1. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on children's services in Powys in the wake of a report by the Mid and West Wales Safeguarding Board regarding the death of a child in the care of the County Council? 142

Diolch, Simon. This young person's life was lost in the most tragic of circumstances and I think the publication of the review will be a difficult time for his family. They and we would expect Powys to expedite the necessary improvements to ensure that the very best care and support is always provided.

I thank the Minister for his reply, and obviously all of us would want to send our condolences to the foster parents and anyone else affected in this concern. It's clear from reading the child practice review report that the child had actually expressed very strong anxieties and uncertainties about his pathway, and one of the most fundamental and very disturbing things to read in the report is this breakdown in communications between a child, his foster carers and the authorities, who simply weren't listening.

If I can ask two questions of the Minister? Earlier this morning, he produced a written statement on children's services in Powys, which talked about carrying on working with the county council. I want to understand whether he has taken this review report into account in issuing that written statement, as many people in Powys feel that this is another sign that things have broken down so fundamentally there that actually there needs to be more direct intervention than the Minister has been prepared to give so far, and I know I've discussed this with him in the past. 

The second element that I'd like to ask him about is that it becomes clear from reading the report that the national practice guidance that he has as the national Government, 'When I am Ready', which talks very clearly about allowing eligible teenagers to remain in care beyond the age of 18 if they're not ready to leave care, and talks very clearly about putting them at the centre of care plans—that good practice guidance simply wasn't followed in this case; no due care was taken to it. So, what assurances can he give the people in Powys now and the wider community that this guidance, which we trumpeted as being one of the world-beating kind of guidance for children in care, is actually being followed in all parts of Wales, particularly in Powys? How can he give those assurances going forward?

Can I thank Simon both for bringing this to our attention today, but also for the pertinent questions he's raised in his and others' continued focus on these very important matters? Let me deal with each of the points that he has raised. First of all, I just want to thank the young man's parents for their assiduity in pushing for this child practice review. There were different ways of taking this forward; they were insistent on a child practice review. And this extended child practice review is a good opportunity not simply to reflect, but to make sure that the lessons that are within this, some of which he touched upon, are actually now, and they are, built within the improvement that we are already looking for Powys, in concert with others supporting them, to actually deliver, and to deliver not only in short order, but in the medium and long term as well, so that they're binding. 

He referred to the aspect, the fact, that the voices of children and young people themselves, how they important they are generally, and we have that as a matter of principle within our statutory framework, and yet here it was missing. That's a key point that comes out within this review and report, and we would expect Powys as part of its improvement plan—it's already in there—but to take forward the lessons from this in line with their improvement plan, and to make sure that is binding so that the voice of young people is listened to. The voice of the child is key to this. The Chair of the committee sitting next to me has reiterated this in her committee's work before, and so on. We need to make sure that this is implemented on the ground at every interface with front-line professionals. 

Simon referred to the approach of 'When I'm Ready'—exactly that point—so that the concerns and the aspirations of young people are listened to, particularly at that moment of transition planning, and here it is made clear in the report that that was not the case. And tragically, we know that if that had been listened to, then perhaps this tragic scenario could have been avoided.

There is indeed a statement that has been issued in the name of my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services and my name today. It's the latest in a sequence of statements following on from improvement plans and action plans. The statement today updates Assembly Members, and I would urge Members to look at the next phase of support to Powys County Council, and the establishment of an improvement and assurance board to oversee and co-ordinate the delivery of improvement in Powys County Council. This doesn't take away from the work that's already going on within social services. What this actually does is build upon that. In urging Members to look at it, it goes wider into the corporate sphere of leadership and the culture of Powys to make sure that these are binding changes, and not only the review and report today, which goes hand in hand with the improvement plans that are already in place, but that wider corporate leadership that needs to be driven through, with support within Powys, and needs to really bind, so that we minimise the possibility of this sort of eventuality ever happening again. So, I draw attention to that statement. 

I've also asked my officials to ensure that the learning from this child practice review informs the ongoing work of my ministerial advisory group, chaired by David Melding, our colleague, on improving outcomes for children, and also to advise the ongoing work of Social Care Wales and the work of the other safeguarding children boards in Wales. Too often, we say we have to learn the lessons from this. Well, some of these lessons had already been learnt—we put in place the right frameworks, and so on—we now need to make sure that it's implemented without failure right across the board.

