Jeff Cuthbert, Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty
This was published under the 2011 to 2016 administration of the Welsh Government
At Plenary on Tuesday 19 November I informed members of my intention to respond on behalf of the Welsh Government to the Children’s Commissioner for Wales’ Annual Report 2012-13.
Our response deals in detail with the individual issues raised by the Commissioner in his report and clearly reflects the significant progress we have made in Wales on embedding children’s rights into all our policy and legislation. We were, of course, the first country in the UK to enshrine the UNCRC in law and it is evident from his report that the Commissioner recognises our commitment to children’s rights.
Alongside our response we are also publishing the Commissioner’s budget estimate.
Paragraph 6(2) of Schedule 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000 states that the Commissioner shall prepare and submit to the Welsh Government an estimate of income and expenses, and that the Welsh Government shall lay the estimate before the National Assembly for Wales. The estimate has been laid in the Table Office today.
I thank the Commissioner for his report. I am sure our response will reassure the Commissioner both of the importance we place on his report and also the Welsh Government’s continued commitment to implementing the UNCRC.
A copy of both the Welsh Government’s response to the Commissioner’s report and the Commissioner’s budget estimate is attached to this Statement.