2. Will the First Minister outline the Government's strategy to protect the rights of disabled children in South Wales West? OQ58096

I thank Sioned Williams for the question. Llywydd, since the start of devolution, this Senedd has led the way in promoting the rights of all children. We remain committed to the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This means ensuring that the rights of all children and their needs are met and that they are treated equally.

Thank you, First Minister. Parents of two disabled children in my region have contacted me following their difficulty in ensuring suitable childcare. The children have been attending a Flying Start nursery, where there is support available, but now that they are over four years of age the parents were expected to pay three times more for care over the school holidays than children without additional needs would be paying. So, instead of £44, the cost of the care was £146 per child, and that's a total of £292 per day and it's unaffordable. Following pressure by my office and their social worker, they've heard that there will be some support by the Neath Port Talbot multi-agency early years panel. But it's been very difficult to access information about support, and groups that support disabled children in my region tell me that the lack of qualified and affordable care is a common and long-standing problem that creates a great deal of inequality. I'm pleased to see that reviewing these services and identifying the barriers to support will be a priority in the Government's new learning disability strategy, but how will you ensure that this much-needed support is available, is accessible and that it will be available now for the parents of disabled children? 

Well, I thank the Member for the supplementary question, Llywydd. If she would like to write to me on the particular case that she's raised, then I'd be happy to look into the circumstances there. More generally, I've seen figures that demonstrate that almost 600 children with disabilities in her region are in receipt of services now in the area of childcare, and that number has increased over the years, and it's increasing because the Welsh Government is funding the sector, providing enhanced funding, in order to create more opportunities for children with disabilities to access the services that they need, and we do that in partnership with local authorities and with the sector too. The way to increase the number of children able to access that support is to do more with buildings so that they are appropriate for the children, but also to train those working in the area so that they have the skills that they need in order to provide services to children with disabilities. We continue to work in that area. If there are more ideas on doing more in the future, then we are eager to hear them and to do that.

People with a learning disability suffer more significant isolation due to misunderstandings between residential care settings and supported living services where people are supported within their own tenancies. Can the First Minister outline the ways people with a learning disability and their family/carers will be at the heart of designing the services they need? Thank you.

Llywydd, I'm pleased to be able to say to the Member that just this afternoon my colleague Julie Morgan will be making an oral statement on the learning disability action plan. That plan has been drawn up with the direct and full engagement of those who work in the sector, those who provide services for people with a learning disability, and particularly with those organisations who speak on behalf of people who have a learning disability. I'm sure the Member will be listening carefully to what the Deputy Minister has to say and will no doubt have questions for her if he thinks that there is more that could be done in the particular circumstances to which he has referred.