The First Minister was taken to task by the Welsh Conservatives today for failing to eliminate the use of B&Bs for young people in the care sector, a pledge that was made by the Labour Government back in 2015.
The questions from the Leader of the Opposition come after a devastating BBC Wales documentary about the appalling state of social services in Wales that revealed around 50 young people in care were placed in B&Bs, hostels, and budgets hotels in the last year, despite the Labour Government having seven years to fulfil their promise.
When asked by Andrew RT Davies MS whether Mark Drakeford could guarantee he would meet that pledge during his time in officer, he made no such commitment, stating “I absolutely want to a situation in which young people are not looked after in those very unsatisfactory circumstances”.
Davies mentioned the case of Gemma, who said she felt she was let down by the system that was supposed to keep her safe and that she was exploited by older men when she was young, before being taken into care at 14, when she had become addicted to heroin. She had moved house 12 times by the time she was 15.
Drakeford admitted that: “We take children away from their families in Wales at twice the rate that children are taken into care in England” and that 1-in-20 people who leave care have been in unsuitable accommodation.
He added: “This is a trend of 20 years and probably more: year-after-year, the rate at which children are taken away from families in Wales rises. That delivers a poor service for those children and…those families that look for preventive help from social service departments who find that there is no capacity to do that”.
In Wales, 285 young people live in accommodation that isn’t regulated by the care watchdog.
The exchange comes a week after the Welsh Conservatives reiterated its call for an independent review of children’s services after Mark Drakeford said one wasn’t needed following the murder of Logan Mwangi. Reviews are occurring in the other UK nations and Wales has the UK’s highest rate of looked-after children.
Commenting afterwards, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies MS said:
“While prevention is better than intervention, family breakdowns will tragically always occur, and we need a system that works for those vulnerable young people – one much better than the one we currently have in Wales.
“So, I’m really frustrated that the First Minister couldn’t even say that he would meet a pledge that we are still waiting seven years to be implemented, especially given that those who are involved desperately need the state to look after them.
“While it is a step forward to see the First Minister actually admit there are problems in Welsh public services – something he usually finds any excuse to avoid – we now need urgent action to address the issues in our care system.
