The following amendments have been selected: amendments 1 and 2 in the name of Paul Davies.

The next item is the debate on the annual report of the older people's commissioner—2017-18. I call on the Minister for Children, Older People and Social Services to move the motion—Huw Irranca-Davies.

Motion NDM6725 Julie James

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

Notes the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales’s Annual Report (Impact and Reach Report 2017/18), which was laid before the Assembly on 15 May 2018.

Motion moved.

Thank you, Llywydd. I'm pleased to open this debate on the Commissioner for Older People in Wales's annual impact and reach report.

I'd like to start by publicly congratulating and thanking the commissioner and her team for all the valuable work over the past year, and indeed over the last six years. The commissioner has earned the respect and trust of older people right across Wales, and in the last 12 months alone, the commissioner and her team have met with 169 groups and 3,300 individuals. This extensive engagement has allowed the commissioner to speak with an informed and confident voice about how we can all work together to create resilient communities and become a nation where everyone can look forward to growing old.

I thank Paul Davies for the first amendment tabled, to introduce a Bill of rights for older people, but I oppose this amendment. Now, I agree with Paul that we must empower older people to speak up when their rights are not being fulfilled, but I disagree that new, further legislation, such as a Bill of rights for older people, is necessary. In fact, we've been working closely with the outgoing commissioner to agree an alternative to legislation that will make rights real for older people. The commissioner has indeed spoken out that she has been pleased with our commitment to the rights agenda, and she strongly welcomed our proposals at the launch of her legacy report last week.

So, the actions we've agreed with the commissioner include but are not exclusively these: building on the clear statutory rights and entitlements that we've put in place under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 by co-producing practical guidance—practical guidance—that demonstrates how to make those United Nations principles real for older people; revising the guidance relating to escalating concerns on care home closures, which I know will be of interest to some Members here; building the narrative of human rights into care home inspection reports; and taking advice from the NHS Centre for Equality and Human Rights on how to place rights at the core of our NHS Wales. But our initial focus will be on safeguarding and advocacy, as we agree with the commissioner that these are the areas we need to get right if we are to support all older people to make decisions about their care and the quality of their lives.

Will you take an intervention?

If I can just continue for a moment. That's why I am happy to support the second amendment, which has also been tabled by Paul Davies. I will take the intervention.

Thank you. I'm very grateful for your opening remarks, saying that you agree in principle with the need to extend and develop older people's rights and the awareness of them both in the public and the private sectors. But can you tell me why the Welsh Government is so inconsistent when it comes to rights? Why is it that children and young people have a specific piece of legislation on the Welsh statute book to protect their rights and old people don't? Don't you consider that old people are just as valuable to society as young people, and therefore they ought to be protected by a piece of legislation too?

I can see the headline point that you're making, Darren, but I would refer you back to the statement made by the older persons' commissioner last week in launching her legacy report, in which she actually welcomed the approach we were taking, because it makes rights real. It doesn't look for another piece of reach-down-from-the-shelf legislation on a Bill of rights, it actually says, 'How do we make these real and tangible in the lives of older people?' Now, if we can agree that that is where we should be heading—the outcomes for older people—as opposed to another Bill of rights or whatever, then let's get on with it, and it was welcomed by the older people's commissioner. We intend to work with the new commissioner coming in, when that's announced, to take this forward as well.

So, anyway, as I said, I'm happy, and I'm sure it'll bring a smile to Darren's face, that we'll be supporting the second amendment, tabled by his colleague Paul Davies. Independent advocacy services can give a voice to people who are struggling to make choices about their own lives. We recognise that there are times when an individual will need support to ensure that their rights are upheld.

As part of the suite of actions that we've agreed with the commissioner to make rights real for older people, we will revisit part 10 of the code of practice on advocacy with a view to developing practical guidance on demonstrating due regard to the UN principles. In addition, a national framework for commissioning independent advocacy for adults is currently being developed. The framework will improve the quality, the consistency and the availability of services across Wales.

In January 2018, the commissioner published a follow-up to her 2014 review into the quality of life and care of older people living in care homes. The report does state that good progress has been made in many areas, and very pleasingly, that those working across the residential care sector are beginning to think very differently and are placing a greater focus on the quality of life of older people. And I'm sure that Members will have seen this in visiting some of their own homes within their areas. But the report also points out those areas where work has not progressed.

