Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:34 pm on 5 December 2017.
I was going on to say that a very important vehicle for integrating health and social care is, of course, our integrated care fund. And, in fact, going back to parties working together, that was devised by three parties in the Assembly in the fourth session—Labour with Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats—when we were negotiating a budget agreement. It did result in a bespoke fund to integrate health, social care and housing, and that's been sustained over the past four years, delivering outcomes throughout Wales, standing at £50 million in this budget. I think it's also important that we look at who pays for social care, and I look forward to engaging the Finance Committee's inquiry into the cost of social care for an ageing population.
I want to finally say that also Mark Drakeford has focused on housing. Last week, we had a robust debate, and again this afternoon, in terms of our commitment to the abolition of the right to buy. But across this Chamber there was recognition that addressing housing need must be a priority. Let's contrast the two budgets that affect us today. Philip Hammond's budget did nothing for social housing, but Mark Drakeford has released capital as part of a £1.4 billion investment towards building 20,000 homes and, crucially, he's committed an extra £10 million to tackle homelessness in each year. I welcome that, as did Shelter when they came to my constituency and discussed local housing needs. So, we must recognise that this draft budget is going to support our public services, secure the money from the UK Government to lift the pay gap, protect our most vulnerable people in Wales and boost the economy by investing in our infrastructure, especially in social housing.