6., 7. & 8. The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 14) Regulations 2021, The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 15) Regulations 2021 and The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 16) Regulations 2021

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:52 pm on 21 September 2021.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 4:52, 21 September 2021

Diolch yn fawr—thank you very much. I'm very aware of the situation. Of course, today we are focused on the regulations, but I am happy to just say a few words on the social care situation. I can tell you that we are acutely aware of the stresses and the strains that the social care sector is undergoing at the moment. That is why we are determined to make sure that we pay a huge amount of attention to this. We've already committed £48 million in the past two weeks to make sure that our local government colleagues are able to shore up the systems within their powers. I have weekly meetings, along with the Minister who's responsible for care in the Welsh Government, Julie Morgan, with the Welsh Local Government Association—representatives from there—the NHS, and our own officials, to see what else we can do to shore up the situation over this winter. We have been waiting for months—no, for years—for the Tory Government to come up with proposals on how we're going to fix care in this country. They did come up with some suggestions in recent weeks in relation to how they suggest that we should raise funding. We don't agree with that, but at least we know now what the future could look like. We're not certain, but that does give us an opportunity to think more long term about how we're going to fix the situation in relation to social care. We could have gone a lot further and a lot quicker had we had information before now. So, I can assure you that when it comes to social care, we are doing everything in our power to shore up the situation that we understand is very, very difficult at the moment.

When it comes to liability for care homes, that is something that I know the UK Government is looking at, and that we will continue to consider. When it comes to the jabs, the booster doses—that has already started now in care homes across Wales, and of course there are very high numbers of people who work in those care homes who have already been vaccinated.