Rwy’n siwr y maddeuwch i mi am nodi’r eironi fod Aelod Ceidwadol yn sôn am yr angen i fuddsoddi mewn gofal cymdeithasol ar adeg pan ydym wedi gweld cymaint o doriadau. Er, wrth gwrs, rwyf wedi nodi bod y blaid yma yn y Cynulliad o bosibl yn meddu ar agwedd wahanol. Mae yna gyllidebau cyfyngedig, wrth gwrs, ac fe helpaf y Llywodraeth o ran hynny, ond un o’r pethau, gobeithio, y byddwn yn gallu ei wneud yn y ddadl hon heddiw yw dweud nad yw’n ymwneud yn unig â faint o arian sy’n mynd i mewn, mae’n ymwneud â beth a wnawn gyda’r arian hwnnw er mwyn cyflawni gwell canlyniadau. Ond wrth gwrs, rwy’n cytuno, mae po fwyaf o arian y gellir dod o hyd iddo i ymdrin â galw cynyddol yn rhywbeth sy’n mynd i orfod cael sylw wrth inni symud ymlaen.

I’m going to focus now on carers. Carers, I think, have suffered in two ways over the past few years. They’ve suffered because of the changes to welfare at a UK-level—and I’m very sorry, Janet Finch-Saunders, for highlighting once again the failings of the Conservative Government in Westminster. The impact that the cuts in welfare have had are something that Members here are very much aware of. But they’ve also suffered because of the poor performance in many areas here. Respite care is one such specific area. There has been a reduction of 24 per cent in the number of nights of respite care that are available, and that respite care is extremely important. Very often, that is the difference between someone coping with caring responsibilities or not coping.

We know from a recent survey that two thirds of carers had given up work or had reduced their working hours because of their caring responsibilities, and that 50 per cent of carers have had financial problems as a result of that; 55 per cent said that their physical health had deteriorated, and almost half of carers said that their mental health had deteriorated—the highest percentage anywhere in the UK, and I hope that we would all be concerned about that figure. Fifty per cent of carers—this is a statistic that I want to refer to—have left their own health problems untreated because of the pressures on them as care providers themselves. So, this respite is so important. It’s certainly no help that there are fewer beds available in community hospitals as one option in terms of providing that kind of respite care. We will cover that in more detail later on.

Things are getting worse. Carers in Wales have published their monitor of performance since the social services Bill. This is what they have found: 17 of the 22 local authorities in Wales can’t provide any data on the number of carers contacting them over the phone, on the internet, or personally, for advice or support. Most local authorities in Wales don’t know how many carers they have referred to other organisations. Carers Wales found that 16 of the 22 local authorities couldn’t provide a figure as to how many people they had referred on to other organisations. We need this kind of data. The needs of carers from ethnic minorities still aren’t taken into account. They have no representation on steering groups, local boards or fora. There was a significant variety in the number of carers assessments that each local authority had undertaken, something that was very important as part of the Bill. And, of the people who completed the survey, 80 per cent hadn’t been offered a needs assessment, which is quite shocking given the fact that those people who did complete the survey had already noted that they were carers, and we know what that Act has to say about that.

So, we certainly must strengthen social care in Wales. My fellow Members will be addressing some of the steps that we believe should be taken, including, as I said earlier, the need to reverse this process of losing beds in community hospitals. But there are so many different elements to the bigger picture of social care we must ensure that none of those are left behind. I look forward to the debate and the Minister’s response. Somehow, we need a social care regime that is more resilient and more sustainable for the future, where there will be greater pressure and greater demand.