Children in Care

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:05 pm on 22 March 2022.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:05, 22 March 2022

Well, Llywydd, there are already things that we are doing as a Government. That includes the focus that my colleague Julie Morgan has brought to do this over the last three years. It includes working with the ADSS, the Association of Directors of Social Services, to promote the things that we know work in different parts of Wales. It's striking to me that in Carmarthenshire, which we mentioned earlier, there is a single director in charge of both education and social services, making sure that schools play their part in helping those families to stay together. In the budget that was passed on the floor of the Senedd here only last week, we have a new funding stream to provide advocacy for families at risk of having their children taken into public care, to make sure that, when those decisions are being made, the voice of the family is heard as powerfully as any professional involved in that decision. That's just one of a range of actions, Llywydd, that we are taking, and the determination of the Welsh Government to align ourselves with the need to reduce the number of children in public care in Wales is unwavering.