CONSULTATON RESPONSE: Social Services and Well-being Bill – Stage one.

NYAS Cymru is part of NYAS, a rights based charity representing and advocating on behalf of children, young people and vulnerable adults across both Wales and England. We provide commissioned services across Wales to looked after children/young people, children in need, young care leavers and vulnerable families.

NYAS Cymru welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Bill and have the following recommendations:

• The Bill will need guidance and a code of practice that clearly outlines agencies roles, duties, functions, governance and accountability.

• NYAS are concerned that creating one single law for adults and children classed as in need will become complex and that the issues affecting children and young people will become lost in an adults world.

• Advocacy services are mentioned within the provision of social work which will come under the proposed definition of social care services. Advocacy services for children, young people and vulnerable people need to be independent and therefore placing this service under social work is not appropriate without clearly stating it is an independent service provided by organisations external to social services.

• We urge the Health and Social Care Committee and the Children and Young people’s Committee to include in the Bill legislation to ban physical punishment of children in Wales. We believe the time has come to end “reasonable punishment” and that the Welsh Government should make a commitment to legislate the rights of children/young people not to be subjected to any form of violent punishments.

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