Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:30 pm on 8 June 2021.
I very much commend the work that you've done to scope the numbers of young carers, particularly those under 16 years, who obviously are the most likely to be missed unless schools are paying attention. I think your idea of respitality is one that's definitely worth focusing on, particularly outside the normal holiday season. At the moment, obviously, all the hotels and bed and breakfasts are full, but later in the year when others are working and back at school, that might be something that would be really interesting to pursue.
I just wanted to raise the point about older carers, particularly those who were doing over 50 hours a week during the pandemic. There are two groups of constituents who are of great concern: they are older parents looking after an adult with a learning difficulty, and the parent or spouse of someone with dementia. Now, both these groups have just had such a huge burden put upon them by the pandemic when all services have closed, and these people are simply not going to leave their loved ones unless the services are there for them to be able to leave the person who needs care with—who that person is going to be comfortable with. So, I just wondered if you could say a little bit more about how we can accelerate opening up the normal respite and day-care services that previously existed, which have been quite slow to return.