Can I say at the outset that there has certainly been, I think, an improvement in mental health services since the mental health Measure was introduced, but, without a doubt, there are a number of areas where we need further improvement? I also welcome the update from the Government on their delivery plan; it seems to be a step forward from the last plan. There are definite actions here, and a timetable is noted as well, for implementation, and also—very importantly, I think—there’s specific reference in the plan to who is responsible for the different actions.

But, on the other hand, there are major questions remaining in terms of several aspects, including how progress is measured. For some indicators the target is very definitive. For example, a 100 per cent of girls who were identified as having serious mental health problems are offered appropriate support during pregnancy. That is good, but in other areas there are not so prominent improvement targets.

There are specific points, I think, that arise from the availability of talking therapies. A report by Gofal, the mental health charity, notes that far too many people are still being offered treatment by medication rather than other types of treatment and support. And even though they welcome the work that has been done by health boards to expand the provision, they believe that much more needs to be done to expand the range of treatments available. Specifically, they feel that people fail to be offered talking therapies because provision is not available in some areas, or because waiting lists are too long—that is, it’s not for clinical reasons.

I’ll also mention another area that Gofal thinks has inadequate attention, and that is eating disorders. They are very disappointed, they say, after working with the cross-party group on eating disorders to recommend a number of ways forward and specific actions that could be taken, as well as how to measure performance, that there was a big deficiency in the strategy in terms of tackling problems in that area.

If I can move on to an area that I know concerns many of us here in the Chamber—and we’ve just had a reference here to it—namely mental health services for children and young people specifically. We are very concerned here as Members because we do hear consistently from far too many constituents who share their concerns. I received a letter recently from the chair of governors of Cemaes Primary School in Ynys Môn. I’ll read from it: ‘The board of governors of Ysgol Cemaes has asked me to write to you to express our serious concerns about the child and adolescent mental health service. We have a number of children in primary school who need support and our understanding is that there is a waiting time of six months to access the service. We feel that this is quite unacceptable, and it does raise significant questions about the commitment of the national health service in Wales to the well-being and welfare of our children.’

It says it all; the people who are—