs and so on—absolutely right in saying that ACEs are not the be-all and end-all, some sort of hard-nosed, crude analytical tool: they need to be used to help the diagnosis of where the best early interventions can be made, that will insist the outcomes that we want to see for children and young people. If they're applied in a very crude way, frankly, they are unhelpful. So, they need to be used as an aid to what we do in terms of interventions, not as the be-all and end-all. But they are a useful analysis, I have to say, of where we could perhaps best exercise some of our early interventions.

He mentioned the aspect of Flying Start and flexibility that the children's commissioner and others have raised. Interestingly, in my area of Bridgend where Flying Start has been quite a success—and it's in many areas—one of the things I'm aware of is that there is some flexibility within the scheme, but it requires the local ability of those providing Flying Start to allow some slack within the Flying Start provision, so that when they have some slack they can actually extend it beyond the geographic boundaries as well into other areas, and we need to look at how we can do more.

Dirprwy Lywydd, I'm looking at the time and I think I'm probably within the last 30 seconds or so. [Inaudible.] Right, well can I just thank colleagues for very detailed—? You've probably covered every area of the children commissioner's report. Let me just finish by saying: we do need to ensure in all of this that we listen and take into account the views of children and young people about the issues that matter to them as well when making decisions that will impact upon them. And I know that I, and my Cabinet and ministerial colleagues right across the Cabinet welcome the opportunity to engage with children and young people, to hear the views expressed today and to take these ideas on board.

Now, I know this Assembly also values the participation of young people. We look forward to the development of the youth parliament, which is mentioned in the children commissioner's report and the introduction of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 on 1 April deepens the Welsh Government's commitment to children's rights. It requires us, and all other public bodies, to show we've thought through the effects of the decisions on life in the future as well as in this generation. So, going forward, we continue to work to improve outcomes for all children and young people in Wales, working across Government to achieve our priorities set out in 'Prosperity for All'. Diolch yn fawr iawn, Dirprwy Lywydd.

Thank you. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? No. Therefore, the motion is agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.