One of these areas, for example, is falls prevention. Falls are mentioned again as a theme within the Ageing Well programme and I share the commissioner's view that we need to do more on this area. So, we are working with My Home Life Cymru to start a conversation with care home managers about how they can balance falls prevention with positive risk taking. And work is ongoing with Public Health Wales's 1000 Lives Improvement programme to develop a patient safety and a quality improvement programme for care homes. The programme aims to reduce the number of falls in care homes and includes measures to improve continence care and medicines management, but as the commissioner's report says, we cannot be complacent; there is more to do.

Let me turn to another aspect of the commissioner's work, which was the 'Rethinking Respite' report. It looked in depth at one of the key findings from her 2016 'Dementia: more than just memory loss' report. Through discussions with people living with dementia and with their carers, the commissioner found that services often lack the flexibility to meet people's needs, and yet we know that the provision of respite is one of the key national priorities for improving the lives of carers in Wales. We are now providing local authorities with £3 million a year to provide additional carers' respite. In 2017-18, the funding supported more innovative, flexible models that demonstrate that the carer and the cared-for person are right at the centre of respite provision.

I'd like to commend the older people's commissioner for her work in leading the Ageing Well in Wales programme. I recognise that the Ageing Well in Wales programme has made a major contribution to supporting everyone to live healthy, active and rewarding lives. The importance of bringing people together who are committed to making tangible changes to the place they live should not be underestimated. Connecting people can create the friendships, the support networks, and the partnerships that help build resilient communities.

And finally, if I can touch on the areas that the report references with many examples of good practice, it shows that the implementation of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, brought through this Assembly, the regulations that flowed from that and the statutory guidance are bringing positive change for older people. So, I would like to thank the commissioner for supporting the Welsh Government to focus on the areas that matter most to older people—their priorities becoming the priorities of Welsh Government.

Last week, the First Minister published that my title from now on will be the Minister for Children, Older People and Social Care. By making my role more prominent and clear, I will be able to proceed to establish an approach across the Government on older people’s issues. I am confident that the work programme that we’ve agreed on with the commissioner will build on our transformative legislation and strengthen the rights of older people.

I want Wales to be the best place to age in: a country where the voice of older people is heard, their contribution to society is valued, and they have the support that they need to live satisfied lives. Thank you very much.

I have selected the two amendments to the motion, and I call on Janet Finch-Saunders to move amendments 1 and 2, tabled in the name of Paul Davies. Janet Finch-Saunders.

Amendment 1. Paul Davies

Add as new point at end of motion:

Calls on the Welsh Government to introduce a Bill of rights for older people, to codify in Welsh law those rights pertaining to older people, so as to empower older people to speak up where their rights are not being fulfilled.

Amendment 2. Paul Davies

Add as new point at end of motion:

Calls on the Welsh Government to urgently address concerns raised by the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales that a significant number of older people in Wales cannot access independent advocacy services.

Amendments 1 and 2 moved.

Diolch, Llywydd, and I move amendments 1 and 2 in the name of Paul Davies, and in doing so would like to thank Sarah Rochira for her work as the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales over the past six years. Her innovation and drive to take forward a more positive agenda for older people has been notable.

Now, looking at the annual report, the commissioner notes a number of cross-cutting themes to casework undertaken during the year. Complex processes, poor communication and a lack of understanding of the needs of older people and the impact decisions have on their daily lives are of particular concern, feeding into our first amendment calling for the need to establish a Bill of rights for older people, codified in law, and we don't do that lightly. And I am disappointed that at this late hour—and I know it came up last week—the emphasis has gone off that now because, certainly, with the work that I've done with the older people's commissioner over the past six years, it's where I've seen and witnessed first-hand the fundamental basic rights of our older people breached. 

