Can I also commend the Cabinet Secretary and his two colleagues for the way in which they have been open and transparent—[Inaudible.]—tragic affair. This isn't a subject out of which anybody is trying to make any party political points, for it would be quite wrong, and I think the sensitivity that the Government Ministers have brought to this difficult task is highly commendable. Because you certainly don't want to reduce morale still further in Powys County Council and we all appreciate the difficulties of local administration in a county that is so extended and where transport links are difficult and the population is highly dispersed. In rural areas, social problems are often much more difficult to solve than they are in concentrated urban areas. So, we all have tremendous sympathy for the county council and the difficulty of the tasks that they have to perform. But, ultimately, as in all these kinds of cases, it's down to a failure of leadership and I do take the point that Simon Thomas made, that a lot of the same people who were involved in the decisions that brought us to where we are now are still in place. The question is to what extent they have the capacity to learn from those mistakes and not repeat them. That is, at the moment, something that we have to take on trust, and I appreciate the Cabinet Secretary's difficulty in making a statement like this today. All that's happened, fundamentally, is that we've put new people at the top in these places who have to take the fundamental decisions that are going to, we hope, sort things out in the future. And I certainly wish Mr Mehmet well in his difficult task.

What I reflected on most in the original report about the children services was the bald statement that

'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.'

It was the professionals who, paradoxically, had the difficulties in communicating. The child himself was very eloquent in being able to describe his needs. And that is a most extraordinary situation to be in. I'm sure it's been a traumatising experience for those who are on the staff of Powys County Council. Nobody should underestimate that and one should be sympathetic. I don't like pointing the finger of blame in these circumstances except with the aim of having some positive outcome. And I think the approach that the Government has taken to this, with the Cabinet Secretary in the position of—well, akin to the one described by Walter Bagehot in The English Constitution about Queen Victoria, that he has the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn. He very properly, I think, in answer to Russell George, pointed out the separation in functions between the Welsh Government on the one hand and local authorities on the other. I do think, though, as one of the more combative Members of this place, that he does have the necessary skills to draw people along as well. He has the leadership skills, which, without wishing to be too heavy-handed about it, give us the opportunity, I think, of making the best out of the bad job that has been inherited from the past. 

One of the extraordinary things, I felt, in Sean Harriss's report was where he says: 

'there is some lack of understanding of “what good looks like” in the organisation' and that

'the Council at times was “insufficiently daunted” by the size, scale and nature of the change required.'

I hope that that has now been addressed. He also said:

'The Council is insufficiently clear about what needs to be done and how to do it.'

I do hope the new appointments will address that lacuna as well. Although Sean Harriss's report was strong on management speak, we all, I think, know what needs to be done. And it's got to be a co-operative enterprise. There is a peer group that has been put together to co-ordinate things. Can the Cabinet Secretary tell us how often he's going to be able to report to us on the progress that is being made by these new individuals and organisations? Because at the moment everything is being taken on trust; nobody has any alternative to that. But we will I think very soon be in a position to ask are the right decisions being taken, are the new management teams being put together, and be able to draw some conclusions as to the lessons that have been learned from the past. 

The conclusion of Sean Harriss's report was that, in five years' time, all the residents of Powys should be assured that the management of the county council and provision of all its services are being provided to the highest possible standard. So, I think that we need to be assured in a relatively short time frame that the remedial decisions that are essential have been taken. So, I wonder if the Cabinet Secretary could reassure us on those points.