I thank Jenny Rathbone for those very important points. Taking forward a national office is something that there is a mixed reaction to in the consultation responses, but there is probably more support than not. And the purpose of having a national office is actually to simplify the whole system, because, at the moment, we've got hundreds of providers employing thousands of people, and each negotiation that takes place in terms of what the fees are for care homes, for example, has to be done on that individual basis with that individual care home, and there are 22 local authorities commissioning, so it's incredibly difficult. And I think, for individuals trying to negotiate the care system, it is very, very complex and very difficult. So, we think that a national body would be a way of simplifying things, and certainly trying to work during the pandemic with the mass of providers has been very difficult in terms of getting key messages through to those individual providers. So, I certainly see a national office as something that will simplify things.

I'm aware of the Public Accounts Committee's work, and I certainly think that their proposal that existing structures should be looked at first is absolutely right. And one of the things that we are considering is strengthening the RPBs, which, of course, are existing structures that were there to strengthen the working between health and social services, and where a considerable amount of money is put in by the Government for them to work together. The £129 million ICF funding and the transformation funding of £50 million per year is there to stimulate the working together. We do think that RPBs need to be strengthened but, of course, they are existing bodies.

And finally, I know the Member's referred to the third sector—well, I think it's absolutely crucial that we involve the third sector in as much as we possibly can, and I think it's very illustrative really that, in the responses to the White Paper, the third sector were, on the whole, consistently supportive of strengthening the RPBs, because that's where they've got a voice. They don't feel they've got a strong enough voice, but they are represented there on the regional partnership boards, along with a citizen representative, a carers representative, and it's that multifaceted sort of board there they support.