First Minister, in June last year, it was reported that Wales has the highest proportion of children in the UK being cared for by the state. There were 7,170 children being looked after away from home in Wales, which is actually 1.14 per cent of the children. As you and my colleague Rhys ab Owen mentioned, the rate has increased significantly here in Wales, and this trend is a cause for concern, particularly the impact on the outcomes for children who are taken into care in terms of educational attainment, health, unemployment, homelessness and criminal justice. However, there are local significant variations across local authorities here in Wales. Evidence suggests that these differences are linked to the interaction between safeguarding practices, levels of deprivation and parental factors, and there tends to be a greater emphasis in Wales on finding permanent placements for children, rather than achieving reunification between birth families and their children, even though reunification is desired by many families.

So, First Minister, since the responsibility for children in care does not fall into social services departments alone—and I know you mentioned in your previous answer the focus is on local governments, as well as the courts—and that a range of agencies do in fact provide services for children and families at risk, what is the Government specifically doing to improve working practices to facilitate better experiences and outcomes for those who come into contact with these services? Thank you.