Mark Drakeford, Minister for Health and Social Services
This was published under the 2011 to 2016 administration of the Welsh Government
The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 received Royal Assent on 1 May 2014. The Act forms the basis for a new statutory framework for social care in Wales.
The regulations, codes of practice and statutory guidance have been developed in two tranches, through a consultative process with key stakeholders. The first tranche of regulations, together with the related codes of practice and statutory guidance was made available for a 12 - week public consultation on 6 November 2014. I was very pleased to receive over 300 substantive written responses to these consultations. The overall response was positive, with respondents expressing support for the principles and the detail of the draft regulations, codes of practice and statutory guidance. These responses have provided us with much valuable input and we have used this evidence to make changes as a result, further developing and refining our regulations, codes of practice and statutory guidance.
The eligibility regulations will be the first under the Act to be laid on 8 May and will provide the full 60 days scrutiny period under the Super Affirmative procedure; our ambition is that these will be debated on this floor before the Assembly rises for the summer recess. The remaining regulations under tranche 1, made using affirmative and negative procedures, will also be laid during this period; again, we hope that these will be debated to the same timetable.
The second tranche of subordinate legislation is being made available for consultation from 8 May 2015; this consultation will run for 12 weeks until 31 July. These regulations, codes of practice and statutory guidance have again been supported by a range of stakeholder engagement. This tranche will create a system that secures outcomes for looked after and accommodated children, drives regional collaboration, puts in place a system of charging, financial assessment and paying for care and supports the provision of advocacy.
These policy areas are embodied within parts 5,6,9 and 10 of the Act and are presented in four linked consultation packages. The four consultations can be accessed through the links on the right of this page.
Following completion of this extensive consultation and the post-consultation analysis it is my intention these regulations, together with Explanatory Memoranda and Regulatory Impact Assessments, will be laid in November 2015. The full suite of codes of practice in relation to both tranches will be laid in November 2015, to coincide with the final stage of the process.
I will of course ensure Members are kept fully informed of the outcome of the consultation.