Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:11 pm on 16 July 2019.
Can I thank Jayne Bryant both for that question and for the work that she is doing to make sure that, on the floor of this Assembly, we continue, as we have, I think, for many years, to have the needs and interests of carers firmly in front of us? It was great to see the Newport Carers Forum here in the gallery listening to the short debate last week.
Of course, respite care is very important, both for carers, but also for the people they care for as well. It’s why we’ve put money directly into the hands of local authorities—£3 million of Welsh Government money—to support carers in that way. It’s also true, Llywydd, I think, that there is a new debate happening across Wales about the form of respite care, and about innovation in the way that respite is provided—‘rethinking respite’, I think, is the slogan that’s used by those people who are part of that debate, and we want to be part of that here through the carers ministerial advisory group. You see it, Llywydd, I think, particularly in the integrated care fund; £15 million of that fund is specifically set aside to provide for the needs of people in the community, and direct support to carers is part of that £15 million package—looking at new ways in which things can be done, recognising the importance of respite care, and, crucially, working with carers groups of the sort that there are in Newport to make sure that the revised services of the future are genuinely co-produced, learning from those who benefit from them and on whose voluntary efforts we so much rely.