Children in Care

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:00 pm on 22 March 2022.

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Photo of Rhys ab Owen Rhys ab Owen Plaid Cymru 2:00, 22 March 2022

The recent research by the Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre at Cardiff University commissioned by the Welsh Government saw an increase of 87 per cent in the rate of children in care from 2004 to 2020. And what surprises me is the huge variation within local authorities—so, Torfaen, an increase of 251 per cent, whilst Carmarthenshire has no increase whatsoever—and the local variations between somewhere like Torfaen and Newport. The fact that a child in Torfaen is five times more likely to enter the care system than a child in Carmarthenshire is totally wrong. Now, this information is not new; as you mentioned, it was in the Thomas report, something I became aware of around four years ago. So, can we please have an update from your programme for government of what you're doing to reduce the risk of children entering the care system, and why do we have such a huge variation between local authorities in Wales? Diolch yn fawr.