Deputy Presiding Officer, I'm grateful to the leader of UKIP for his kind remarks and the tone in which he's addressed the Chamber this afternoon. I seem to be starting every contribution today by answering the final questions first. How often will we report? I think I'm very happy to report on a termly basis to Members here, and I'm sure that the Minister for Children and Social Care, who also of course has a remit in these matters, will be content and happy to do so on a similar basis. I do see he's nodding from his seat so we will assume that is now a commitment on behalf of us both to do that. We will find a way of ensuring that those reports are made available to Members, whether it's a formal statement on the floor or whether it's through committees or through a written statement. But we certainly will look towards discussing with Members how they would wish to receive those updates.

I will again emphasise that Ministers are always available to particularly those Members representing Powys constituencies to speak to privately and to have conversations, if that is needed or necessary, and we're very happy to continue to do that. I think when my colleague Rebecca Evans first raised these issues she was very, very clear about where the issues lay. I think it's also fair to say that she was clear in how she wanted to see the Government and the local authority work together to resolve some of those issues. Clearly, those issues were seen to be wider later than at first, and it's right and proper that we take a wider view of these matters as a consequence of that. 

I don't wish to provide a commentary this afternoon, or at any other time, on some of the reasons—and the leader of UKIP, Deputy Presiding Officer, talked about a failure of leadership. I think that's clear at some levels; I think that is absolutely clear. However, what I would like to be able to do today is to ensure that we have a focus on taking the authority forward, rather than looking backwards to the reasons for and why that happened. There may well be a time and it may well be appropriate for a committee of the council or of this place to take a look at those matters, and I would certainly wish to co-operate with any inquiry that does take place into those matters, but, for me, I'm anxious that we do now deliver leadership and deliver leadership that the people and staff of Powys want, need and deserve, and we will do that through working together. We will do it through learning from each other and, I hope, as the leader of UKIP has said, learning from potential mistakes that have been made in the past.

He is absolutely right in what he has said about issues around communication and planning. Those are serious issues and they are matters that will be and must be addressed. I am absolutely confident that the people who have been appointed to leadership positions within Powys have the skill base to be able to do it, but they also have the understanding of what leadership means and what transformational leadership means. This isn't a matter of steady as she goes, it's not a matter of ticking boxes, and it isn't a matter of simply remedial action to address individual issues within an individual department. This is about transformational change within an authority to address the culture within the authority, how that authority runs itself, and then to be held to account for those changes by the people they represent in Powys.

I recognised a great deal of what Sean Harriss wrote in his report. You've quoted him saying that there was a lack of understanding of what 'good' looks like, and a lack of understanding of what needs to be done and how to do it. I have to say to Members that that is not the first time I've read those sentences in a report of this sort. I know that there is some reticence in different parts of the Chamber about some of the proposals that I've made to address some of these matters, but I will say to Members that it is incumbent upon all of us to look seriously at the structures we have in place, and to ensure that we are able not just to address individual issues in individual authorities when they arise, but that we put in place structures that are more sustainable in the future.

Members will have seen the press coverage today of social services functions in local authorities, and what is being said by the WLGA. I will say here that I agree with the comments made by the WLGA today. I do not believe that the structures we have in place are sustainable for the future. I've made that very, very clear. It is for each individual party represented here to then consider their response to those challenges, and I hope that we will be able, over the coming weeks and months, to look towards an agreed vision of the future, where we have strong, robust local authorities able to take responsibility for improvement of services for local government, delivering within local government. And I hope that we will be able to do that in a co-operative spirit and a co-operative approach, which is exactly what the leader of UKIP has suggested this afternoon. That is what I seek, and I think there is great agreement for that not only in this Chamber, but throughout local government as well.