Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:37 pm on 1 May 2018.
Cabinet Secretary, alarmingly, social service departments in local authorities in Wales overspent by £383 million against their budgets in 2016-17, with Cardiff Council alone exceeding their budget by a staggering £190 million. Now, many are predicted to massively overspend again over the next 12 months. Costs in social services are predicted to increase by another £344 million in the next three years, and there is evidence now that, by 2035, the number of people aged over 65 living in Wales will increase by 35 per cent and those aged over 85 by 113 per cent. This is a ticking time bomb. Now, Cabinet Secretary, what frameworks do you believe the First Minister and, indeed, your Welsh Government are putting in place now to ensure that our social care providers, and their budgets, are effectively resourced and that they are indeed futureproof for the next 20 years?