Twenty per cent of Welsh pensioners live in poverty: equivalent to one in five; the second highest level of the regions behind London; the worst level since 2003; five per cent higher than the UK and England's averages; and 7 per cent higher than Scotland and Northern Ireland. Since 2015, 10,000 more Welsh pensioners are now in poverty, and Wales is the only region in the UK in the last five years to see such a sharp increase. Further, we know that older people in Wales still face significant barriers: loneliness and isolation, access to primary care—that's a fundamental basic right. Over a quarter of older people reported being lonely, and nearly 27 per cent are deemed to be socially isolated. More than 75 per cent of women and a third of men over 65 live alone. Additionally, over 40,000 older people in Wales are currently victims of domestic abuse, and over 150,000 have been victims of an incident of crime in their very own home. So, tell me; I don't know how the Welsh Government is protecting fundamental basic rights as regards that.

Our second amendment references the lack of access to independent advocacy: a trend that is fast seeing an increase in people approaching my own office because they just cannot navigate or even find access to the basic treatment and support that they actually need and deserve. The commissioner states that public bodies are often not good at learning from their mistakes or using people's voices and experiences to underpin the drive for continuous service improvement.

Sadly, we note that the commissioner has had to chase the Welsh Government over their failure to demonstrate sufficient progress and action in a number of key areas relating to her care home review of 2014: continence care, a basic right; falls prevention; and workforce planning—they're all issues requiring further action. And there is evidence, also, of poor access to the correct and appropriate nutrition and hydration—another fundamental basic right. Half a million older people in Wales fall each year, with many falling several times before they ultimately end up in hospital and then are permanently immobile and worse. Fifty thousand suffer serious injury, which results in them never returning to their homes or regaining their independence in the aftermath. The commissioner states that Welsh Government, health boards and local authorities must take meaningful action to deliver upon the commitments they made, and we all know that guidance isn't enough, in many instances, where this is concerned. Failure to do so will mean that our care home system is unable to meet the change in the care and support needs of our older people. This will mean too many older people living in care homes and will continue to have an unacceptable quality of life.

Finally, this week is Dementia Action Week and an appropriate time to call on the Welsh Government to implement the vital areas of improvement to the 'Dementia Action Plan for Wales 2018-2022'. These include providing a greater focus on rights, diversity and advocacy, a greater recognition of well-being and needs of carers, more ambitious training targets, improved respite services, enhancing the role of dementia support workers and improved palliative and end-of-life care pathways.

And finally, as a member of the actual appointment board for the incoming older people's commissioner, and given the frustrations of the panel regarding the appointment workers in the early days and delays, I would be grateful if the Cabinet Secretary could make a statement on the timescales involved and when he believes the First Minister will get around to making the announcement for the appointment of the next commissioner. It is vital that our older people in Wales have the support of a commissioner, and it is even more vital that you, as a Welsh Government, actually enshrine in law the basic fundamental rights that our older people deserve.

It's a pleasure to take part in this debate on the annual report by the older people's commissioner. I welcome the opening address by the Minister and his new title—I didn't realise that there had been an addition to the title. But, primarily, in this debate, we are paying tribute to the work of the commissioner, as we've heard, who is leaving after six years, and it has been excellent work. As Chair of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, we've collaborated several times with the older people's commissioner on several inquiries, and her opinion and her evidence have been of great benefit every time. Only last week we launched the report on the use—or the inappropriate use—of antipsychotic medication in care homes, and there is a great challenge before the Government and everyone in the field there to realise the aspirations of that report. Also, the older people's commissioner was involved in several other inquiries, including our report on isolation and loneliness, and her experiences in meeting people across Wales did help to steer the recommendations of that report.

We, as a party, will be supporting the amendments of the Conservatives this afternoon. This place does need more powers in terms of rights for older people and, of course, with the Wales Act 2017 and, of course, the EU exit Bill, we are losing powers from this place. I welcome the idea that even the Conservatives want more powers in this place. So, naturally, we will be supporting those additional powers for the Assembly.

There are several themes, briefly. We've heard a lot about the burden in terms of older people, but, at the end of the day, we also need to celebrate the fact that we have so many older people in our country. People are very willing to criticise our health service, but it's true to say that we have the largest number of older people here ever, and many of them still fit and active—more people than ever before.

