Thank you for that answer, Deputy Minister. A large part of my casework is taken up with matters related to social services, in particular with regard to the adoption services. This is not surprising given that, in the South Wales East region alone, some 280 children were referred for adoption in 2016-17—a massive 66 per cent increase on the previous year.

I understand that this trend has been replicated throughout Wales according to the National Adoption Service. It is laudable that the First Minister has recognised these trends, as outlined in yesterday's statement, and has issued instructions to attempt to alleviate what can only be called an epidemic of such adoptions. However, the decision of whether or not to remove a child from its birth family lies with the social worker involved, and as highlighted below, many of these decisions seem to be endemically flawed. One of my cases involved a child receiving a minor injury who was then removed from their family for six months, causing immense trauma to her parents and grandparents. It was subsequently found that there was no case to answer as far as neglect or the deliberate inflicting of this injury. Indeed, the child suffered far more injuries whilst in care, although these were such as one would normally associate with a young child growing up. Llywydd, we, on these benches, feel that there is an undeniably—