Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services – in the Senedd at 2:28 pm on 3 October 2018.
Can I, before answering, Presiding Presiding Officer, welcome the new Conservative spokesperson to his place? I hope I gave him a more enthusiastic welcome than some of his colleagues did this afternoon. [Laughter.] I really feel they could do better there. Can I say that I'm looking forward to many conversations and engagement with you, Mark, over the coming period?
In terms of the grant that you refer to, we have been giving real, deep consideration to how we bring together the integration that we want to see, whilst ensuring that that money continues to reach the recipients who need it, and does so in a coherent way that enables their needs to be met. I hope that the decision we have announced today—in terms of a two-grant model, if you like, which we are giving an undertaking that we will maintain for the rest of the Assembly—is one that will meet the needs of recipients but will also allow local authorities and others to deliver the sort of integration that they require. But, in direct answer to your question, yes, we will ensure that those grants do have their own integrity.