Minister, the tragic case that's been outlined today, of course, clearly goes back to 2015 and predates the critical care standards inspection report into children's services that was issued last October. Will the work of the current children's services improvement board take into account the findings of this report, and what lessons do you think have been learnt in the wider context? And can I also ask, in light of this report, do you think that there is a need for further assistance to the local authority?

On the latter point—thank you for those queries—indeed, if I could refer the Member to the quite extensive statement that we've made jointly today, because it signals the higher level of engagement that we now have directly with Powys on a corporate level, on a cultural level and on a leadership level, which goes beyond the sphere of purely social services. I thank my colleague for the very intimate way that our officials have engaged in this matter, trying to actually help Powys to help itself and turn this around. There's been a great deal of peer support from other authorities already, not only within social services, but now within the wider corporate sphere as well.

In terms of how this feeds into the ongoing work, well, yes, absolutely. I'm pleased to say that in line with the previous statements that we've made and the warning notices that we've issued, and the actions that we have demanded of Powys, whilst putting support to them as well, which they have readily now taken, this does form part of the ongoing work. So, all of the action plans that are identified within here—. If you look at the four key areas that have come out of this report: transition planning, including the knowledge of the 'When I'm Ready' approach and the legal framework for children, when the local authority does not share parental responsibility—that's part of it; the escalation and challenge, which includes the development of quality assurance mechanisms and performance information—that's part of the ongoing improvement work; the corporate parenting, including the development of quality assurance mechanisms to monitor the effectiveness of the resolving professional difference policy, the use of multi-agency performance, tracking good outcomes for children—that's part of the improvement plan; and finally, the fourth key point, the key point of participation and the voice of the child. This includes a review of the effectiveness of regionally commissioned advocacy and assurances from the regional safeguarding board, CYSUR, and from partners about how the voice of the child influences their ability to ensure good outcomes for children. So, all of this dovetails very much with the improvement plan that is already in place.

As I say, the announcement today—the joint statement from me and my Cabinet Secretary colleague—shows the higher level now of engagement with Powys to make sure that, not only in social services but right across Powys, this change in leadership and culture and ownership is there.

Can I support Simon Thomas in what he said earlier on and also support the Minister in what he has just said about helping Powys to help itself? I know from discussions with him that, if that doesn't bear fruit in due course, he will take more draconian action. I wonder whether he'd agree with me that one of the most troubling features of this case as it appears in the child practice review report is that, as it says,

'the most significant challenge appeared to be the simplest, namely that of good communication and coordinated planning, based on a thorough understanding of Child A’s daily lived experiences and the significant impact of serious early childhood trauma.'

This seems to be a failure of partnership working, principally, and it's rather troubling that we have all these professionals who are apparently unable to communicate effectively with each other. In this particular case, child A was very eloquent in telling them what his needs were, and the difficulty was that the professionals were not able to communicate that between themselves. Nobody underestimates the difficulty of the job that these professionals have, so one doesn't want to undermine their confidence or esteem in themselves, but nonetheless there are very significant lessons here that must be learned by all those in the chain of authority leading to this dreadful outcome.

So, I wonder whether the Minister can tell us today in rather more detail how this improvement in communication within the authority and between the different professionals involved is going to be effected.

Yes, indeed. Thank you, Neil. You're right in drawing attention to some of the key parts of the report that say, for example, that professionals need to feel confident—to feel confident—when working with parents who are perceived as challenging and to be more empathetic in working with families, that all professionals need to have up-to-date knowledge of new guidance and legislation, and be able to think creatively about planning with and for children in their care and so on.

This is about good practice, and there is individual good practice within Powys. The problem is this aspect that we have seen where it's not simply the leadership within a department, it's leadership at all levels, the sharing of best practice and the dissemination of best practice, and that professional approach. Now, it is turning round. That's why we reissued a warning notice.

