3. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on social care in Mid and West Wales? OAQ51275

Thank you for the question. We have, as Neil will know, prioritised social care as a sector of strategic national importance, and the commitment is being underpinned by extra funding: a total of £55 million of recurrent additional funding has been provided to local authorities for use in social services in 2017-18, and we're also, of course, committed to doubling the capital people can keep when entering residential care to £50,000. Through the integrated care fund, we are providing £60 million for the delivery of integrated care across Wales, and this includes funding for reablement services, support for timely and effective discharges from hospital, and integrated care teams in mid and west Wales.

I thank the Minister for that answer, congratulate him on his appointment and welcome him to his new role. He will know from his briefing, if he wasn't aware already, that the case of the Bodlondeb care home in Aberystwyth has been raised several times in this Chamber—not least by my colleague Simon Thomas—and outside, by no less exalted a figure than the Llywydd herself. Ceredigion County Council has recently taken the final decision to close this nursing home, but there appear to be no adequate plans in Ceredigion for alternative care for the residents of this home, and indeed no plan for the provision of social care in that part of the county for the future. So, whilst the Minister has rightly said how much money has been provided by Welsh Government for these purposes, what can be done in circumstances where county councils, who are the providers on the ground, don't make adequate provision for the future? And what powers does he have to fill the void that is left in this kind of situation?

Neil raises an important point here, and we firmly believe that Ceredigion County Council, like any other council, has to adequately plan its care provision based on local needs and deal with the issues that have been raised. Now, I do appreciate, and we should all be aware, that this has been a difficult time for all concerned, not least the residents, and the safety and well-being of residents has to be all of our concerns. We do understand that over the summer, as Neil will know, Ceredigion County Council consulted on the closure of Bodlondeb care home, which ended on 25 September. The council cabinet met on 7 November to make that decision, as he referred to, on the closure of the home and it was, we are informed, made as a result of extensive consultation with the sector and with residents. But I also understand that the council commissioned independent advocates and independent mental capacity advocates to ensure that the voice and opinion of residents were heard during the process. But of course, you raise the important point of 'What now?' in that continuing care and making sure their needs are properly taken care of. We would expect that Ceredigion County Council, as any other local authority with responsibility for this, takes care of those needs going forward.

Can I welcome the Minister to his new post? It's my understanding that the Welsh Government has been working very closely with Powys County Council following, of course, the damning report from Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales into the ways in which children's services are being delivered in Powys. Delivering services across a large sparsely populated area is extremely challenging. Can I ask what considerations have been given to providing the local authority with additional funding from the Welsh Government to support the change and re-design of the service, which is required, and indeed, of course, the ongoing running costs of running a crucial service, particularly across a large sparsely populated area of rural Wales?

Thank you for that question. You rightly raised the issue of sparsity and the challenges of providing any public services, let alone children's social care and adult social care, across a region such as that, but, of course, it doesn't detract from the necessity to make sure that every individual, regardless of the rural nature of that constituency, is properly cared for.

I mentioned in my previous answer the additional funding that we have put into social care in several different ways, and that includes contributions made towards Powys as well. It may be helpful to know that I'm shortly expecting to see the results of the first 20 days of work on the improvement plan within Powys care provision. I understand it has gone to CSSIW, and they are analysing it now and examining it to see that sufficient progress has been made, because it is important that, in going forward, we can give the reassurance that the needs of everybody within Powys, within social care, are properly looked after. I hope to update Members of the Assembly shortly, as soon as I've seen that improvement report.

May I also congratulate the Minister on his new role? I'm in a little bit of confusion now because I want to ask about Bodlondeb and Powys, but I won't get away with that. So, I will say it in these terms: that I support retaining the Bodlondeb home open, for the time being, whilst we seek a broader assessment of the situation in terms of care and nursing beds in mid Wales, and ask specifically the Minister today, as he has pledged to provide a report on the basis of the CSSIW report on children's services in Powys, whether it will be possible for us, as Assembly Members, to see that report. Because, as I understand it, it is an improvement plan and I do think that that needs broader scrutiny by the public. One way of doing that, of course, is to share that with Assembly Members.

Simon, you've got my undertaking that all that I can share with Members of the Assembly, I will. First of all, it needs to go to CSSIW for their consideration. I'll need to see it first as well, but in the interest of transparency, I will be keen to make sure that everything that I can share with Assembly Members is shared because it's also important, in doing that, that we can give assurance of what has been done, but also look at the progress that still needs to be made, frankly, as well.

In terms of Bodlondeb care home, as I mentioned in my previous response, this has been a very difficult time when these decisions were being made, but it isn't for Welsh Government Ministers to step directly into the fray and determine what should actually be an assessment of local needs by the providers there, on the ground, by the local authority. But I'm sure they will have heard his concerns once again, and I think all of us are focused on the needs of those individuals who previously were in Bodlondeb, but also on the future needs of individuals who will also need care provision in that area.