Back in 1950, as I've said before, only 250 people throughout the UK reached the age of 100. By 1990, that figure had risen to 2,500 people reaching 100 years of age and receiving a birthday card from the Queen. Two years ago, that number had reached over 14,000 in terms of the birthday cards that the Queen had to sign. So, very evident implications in terms of the procedures of the Queen, if nothing else, but also a sign of the success of the NHS, clean water, immunisation, a better diet, better housing and so forth—but specifically the NHS, which is always being criticised. But we have to plan for that growth in the older population, not only by adding to the Minister's title but also by planning, and it's the care service that we need to plan, and that needs to be prioritised more. It's always in the shadow of the NHS, and the care service needs more priority and funding, and to be on the same wavelength as the NHS, and also with housing provision.

The austerity agenda in England and the underspend on care services in England have led to 22,000 deaths amongst older people every year. That’s the result of a British Medical Journal survey last year. Think about it: 22,000 older people dying prematurely because of a lack of social care provision as a result financial savings. A lack of funding has led to raising the threshold for care in some English counties, with that lack of care then leading to premature deaths.

Therefore, in conclusion, this is a challenge for society. Do we really respect our older people, respect our older generations? Do we respect and give dignity to older generations who have been through a lot? They have the experience and the ability. They’ve seen everything before. And yet we disregard their experiences. Do we celebrate their survival, or are we willing to continue with the underspend on those fundamental services that are there to assist them? We need far better provision of care services in our communities and we need the provision of respite care when people are ill in their old age. We need to increase the number of beds in communities so that people can look after each other with dignity and with respect.

Therefore, thank you very much to the older people’s commissioner for knocking firmly on the doors that needed to hear that and for raising her voice. What about Government to respond?

Before I begin, I feel I ought to declare an interest and would assert that I am obviously eminently qualified to take part in this debate. I would fully endorse the Minister when he says that he wants Wales to be the best place in the world to grow old and even to be old. We live in a world obsessed by age and stereotypical views of older people. All too often they're spoken about in a derogatory, disrespectful and even defamatory manner. And I'm not talking about my family here. This can undermine older people's self-esteem, self-confidence and independence. Phrases such as 'burden of care' and 'silver tsunami' that are sometimes used by public services, the media and other commentators are simply unacceptable. Too many older people feel that services and, indeed, some sections of society discriminate against them simply because of their age. This includes financial services, health services and other essential support agencies.

Older people are not a homogenous group that should be defined by their age or stereotypes. Putting equality and human rights at the heart of public services and wider society delivers a better quality of life for everyone, not just older people. I was born in an age when older members of the family were not only respected but were at the centre of the family scene. It was the older generation who ensured that standards were kept and they were the ones most likely to let you know in no uncertain terms if your behaviour was unacceptable.

More than 39,000 older people in Wales—a proportionately higher figure than the rest of the UK—are said to be victims of abuse. For many, this occurs in the place they call home. Domestic abuse and sexual violence can affect anyone, regardless of their gender, ethnic origin or sexual orientation. It is a sad statistic that older people with a disability are at even greater risk of being abused than those without such impediments. Increasingly, older people are at a risk not only physically but also emotionally and financially. Work has begun in Wales to improve how we identify those at risk and keep them safe, but we must also ensure that older people have access to the full support of our civil and criminal justice systems.

Engagement across Wales with older people, their families and stakeholders highlighted growing concern about the way older people were treated while in hospital, particularly with regard to dignity and respect. The commissioner's requirements for action clearly outline the change that is needed to drive up the quality of life and care of older people living in care homes across Wales. There still remain significant concerns about the use of antipsychotic medication for people with dementia and the inappropriate use of antipsychotics in care home settings. We must ensure that public bodies take concerted action to deliver the change required and, through this, to embed quality of life at the heart of residential and nursing care within Wales, and ensure that older people receive the care to which they are entitled. 

I would like to thank Sarah Rochira for the work she has done over the six years of being the Older People's Commissioner for Wales. She has left a legacy that will allow older people in Wales to be treated with greater dignity and respect.

I'd like to start off by also saying 'thank you' to Sarah Rochira for her six years of work as the Older People's Commissioner for Wales. Of course, her period in office has covered some really big changes, such as the advent of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, so she has been here at a very important time. I think we should say how proud we are that Wales was the first country in the UK to establish the role of the older person's commissioner and, in fact, Sarah is only the second person to have held that post.

