Îʶ¦ÓéÀÖ

• Dawn Bowden, MS Minister for Children and Social Care.
• Mary Wimbury, Special Advisor to Minister for Children and Social Care.
• Cath Cleaton, PS Minister for and Social Care.
• Alwyn Jones, Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS) Cymru (Chair).
• Denise Moultrie, Îʶ¦ÓéÀÖ Government.
• Mark Price, Îʶ¦ÓéÀÖ Government.
• Joseph Wilton, Îʶ¦ÓéÀÖ Government.
• Louise Bushell-Bauers, Care Inspectorate Wales.
• Jayne Newman, Unpaid Carer.
• Bobbie-Jo Haarhoff, Unpaid Carer.
• Rachel Clement, Children in Wales.
• Kai Collins, Young Carers Advisory Board.
• Rob Simkins, Carers Wales.
• Kate Cubbage, Care Alliance.
• Jon Antoniazzi, Carers Alliance.
• Beverly Davies, Hywel Dda University Health Board.
• David Watkins, Cwm Taff Morgannwg University Health Board.
• Rachel Wright, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
• Suzanne Becquer-Moreno, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
• Valerie Billingham, Older People’s Commissioners Office.
• Josie Yuen, Public Health Wales.
• Kim Dolphin, Carers Officers Learning and Improvement Network.
• Kathy Proudfoot, Carers Officers Learning and Improvement Network.
• Amy Hawkins, Swansea City Council.
• Alyson Hoskins, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.
• Nick Andrews, Swansea University.
• Dan Burrows, Cardiff University.

• Naomi Harper, Flintshire County Council.
• Natasha James, Vale of Glamorgan County Borough Council.
• Naheed Ashraf, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.
• Mererid Bowley, Powys Teaching University Health Board.
• Victoria Lloyd, Age Cymru.
• Jon Day, Social Care Wales.
• Taryn Stephens, Îʶ¦ÓéÀÖ Government.

The Chair opened the meeting by welcoming attendees and announcing the transition of the hosting of the Young Carers Board to Carers Trust Wales from Children in Wales. 

He expressed gratitude to Rachel Clement for her support during the meetings for young carers. 

Additionally, he noted that this was his final meeting as Chair as he was stepping down to take up a new post in Wrexham County Borough Council, and thanked everyone for their support and the accomplishments achieved over the years.

Confirmed all actions completed.

A draft paper for the group on the delivery plan had been issued alongside other papers for the meeting. Denise Moultrie confirmed a Delivery Plan Task and Finish Group had been established and met twice to review. Confirmation provided that previous discussions with Ministerial Advisory Group members had also been reflected in the delivery plan. 

Drafting of the delivery plan aligns with agreeing workplans for 2025 to 2026 with partners in the third sector to deliver national programmes for Îʶ¦ÓéÀÖ Government. Funding for these has been extended for a further year. The delivery plan will be published on the Îʶ¦ÓéÀÖweb-page in the new financial year.

Local authority representatives requested greater reference to the duties of local authorities under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.

A new national strategy for unpaid carers is planned for April 2026, and work will begin on this process early in the new financial year. An update will be provided at the next meeting in June.

Actions included:

• AP1: Denise Moultrie to make amendments to delivery plan and circulate to local authority and Care Inspectorate Wales members for final comment

Update provided by Dan Burrows on research relating to .

The was also highlighted.

Other research noted was the.

Resources have been issued to promote Young Carers ID cards in schools and colleges and will be followed up to assess their usage and identify further barriers. Funding has been given for updated educational resources for teachers, which will soon be available on educational platforms used by teaching staff.

A strategic multi-agency group is being established to improve the identification, recognition and support of young carers. This will include senior leaders from local authorities and relevant organisations with Carers Trust Wales acting as a link to the Îʶ¦ÓéÀÖ Government’s Young Carers Advisory Board.

The delivery plan for 2025 to 2026 will ensure a focus on young carers, including the importance of their mental health and wellbeing. The Young Carers Action Day was also highlighted and event held at the Senedd for young carers to share issues.

Confirmation provided that a social media campaign is being planned for April to help young carers self-identify. Work is underway with colleagues in Îʶ¦ÓéÀÖto ensure care-aware messages are include in the new pharmacy framework. Guidance on the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) was also discussed.

Funding has been provided for this year’s Young Carers Festival in August.

The purpose of the group is to support national improvements in access for unpaid carers to information and advice and to carers; needs assessments. The findings of engagement work with local authorities and unpaid carers Has been presented to the All Wales Heads of Adults Services and will be presented at the Association Directors of Social Services Spring Seminar on 31 March. It is proposed that the group will convene workshops with senior local authority managers to agree on best practices principles and next steps for delivering improvements.

Parallel work is also underway with health boards and a survey to be issued at the end of March with a 6 week response. This will target senior and practice levels within health boards, aiming to gather comprehensive feedback.

A request will be sent to the group for expressions of interest for the role of chair. The Minister for Children and Social Care will make the appointment of the new chair for the next meeting in June.

Actions included:

• AP2: Îʶ¦ÓéÀÖto email the group to invite expressions of interest for the role of chair

The Minister for Children and Social care thanked Alwyn Jones for his role as chair and commitment and contribution in driving work forward in supporting unpaid carers. The Minister spoke of the further £5.25 million to extend the Short Breaks Scheme and Carers Support Fund for another year confirming we well on track to delivering 30,000 breaks by the end of March. The Minister advised on the delivery plan and funded national work programmes which reflect identified priorities. The Minister also conveyed thanks to the Delivery Plan Task and Finish Group for their input to this work.

The Minister recognised the challenges which carers face and the impacts this can have on mental health and well-being. The Minister spoke of the pressures on young carers and the importance of raising awareness of what we can do to help and support them. The Minister also confirmed that a multi-agency group is being established with a specific focus on young carers. This will sit underneath the Ministerial Advisory Group. As hosting of the Young Carers Advisory Board is transferring over to Carers Trust Wales, the Minister thanked Rachel Clement, Children in Wales for her support of the young carer attending the group.

An update was provided on the census data work which had been commissioned by this group to establish a new local authority census and data collection for unpaid carers. Guidance is due to be published which will be on the data collection webpage. The purpose of the new data collection is to gain a better understanding of the support provided by local authorities for unpaid carers. There will be a focus on carer needs assessments and collection will be broken down into 2 sections:

• demographics
• outcomes of assessment and further support received

Data from local authorities will be collected for the year 2025 to 2026 and submitted to Îʶ¦ÓéÀÖby end of that financial year.

The next meeting is scheduled for 12 June 2025.