Diolch. Deputy Presiding Officer, it is a privilege, on behalf of the Welsh Conservative group, to open today's debate, standing up to protect our children and further rights to support our younger carers.

The motion being debated today is an extension of our former work here, with the introduction of the Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act 2014, the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 and the Donaldson review. However, our motion goes even further, proposing that the more than 21,000 young adult carers in Wales are not only officially recognised for their sacrifices, hard work and invaluable care of family and friends, but are given the practical support that they need in order to look after their own health and needs and to flourish in other areas of their lives. This includes providing financial support to young caring students and we have no hesitation in endorsing a policy brought forward earlier by this group that would see young caring students and apprentices with £60 per week. This Conservative recommendation has been repeatedly ignored and I wish to reiterate my support, and this group's, for this measure.

As a result of further research into the realities of young carers' lives, more so than ever we are aware of the immense and complex difficulties facing our young carers. Crucially, our research and engagement with young caring organisations, such as Carers Trust Wales and the Prince's Trust, has illustrated that young carers do require further frameworks of support, and that each instance of caring and supporting a family member or other loved one is rather unique.

Young adult carers range from 14 to 16-year-olds in schools—although, I have to say I heard recently of a young carer of eight years old—trying to manage their GCSE commitments and maturity into adolescence, to 18-year-olds in sixth form; 20-year-olds in university and 24 and 25-year-olds trying to adapt to the demands of adult and work life. Whilst I fully recognise that this path can vary depending on the individual, it is widely corroborated that young adult carers are far less likely to be in education, employment or other training. In fact, according to young carers in Wales, young adult carers are three times more likely to be or have been classified as not in education, employment or training. This has been supported by the Audit Commission, which, as early as 2010, concluded that young carers between ages 16 and 18 were twice more likely to have been NEET for over six months. And, according to the research from Carers Trust Wales, ‘Time to be Heard Wales’, the most common qualification among the survey respondents was a grade D at GCSE. Yet, Deputy Presiding Officer, these educational barriers and challenges have been identified at earlier stages in school life. 

In 2014, the University of Nottingham concluded in their report, ‘Time to be Heard: A Call for Recognition and Support for Young Adult Carers’, that one quarter of young carers reported experiences of bullying and abuse in school purely because of their caring role and responsibilities. Given the myriad of ways in which one can act as a carer, classmates may find the situation of a carer’s parents or sibling actually laughable—we know of instances of that—subjecting them to humiliation and, in fact, deep embarrassment.

Similarly, schoolchildren may abuse and bully a young carer if they find they are attending to a disability of another, or because of their poor academic performance, financial troubles, emotional maturity and personality characteristics that seem at odds with other members of the class. Young adult carers should not be stigmatised and subject to bullying, and, in addressing the concerning statistics on academic and educational performance, the Welsh Government must acknowledge the social and emotional dimensions that influence these trends and endeavour to encourage schools and further education institutions to develop practical ways of supporting this vulnerable and disadvantaged group.