7. What assessment has the First Minister made of the current support available to carers in Wales? OQ55766

Llywydd, I thank Dr Lloyd for that question. The current COVID-19 pandemic has created significant financial pressures for carers. The Welsh Government has therefore created a new £1 million hardship fund, as proposed by national carers organisations. This was announced earlier today alongside our consultation on a new national carers plan.

Can I thank the First Minister very much for that answer? And, in addition, an Alzheimer's Society Cymru investigation released earlier this month—the First Minister will be aware—showed that family carers across Wales are feeling burnt out, and Carers Wales have said something similar this week. The regional survey found that 95 per cent of family carers surveyed said that extra caring hours over this COVID period had negatively impacted their physical or mental health, with 69 per cent feeling constantly exhausted, 49 per cent feeling depressed and 50 per cent developing problems sleeping. Now, I hear what you say about the financial situation, and I thank you for that, First Minister. Could I you ask you what additional support the Welsh Government is putting towards addressing these findings in terms of the physical and mental well-being of informal carers, and do you agree that providing additional counselling and respite support is going to be vital to carers over the winter months?

Llywydd, can I thank Dr Lloyd for those additional questions? It'll be a year next month since his committee published their report 'Caring for our future', and that report goes on being very influential in the thinking of the Welsh Government. I had an opportunity earlier in the year, together with Julie Morgan, the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services, to meet with a group of informal carers. They were tired then, Llywydd; they were already living with the challenges of caring for other people during the pandemic. And it was deeply moving in that meeting to hear from them, both about the challenges that they face, but also about their astonishing commitment to those people for whom they have caring responsibilities, and the rewards that they reported that they get, even in those most challenging times, from having that relationship and carrying out those responsibilities. It was partially in recognition of everything we were told then that my colleague Julie Morgan was able to announce £50,000 earlier in the summer to Carers Wales, for them to provide additional psychological support for unpaid carers here in Wales. It goes some way to answering the points that Dai Lloyd raised in his supplementary question about the ongoing wear and tear that is felt in the lives of unpaid carers at this most difficult time. And I hope that the £1 million fund, which we've been able to announce today, will go further still to help them with the sheer practical impact that caring for others has on them during such a challenging time.