I'd like first to thank all the people and organisations who gave evidence to the committee as part of our inquiry, and also to the committee clerks who do such a sterling job of supporting the committee's work. 

In the opening of its response, the Government says:

'We want children from all backgrounds to have the best start in life.'

We do all want that, but the question is whether Flying Start, despite the flexibility that the Minister has tried to introduce, is the best way to provide that support. There are some children in non-Flying Start areas who do need this help, but are not getting it because they happen to live in the wrong postcode. Even the most affluent areas have pockets of poverty, and the children living in them are having their needs ignored. So, it seems to me that using geography as the criteria to offer this support does seem to be rather a crude tool to use.

Replying to recommendation 2, the Minister says that there are ongoing considerations of the additional flexibility for outreach given to local authorities, and I would really, really be interested to see the Minister come back and report on that investigation to the Assembly. I think its findings may well be very interesting. I'd also be very interested to hear the Minister's view of the relative pros and cons of geographic targeting versus other ways of targeting the funding to achieve the desired outcomes of Flying Start.

Of course, Flying Start may well be effective in making a positive difference to some people's lives, but without proper evaluation of both the need for the initiative, the level of outreach and its outcomes, we can't be certain if we're reaching everyone who needs the help, and if we are, how effective that help actually is.

I get the point about reducing the amount of reporting that local authorities have to do, but if Welsh Government is giving flexibility to local authorities, why not collect the data to assess whether the strategy of offering flexibility instead of reforming Flying Start is an effective one? In his response to recommendation 1, the Minister seems to have fulfilled the recommendations by giving an explanation of the process, but the processes described seem a little bit 'guesstimate-y' of the necessary percentage of the flexibility, following discussions with some, but not all, local authorities.

I'm concerned that that process doesn't seem to have been based on a solid evidence base, and so there's the concern that the chosen percentage will still not be sufficient. The Minister says in the response that there will be further discussions with local authorities, but which local authorities will those be, if not all of them, and what will the process be for adjusting the percentage? I would hope that it would be quite a logical evidence-based process. I'd be interested to hear what the Minister sees as the benefits and disadvantages of the method he's using for assessing whether the current percentage of flexibility and funding for outreach is sufficient.

It's all very well asking for feedback from the people who are taking part—it's a very worthy exercise and you're going to get some good information from that—but we really need a proper evaluation of the needs of those who aren't able to take part, to see if they should be able to take part in Flying Start, and what the costs and logistical implications are going to be. And to that end, it's regrettable that the Minister has rejected recommendation 6. Not gathering Wales-wide data isn't really an excuse not to monitor whether there's too much regional divergence. Surely Welsh Government's role is to oversee the system and reduce unnecessary divergence between regions. How else can you monitor regional divergence and make sure everyone who needs Flying Start is able to access it, and that no family's falling through the net, as is probably happening at the the moment?

Many people will be concerned that cash-strapped local authorities are unlikely to perform many functions or offer services that they're not even measured against or monitored on. So, surely, by rejecting the idea that local authorities should report any changes to service provision may well be a signal to them that Welsh Government are not fully committed to Flying Start and it's okay for local authorities to take their eye off the ball on this initiative. I'm really, really sure that that's not your intention, Minister, but how are you going to prevent local authorities from taking the excuse to give themselves a little bit of leeway? We deserve to know that the project's being effective, but more importantly, Welsh families who need help, regardless of the geographical area they live in, deserve the best that you can do for them.

So, finally, without proper monitoring and evaluation, we can't be certain that people are getting the help they need, and I would urge the Minister to accept the recommendations he has rejected and fully accept, not just in principle, all the other recommendations of the report. Thank you.