Chamber and committees

We could be more advanced. The process of co-design and introducing the framework bill and so on could have started earlier.

As I said, I wanted to get some clarity. John Mason talked about the IT support and the £60 million total cost for that, according to table 5 in the financial memorandum. Is that the cost for streamlining or improving the current system or is it for delivering the new system?

So the figure in table 5 is very much a best guesstimate.

For the sake of clarity, then, you are not ruling that out, but you think that it is unlikely.

I appreciate that, but at the moment, money can come out of the budget or it can be withheld and used elsewhere. Taking my politician’s hat off and putting my farmer’s hat on, I would say that promises from politicians are not always worth a huge amount. We always look at the additional cost of legislation, and depending on how decisions are taken as part of the filling out of the framework, there could be areas in which any underspend could still be utilised outwith the agriculture budget.

Lastly, and again on EU alignment, I understand that the new CAP scheme requires reserves to be kept for crises. Would that be built into the legislation, or is it envisaged that it will be put into the legislation once the framework is fleshed out? If so, how would that reserve be built up?

Is it not being considered at the moment?

There are a lot of people who simply do not apply for the care that they should be entitled to, so the focus on the bill and awareness around care and people’s rights might have an impact. Do you think that the current funding support that is available for that will meet any increases there?

I want to look at some of the costs and then I will ask my main question. Who pays for the carer breaks, how will that be done and can you give me an estimate of the cost?

Obviously, a lot of people who are entitled to care do not receive their full allowance of care. Do you expect there to be greater uptake of care because of the bill?