Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:03 pm on 30 January 2018.
First Minister, you would probably have heard that Afasic Cymru, which is the charity that supports parents with children who have speech and language learning difficulties. The charity is closing its Cardiff office tomorrow and will close its north Wales office at the end of March. This is a charity that has very deep roots in south Wales, founded over 40 years ago. We'll continue to have a service from its London headquarters, but I'm very concerned that current policy, which has reduced core funding to key organisations—. I understand the logic behind that, but combined with the temporary nature of lottery funding, we are losing key skills and vital support networks, and these charities are faced with obtaining the equivalent of administrative support from a great many bodies—education authorities and health boards—across Wales. We really do need a strategy to ensure that this expertise is maintained because it's of such great public benefit, particularly when we are reforming an essential aspect of the law.