One of the issues that I think she has done really well in is raising the issue of treating older people with dignity. Of course, her predecessor, Ruth Marks, did the 'Dignified Care?' review, and Sarah followed that with a 'Dignified Care: Two Years On' progress report. I think that her work around this issue has been very important because,as other speakers have said today, older people need to be treated with dignity, and they're not always treated with dignity. We have seen examples of the way that older people may have bee treated in the care system or in hospital—a minority, but I think this is what we've got to be aware of.

Of course, I think the issue of antipsychotic drugs has already been mentioned here today, and, in our inquiry on the health committee, we did see that antipsychotic drugs are maybe being used inappropriately, and that, of course, is not treating older people with dignity. So, I think there is a long way to go, but I think that Sarah has made a big input, really, in that particular area, and she speaks very fluently about how she goes all around Wales and she listens to everybody. She wanted to have all these conversations, and she did, and I think she did bring back what older people themselves wanted, and, of course, being treated with dignity is one of the big issues. 

The other issue, of course, is people living with dementia and their families. Again, I think her voice has been very strong in highlighting the issues of living with dementia. I know that many of us went to the Alzheimer's Society session at lunchtime today about making the Assembly dementia friendly, and I think Sarah has helped to contribute to raising the awareness of that. I understand that half of all Assembly Members have now signed up to become dementia friends, and I hope that, in fact, everybody will sign up eventually. I think Sarah has played a really valuable role in that. 

I was very pleased yesterday to hear that Dementia Friendly Cardiff was launched, and that Cardiff, the city, has signed up to become a dementia-friendly place, with organisations such as Cardiff Bus and Cardiff City Football Club signing up to become dementia friendly. I know, in Chapter Arts Centre, there are going to be dementia-friendly screenings that are going to be open to people with dementia, their carers, families, friends and neighbours. I think that's great progress in that field as well. I also welcome the Ageing Well in Wales agenda that the Minister mentioned, with the creation of age-friendly communities as well as dementia-supporting communities.   

And, of course, Sarah has highlighted the issue of loneliness and isolation, and I think that when we looked in the committee at the issue of loneliness, that came over as one of the huge issues that we have to tackle in Wales and that the Welsh Government and this Assembly must tackle. I think Sarah made a huge contribution to that. 

My constituency of Cardiff North has more than double the number of over-50s living there than in any other part of city. There are 35,000 people over 50 in Cardiff North, and although I don't class 50 as being old—definitely not—there are 35,000 people and, as I say, the concentration of older people is in the north of the city, in my constituency. I think it's quite important to note the fact that loneliness can occur when you're living in a city, in a crowded area and not just in rural communities.

The big issue that I want to draw attention to for older people living anywhere is the lack of toilet facilities, because I really feel that we've raised that and discussed this at great length in this Assembly, particularly during the last Assembly, and I wonder, really, how much progress has been made on that. I know that this is something that Sarah Rochira has mentioned several times in her contributions.

So, I will just end by saying that I think that it's absolutely great that we've got a commissioner, and I'd like to thank Sarah again for all that she's done.

I just want to speak briefly, really, to say 'thank you' to Sarah Rochira for being a fantastic older people's commissioner over these past six years. I held the older people's brief for a number of years in the previous Assembly, and it was an absolute joy to be able to work with the commissioner, and indeed the rest of her team, and to get alongside her and see just how hard she worked to engage with older people across the country. She made a number of visits up to my constituency. We did some bus surgeries, so we both got on the buses and, indeed, visited care homes in my constituency too. I've been very grateful for the way in which she has engaged with voluntary groups in the area too. 

So, I want to put on record my thanks for her efforts. We can see from yet another report just that great level of activity that is under way in Wales in terms of the way that she is reaching out and trying to be that champion of older people that she has been over the past six years. She's not shied away either from taking a nip at the heels of Government and local authorities and independent care providers and hospitals over the years. She's rolled her sleeves up and she's produced some excellent reports that have been, frankly, very hard-hitting at times and that have been very difficult reading, but each of those has had with it some very useful recommendations in terms of being able to take the dignity and respect agenda in particular forward, and I know that she can be proud of the legacy that she will leave behind when she vacates this post and passes it on to the next person.

