4. Will the First Minister make a statement on plans for the replacement of the Welsh Government's Children and Young People's Continuing Care Guidance 2012? OAQ51636

Yes. We are setting up a multi-agency task and finish group that will consult upon and produce revised continuing care guidance for children and young people by the spring of next year.

I'm really pleased that the task and finish group has been set up. This is the document. Constituency AMs, and I'm sure regional AMs, get many people who are concerned about the transition from childhood to adulthood for those children needing continuing healthcare. This document is responsible for guidance for children. This document, a separate document, is responsible for guidance for adulthood. The children's document says that eligibility for adult CHC at the age of 17 should be determined by multidisciplinary, multi-agency teams, whereas this document says that the same thing should be approved by local health boards. So, there are clear anomalies between the two documents, and that's not the only one. I think it's really important that not only is this guidance reviewed, but also this guidance, in tandem, and that other stakeholders beyond health boards are involved, including the children's commissioner.

Yes, I agree. My understanding is that adult CHC services—the transition to those services has to commence when an individual is aged 14. LHBs have the responsibility to draw up a robust local transition policy with partner agencies. That includes local authorities. There will be some issues that will be outside the scope of the local health board—for example, the responsibility for meeting any ongoing educational needs. The Member is right to say that, as we look to revise the guidance for young people, it's massively important that, as that guidance is revised, there is then a seamless transition to adulthood, so that that kind of problem, where people can't access services in the same way or there's a barrier they can't get over, so those barriers are eliminated.