Oral - Response of the Welsh Assembly Government to the Annual Report of the Children’s Commissioner

I welcome the eighth annual report from the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, which is the second report since Keith Towler took up his post in March 2008. The budget for the children’s commissioner has been set at £1,837,000 million for 2010-11. The commissioner is content to operate within these parameters and has adjusted his office to improve future service delivery.

The children’s commissioner made a presentation on this report to the Children and Young People’s Committee on 10 November 2009. Jane Hutt, the former Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, welcomed the report in her Plenary statement on 1 December 2009, in which the commissioner discussed the progress that had been made and his planned future activity on key areas of work.

I was pleased to have the opportunity to meet the children’s commissioner in January, shortly after taking up my role as Deputy Minister for Children. The commissioner highlighted the main issues that he proposed to focus on in his new corporate plan, including child poverty, looked-after children, Gypsy-Traveller and asylum-seeking children and young people. The commissioner and I agreed to work collaboratively to progress these issues.

The commissioner’s annual report identifies some key challenges, which we must address to consolidate and build on progress to date in pursuing our innovative and imaginative agenda in Wales. The commissioner has identified the need for a robust response on the part of the Assembly Government to the independent joint review of services for children and young people with emotional and mental health needs that was published on 24 November 2009. The wellbeing of children and young people in Wales, including their mental and emotional health, is of paramount importance to this Government. My colleague Edwina Hart, the Minister for Health and Social Services, has established an expert stakeholder group to work towards the development of a national plan for improving the availability and quality of child and adolescent mental health services by May 2010.

Complaints made by children and young people about the length of time that they have to wait for assessments and to receive their wheelchairs is a concern both for me and Edwina Hart. Following a review of wheelchair services across Wales, Mrs Hart issued a written statement to all AMs in December 2009. I understand that officials are currently finalising proposals for her to consider in taking forward phase two of the review, beginning next month.

On the subject of child poverty, the Children and Families (Wales) Measure received Privy Council approval on 10 February 2010. This means that the Assembly Government can deliver on its child poverty commitments and provide greater support for vulnerable children, and for families where children may be at risk, and can regulate childcare provision better.

I, along with Ministerial colleagues, am expecting to consider a draft of a new child poverty strategy over the course of the next few weeks, which will be followed by a public consultation this spring. The Measure places a legal duty on named Welsh authorities to prepare and publish their own strategies outlining how they will contribute to reducing child poverty in Wales. As well as Welsh Ministers, other bodies, including local authorities, local health boards, Welsh fire and rescue authorities, the national park authority in Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, the Public Health Wales National Health Service Trust, the National Museum of Wales, the Arts Council of Wales, the National Library of Wales and the Sports Council for Wales will, for the first time, be covered by this new duty. This reflects our understanding that, in order to make faster progress on child poverty, there is a need to galvanise and draw on the expertise and experience of a wide range of public bodies across the country.

We have moved swiftly to use our legislative powers to use all the tools at our disposal, and ensure that a wide range of public agencies across Wales maintain a specific focus on helping to improve the outcomes for our poorest children and young people through their work. This will set in train the cultural change that we need if we are to succeed in tackling child poverty.

The Welsh Assembly Government agreed that the concerns raised in the former commissioner’s ‘Lifting the Lid on the Nation’s School Toilets’ report were important, and that action was needed to address issues surrounding health, hygiene and safety in school toilets. Working with the WLGA, the Assembly Government has recently drafted guidance on standards for school toilets aimed at school governing bodies, headteachers and local authorities. It takes account of recommendations raised in ‘Lifting the Lid’, along with the Estyn report on food and fitness in schools. This guidance will be issued shortly by the health and social services department of the Welsh Assembly Government with DCELLS’ endorsement. Subject to agreement of a joint strategy, the Welsh Assembly Government, WLGA, the Association of Directors of Education, directors of public protection in Wales, the children’s commissioner and Estyn will work together to complete the guidance.

Our commitment to children and young people is also highlighted in the Proposed Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure, on which we began a consultation last week. I look forward to the views of all stakeholders in taking forward this law, which, if agreed, will strengthen our commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and contribute to a further cultural shift in how we regard children and young people as an integral and valued part of Welsh society.

I welcome the children’s commissioner’s future work programme, in which he proposes to continue to listen to and learn from children and young people, and represent them when their rights are infringed. I thank the commissioner and his team for the constructive and positive dialogue on these important issues—a dialogue that we will continue to have. I welcome the contribution they make in championing the cause of children and young people’s rights in all areas of policy and practice across Wales.