Just two very brief comments if I may: you made reference earlier on, Minister, to the older people's rights agenda and the fact that we are all on the same side in terms of the outcomes that we want to achieve but that you don't feel that there's a need to actually legislate in order to achieve those outcomes. But you will know that, via an amendment that was tabled by the Welsh Conservatives, we do have reference to the UN principles for older persons on the face of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, and I think that it's necessary, frankly, to have more of an umbrella piece of legislation on which to hang all of the things that you want to do as a Government so that older people can trace straight back to a piece of legislation their rights and, indeed, the responsibilities of others towards them. Children and young people have that; older people don't, and I think it sends a very negative message to older people with the Government's stubbornness to move forward with a piece of legislation on this.

One of the rights that I would like to see on the face of a piece of legislation—and you're only able to do this with legislation—is a clear right to respite. We've seen the older people's commissioner report on the importance of respite with her 'Rethinking Respite' report, particularly around dementia. The number of people who come into our surgeries as Assembly Members who are facing burnout because of the lack of access to respite has only grown in recent years—people who need to be resilient for the sake of their loved ones and who are doing a very hard and very difficult job that is not always properly recognised by the authorities with which they're engaged, particularly social service departments in some parts of the country. We know that that can destroy their relationships with the older people who they are caring for—some of whom, they may have been married tens of years, decades under their belt, and, as a result of that burn-out, the frustration that can often be caused, it just destroys the love in those relationships. So, we've got to work harder on respite, and I think that you ought to take on board one of the suggestions that our party put forward at the last Assembly elections, which was to have, in statute, a clear right to respite for older people and others caring for their loved ones, because it really is the only way we're going to secure the change in attitude that we need. 

So, in closing, once again I'd like to thank Sarah Rochira for her work, and I look forward to being able to engage further with the Government on this important agenda in order that we can get the rights for older people realised here in Wales.

I call on the Minister for Children, Older People and Social Care to reply to the debate—Huw Irranca-Davies.

Diolch, Llywydd, and can I just begin by thanking all Members who've contributed today for their very constructive engagement, even though we might agree to go in slightly different directions in delivering the rights particularly? Although I would say to Darren that we never have a totally closed mind; we're not being unduly stubborn, but what we have come to is an agreement with Sarah that there is a way to actually make these rights real now—so, going underneath those headline United Nations rights and actually translating them down into the detailed guidance and practical implementation on the ground. So, I'm looking forward to engaging not only with Sarah as she's outgoing, but also, going forward, with the new commissioner to actually really deliver that. And we'll work with Members here and also with the new commissioner to really make that bite, because we're aiming at the same thing, it's just that we think we've got a more immediate way we can do it. But we'll never have a totally closed mind. I'm not a total Eeyore, I'm not not a total stubborn ass on these issues; we're always open minded. 

Can I thank all the contributions here? Every one of them has universally praised the role of Sarah, the commissioner now, and the work that she's done. Janet, you mentioned the Bill of rights—I think I've made clear our approach on this, making rights real and the engagement that we'll have. Also asked about the announcement and the new commissioner—it's imminent. It has to be imminent because our outgoing commissioner is imminently going. I can't give you the exact date, but it is imminent.

Dai, thank you for your committee's work with the commissioner and the recommendations that you've brought forward over a long period of time, and the point you made about aligning health and social care across the piece. Well, that is an interesting time for this Assembly in both the parliamentary review that's gone past and what may come forward now with the long-term plan.

David, absolutely right on challenging the stereotypes—the ageist stereotypes that are constantly rehearsed. And, in fact, I spoke at the Welsh Senate of Older People on Monday, making exactly that point. In making this country the best country possible for older people, we also need to challenge the stereotypes, and some of that is to do with saying, 'Look at what we're doing with apprenticeships,' and actually saying, 'Apprenticeships are available for everybody.' Look at the visit that I made in north Wales last week where we were looking at re-introducing people back into childcare, and the two groups of people who were particularly represented within that Government-supported and National Day Nurseries Association-supported piece of work into childcare were the older population and the very young NEET population. So, there are ways we should be challenging this in practical ways going forward.

