I heard Helen Mary Jones say she's making a different speech to the one she expected, following the statement by the Minister. I'm going to do something different—I'll be voting a different a way than I expected to, following the statement by the Minister, because I was going to vote in favour of the Labour Party policy if the Minister hadn't made the statement that was made there.

I'll start by restating Labour Party policy agreed by the Wales Labour Party conference in 2018—a policy I supported then and support now: defend and save the Welsh independent living grant. The Welsh independent living grant was introduced to help people who previously claimed from the UK Government's independent living fund, which closed in 2015. More than 1,500 people are helped by the Welsh independent living grant scheme across Wales and recipients all have a very high degree of care and support needs. The Welsh independent living grant was due to run until the end of March 2017, but it had been agreed that funding would continue for another year. The annual £27 million fund would then transfer directly to local authorities during 2018-19 so they could meet the support needs of all former ILF recipients by 31 March 2019.

This conference called upon the Welsh Labour Government to maintain the Welsh independent living grant, at least until the next Welsh Assembly election, and to do so whilst retaining the following principles: preservation of the triangular structure of the grant between the local authority, the individual and a third party stakeholder; that the available funding should be ring-fenced in the future to ensure that allocated moneys are used for the purpose for which they are intended; that the well-being of disabled people should not be put at risk; that the most vulnerable people in society should be protected not endangered; and that quality of life is a human right for our vulnerable individuals, rather than merely maintaining existence.

As a member of the Petitions Committee, I was there when we received evidence. The primary concerns raised by the petitioner and others relate to a fear over the impact of transferring responsibility for supporting former ILF recipients to local authorities, in particular the financial ability and resources of local authorities during a time of austerity to adequately replicate the focus on independent living promoted by the ILF and WILG. And I'm not criticising local authorities. Anybody who's got any knowledge of local authorities will realise just how much pressure they are under. It's like squeezing a balloon—every time you push it in somewhere, it goes out somewhere else.

The concerns also relate, however, to previous experiences of the petitioner and others supporting his campaign of working with or receiving services from local authorities. This included a concern over the understanding of the term ‘independent living’ itself:

'It is no secret that a Medical Model attitude towards disabled people remains endemic and institutionalised across the public sector and it is clear from the regional needs assessments and particularly Social Care Wales’ summary report, that there is no understanding of the distinction between "being independent" [meaning managing without support] and "Independent Living" that Welsh Government have formally accepted as meaning disabled people living the lives they choose, in the way they choose and supported how, when, where and by whom they choose.'

Another further concern expressed by the petitioner related to a loss of the tripartite structure within the operation of the ILF. This incorporated the recipient of funding, the central administration of the fund and the local authority in making assessments and reaching decisions about care and support. The petitioner explained:

'the other element of the Independent Living Fund was that independent Social Workers carried out the assessments and reviews so that disabled people felt protected by the independent oversight of a qualified and experienced social worker who could not be intimidated by' or instructed by the local authority because they weren't working for it.

I welcome the statement by the Welsh Government that it will provide additional funding to local authorities for the cost of independent social workers and additional care hours that may result from these independent assessments. This means that there can be no question of—