How does the Cabinet Secretary intend to address the estimated need for an additional £344m in funding for social care in Wales by 2021-22, as noted by the joint report by the WGLA and ADSS?
Social care is one of five priorities in our national strategy, “Prosperity for All”. As such we invested an additional £55 million a year from 2017-18 and are investing a further £115 million over the next two years. This is to protect front line social care from the worst of the cuts imposed by the UK Government on the Welsh budget.
We recognise the future funding challenges facing social care. This was one of the reasons why we commissioned the Parliamentary Review of Health and Social Care. As a result we will consider innovative models of care delivery and funding to ensure the sector can meet future demands as highlighted by the WLGA and ADSS Cymru.