Julie, you spoke about the tremendous work that's been done around ageing well in Wales, and very practical issues as well around, if you're going to improve somebody's independent living through the years, all the way through the years, practical things like toilet provision and so on become very, very important. And, curiously, that's where the rights agenda really bites. If you can make a practical rights agenda, the right to that independent living, the right to travel around, the right not to have barriers put in front of you, all of a sudden, you get really meaningful change there on the ground.

And, Darren, you mentioned the commissioner occasionally giving the Welsh Government, or providers, or others, a nip. Sometimes, it's more than a nip, it's a big old kick in the shins. But that's right—commissioners are there to challenge. I would applaud, as well, Sarah for the way she's challenged and hasn't been afraid to do that, but also to constructively engage and to say, 'There are ways to go forward on this,' and I really appreciate that and all the remarks that have been made about the outgoing commissioner.

In the very short time that I've got available, I won't be able to respond to all the points, but let me touch on some key ones that have been raised. Advocacy is key within all this. We've committed to continue and to develop advocacy services. I've agreed that my officials work to develop a national framework for commissioning independent professional advocacy for adults in Wales, to improve consistency right across Wales. The Age Cymru project outcomes will include engagement with local authorities to support them to fulfil their duties under the Act. And we'll be looking forward, my officials and I, to work with the office of the older people's commissioner to inform this work, taking particular account of the report on older people's experiences of accessing and using professional advocacy. But we shouldn't forget as well the range of informal advocacy that's out there, and there's work going on within Welsh Government and with the commissioner and others to develop that network of informal advocacy, of people sitting alongside people as well. Falls and preventions we mentioned earlier, so I won't touch on that particularly.

Quite a few people mentioned the issue of the use of antipsychotic medicine. I know our committees have been looking at that. Reducing the number of people with a dementia diagnosis inappropriately receiving antipsychotic medication, particularly in care home settings, has been identified as a key action in the draft dementia strategy. We have contributed also to the short inquiry into the use of antipsychotic medication in care homes by the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, and we'll be taking into careful consideration the views of the health and social care committee's inquiry when taking forward our work. We recognise and welcome the commissioner's recognition that chemical means have been included in the definition of restraint through proposed regulations under the regulation and inspection of care Act.

My final point, Llywydd, I think, because I won't be able to cover all points here, and I don't even know how much time I have left—. Can I turn to the very important issue that a couple of people raised of loneliness and isolation? We recognise that loneliness and isolation is one of the most significant issues facing older people. Improving people's resilience across all ages, making them less susceptible to the harmful effects of loneliness and isolation, ensuring they have access to support services, are all critical in maintaining people's health, well-being and independence.

So, in 'Taking Wales Forward' and in our response to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee's inquiry, we confirmed our commitment to developing a nationwide, cross-Government strategy to tackle these issues by March 2019. The work has begun, and we're engaging widely with stakeholders, including Scottish and UK Governments, to help us the set the direction and better inform and drive our work. The committee's inquiry provided us with a valuable, informed account of the issues experienced by older people in Wales. In our response, we also confirmed a commitment to assess the impact of loneliness and isolation on health and well-being, assess the impact of intergenerational contact, which we know from our own constituencies the beneficial effect when that is done well, intergenerational contact, developing a national awareness campaign to reduce stigma and for public understanding—.

Llywydd, I can see you looking at me because I've gone over time. My apologies on those points I cannot return to, but, simply, in closing, can I echo the remarks that have been made about the commissioner and thank her and her team for all they've achieved in 2017-18? The report marks the end of the commissioner's six-year tenure. I'm sure that many older people across Wales will greatly miss the commissioner's passionate campaigning on their behalf. We will miss it as a Welsh Government, having worked with such a strong, confident advocate of human rights. She has encouraged Government, the public sector and citizens of Wales to think differently about ageing, to recognise that older people, far from being a burden on our society, are an asset that should be celebrated and they are people, first and foremost, with rights and lives to be lived to the max.

The proposal is to agree amendment 1. Does any Member object? [Objection.] I will defer voting until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.