Looked-after Children and Care Leavers

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:40 pm on 10 May 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:40, 10 May 2022

No, Llywydd, I don't intend to change that policy. It is a policy directly influenced by the voices of young people themselves. I commend to the Member the annual report of the children's commissioner, in which young people in the care system described what it is like to be put up for auction on a website so that their care can be provided by the cheapest bid. That is simply not acceptable here in Wales. The services that are provided to our young people need to be provided on the basis of their need, rather than the private profit taking of private companies. I wonder whether the Member has read the Competition and Markets Authority report—two reports—last year, commissioned by his Government in Westminster, both of which report on the excessive profit taking of companies in this field, a fact that was recognised by UK Ministers. We will work over the course of this term to make sure that companies that operate in Wales do so in a way that guarantees any profits they make are reinvested in the service that they provide, rather than being taken out of Wales into the hands of private shareholders.