We noted the improvement on 15 January that had been made already, including the appointment of new leadership, on an interim level, to certain key positions. But there is more to be done, and that's why we haven't lifted the warning notice, we've extended it and highlighted the key milestones in a month, in three months, in six months and beyond. We are keeping our support firmly there, our encouragement to do better firmly there, and we are seeing the improvement. I think, if anything would give solace to the family and those people who knew this young person today, it would be that this is translated now into that continual improvement within Powys.

It's worth reflecting that the purpose of a child practice review isn't to point the finger of blame. It's to actually say, 'This is where you can positively make a difference and improve, and we expect that to happen.' So, we and CYSUR, and all the other agencies and the peer support that's already in place, will be working with them to make sure that these improvements are bolted in and that we give those front-line professionals both the confidence and the knowledge they need to do their jobs well, creatively and safely, looking after our young people, giving our young people the right opportunities and the right choices, and not locking them out of the conversation. That's what the learning from this tells us, and that's why it needs to be embedded into the existing improvement plan that is ongoing, which we have some confidence is being delivered, but there is a long way to go still.

The first thing I want to do is to send my condolences to anyone who has been affected by what is a real tragedy. But the tragedy, it seems to me, in all of this—Neil Hamilton did talk about the chain of events and conversations, and I agree with him, because what it should have been was a circle. We had this extended chain of individuals speaking separately, when they should have been clearly joined up. I don't know about other people, but I do know about myself: I'm absolutely fed up of talking about case reviews where things have gone wrong from a lack of joined-up thinking—these key words that don't ever deliver any change. And yet we will learn from it. Well, will we? That's the question I'm posing here today, because it's really, really upsetting to read about the anguish that this young person went through, who expressed that to certain individuals, but nobody along the line actively intervened in the best interests of this child.

I know in the past—and I'm sincerely hoping things have changed—when I've written to Powys council because I was concerned about a family, and asked them to act, they said that I had to write my concerns to the cabinet member. Whoever heard of such a thing? I wrote back in the strongest of terms, saying, 'Just forget that one, and try and take some action.' I still had to write back six months later, asking for a reply. So, whilst we might have lots of faith here, mine has been stretched to the ultimate, and it would have been about this time. I see others nodding their heads saying they've had the same experience.

So, my question here is that we really need to go in and make sure that not only do Powys learn these lessons, but that everybody else learns them too, so that we don't have to read about young, vulnerable individuals who are terrified of going into the world on their own, who didn't actually have to go into the world on their own, because there was a system in place that would have supported them, and that was called, 'When I'm Ready'. I really think we ought to do something about this now. I'm really fed up with sitting here listening to the failures, time and time again.

Joyce, thank you very much. I think any Minister who stands in a position like this and says, 'We will be able to rule this out, any eventuality like this ever happening again', would be an unwise Minister. But it is within our power, both through the messages that we've just heard, through the frameworks that we've set in place—and do bear in mind that, within Wales, we're in some ways ahead of the game here, because of the way that we've approached safeguarding with the national board, with the regional boards, that framework of safeguarding, with some of the initiatives that have been talked about that actually should have been embedded here, should have been delivered on the ground. Listening to young people is what we do, it's what the—. It's the framework that we've put in place.

But I think the anxieties of Assembly Members within the Chamber today, I hope, will have been heard in Powys, but I would also like them to hear not only good front-line staff, but also the changes that they've been putting in place over recent months because of the willingness of this Assembly and this Government to hold their toes to the fire, both encouraging, but also saying that there is a backstop position here if things do not improve—that they will improve, and we are seeing them happening on the ground now within Powys.

Your point is well made, though, as well, that the lessons from this child practice review, as for any child practice review, should not be simply for Powys, they should be right across the piece, and that is what will go out. That is the message from here. This child practice review will be disseminated not simply across that region, but, through the national safeguarding board, across the whole of Wales as well. We do need to keep the focus on excellence within this service, listening to young people, providing them with what they deserve and what they need and listening to them to do so. It has failed on this point. It is a tragedy that it has failed, and I think the voices of Assembly Members today in saying that we have to do everything to avoid this happening again that is within our power and encourage those who work on the front line to have the confidence and the skills and the knowledge to make the right decisions and to engage with young people—I think that has come across very strongly indeed this afternoon.

I thank the Minister.