I thank the Deputy Minister for the statement. Plaid Cymru has, of course, undertaken a significant amount of work through our care commission, which made the case for a national health and care service, and for a major shift towards preventing ill health and keeping people living independently. But, ours did so because that's what's best for people receiving the service. So, I'm surprised that the Government's White Paper and the statement, above all, frame this in the context of austerity and financial challenges.

It is the case that healthier people, living independently, will cost health and care services less money than the opposite, but I do fear that using austerity as the main justification may backfire somewhat. Do this because it's the right thing to do, not because the spreadsheet tells you to do it.

The challenges identified in the White Paper are similar to the challenges that we identified, actually: a lack of progress, in general, on the integration agenda; limited data-sharing progress; problems with commissioning. But, I'm not sure that the penny really has dropped with this Labour Government. In 2013, Plaid Cymru tabled amendments to the social services Bill to require partnerships. They were voted down in favour of voluntary agreements. You've been giving voluntary partnerships one last chance for most of the past decade.

It's also, I think, quite telling that your statement doesn't actually mention health or the NHS. So, perhaps the Deputy Minister could tell us how she sees integration working now. Certainly, it doesn't mention housing, or the wider environment. Yes, we know we need more housing adapted to help people stay living there. We need more semi-residential care facilities that avoid the problems with full residential care, whilst still supporting the people in them. But we need to address housing as a core part of this. It seems to me that we have silo working in clear view here.

Turning to something the statement does mention, the workforce. I too welcome some of the work that's been done on this, but it's worth remembering just how often the party of Government voted down attempts to ban zero-hours contracts in social care. As the Plaid Cymru commission recommended, it's our firm commitment that we will place social care staff on NHS pay scales, and finally make good the aspiration of making social care a valued career that people can aspire to. I wonder if the Deputy Minister can outline where she stands on that.

And finally, I'll turn to the commissioning practices. The problems of focusing on price over quality are heavily mentioned in the White Paper. Now, we know the Government proposes a national framework for commissioning, but I want to know more details about how this Government's proposed framework will avoid the race to the bottom that left our care homes so exposed to the pandemic. I remind you again that my proposal is for a set of national frameworks providing the backbone for local delivery in a properly integrated national health and care service for Wales.