5. Statement by the Minister for Children, Older People and Social Care: Improving Outcomes for Children: Reducing the Need for Children to Enter Care, and the Work of the Ministerial Advisory Group

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:38 pm on 13 November 2018.

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Photo of Huw Irranca-Davies Huw Irranca-Davies Labour 4:38, 13 November 2018

Yes. Thank you. I've mentioned already in my preceding answers a lot of the work that we're doing on increasing family support and therapeutic support in order, where we can, to safely and appropriately keep children within the family unit. I mentioned it in my opening remarks but also some of the work streams that the MAG is taking forward as well.

You majored in a couple of your points there on whether, if we make savings in one area, for example—and we haven't achieved this yet, I have to say—on reducing the numbers of children coming into care, would that be transferred across into another area. Look, we're not cutting and splicing this budget. We've just announced an additional £15 million today. Our intention is to sustain the funding that's going in there, and, as I said to Helen Mary's earlier point, also to find sustainable models in which we keep that going, and part of that is through regional partnership working but also local partnership working, I have to say as well. It's got to translate right down to the local level. But I think our commitment today and over the last few years has been clear that, whilst for some people this might be a slightly left field thing—it's not often a thing that attracts big media headlines—for us it's the most important thing if we genuinely believe that every single child has the right to have those outcomes regardless of the circumstances into which they are born or what life throws at them and their family situation.

On the safeguarding issue, I mentioned today that we are supporting—and encouraging others to support, I have to say—the Stop it Now! Wales campaign around sexual abuse of children, but, of course, in Wales, we are probably slightly more ahead of the game as well in terms of the work we are doing with our national safeguarding board, our regional safeguarding boards—. We are not complacent because I think the safeguarding boards themselves know that we've still got work to do. We see it when something hits the headlines. We look at what's happened, we look at what's gone wrong, we learn from it, and then we make sure those lessons are learned not just in the region but across Wales as well. So, I hope that gives you the reassurance.

And, finally—my apologies—the reason I didn't respond to you last time is that I couldn't—. It was my fault; I was slightly confused on what you're asking me, but I went back and had a look at the transcript. So, let me just make it clear here: on the day that we made the last statement, I went to actually visit a young couple not far from here in Cardiff, actually, who were part of the Adopting Together programme. I think you mentioned previously about this issue around ethnic minorities that they weren't specifically mentioned within that. Actually, they are, and I think we've written to you now to explain that, within the literature, it specifically refers, for example, to children from a black and minority ethnic background. So, I'm very happy to put on record that there should be nothing that disbars people from adoption—from becoming a loving, caring family—based on race or ethnicity or gender or sexuality or whatever. What matters is a caring, loving family that will give that child the very best start in life and the stability they have to live and thrive. That's what this is all about.