Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for presenting the Welsh Government’s ‘Together for Mental Health’ delivery plan today? It’s most welcome. The last Labour administration introduced measures that saw a significant increase in funding for mental health services and stated that people who receive these services should have both care and treatment plans in place. Although we know that more needs to be done in this respect, I think we’d all agree it is the right way to be moving.

As we’ve heard, mental health problems affect at least one in four people in Wales, and it’s often linked to poverty, both as a cause and a symptom. Undoubtedly, poverty increases the stress and worry that can lead to poor mental health. For those suffering from mental health problems, securing and retaining employment and coping with day-to-day financial challenges can be a major hurdle.

The decision of the last administration to both increase and ring-fence spending on mental health funding provides the opportunity to increase access to support, enhance pathways and improve outcomes for service users.

The mental health delivery plan will be a vital component in achieving these outcomes, but I’d like to focus on one particular area, that of the mental health first aid programme, which is a key programme in the ‘Together for Mental Health’ strategy in raising awareness, particularly in the workplace.

Through their involvement in local partnership boards, it’s clear that public bodies have a role in this regard by co-ordinating strategies to ensure the implementation of the plan. They also have a role as employers in taking the lead on providing mental health awareness, both in respect of the day-to-day service delivery and amongst their own staff.

Local education authorities also have a crucial part to play in raising awareness around mental health issues amongst children in schools, including working to end the stigma that we’ve heard so much about surrounding mental illness and tackling any intolerance and bullying around that.

It’s true that most of our public service employers do provide counselling services for their staff, but, often, these don’t go as far as providing additional support to help them identify if their mental health is at risk or to provide further support services for those who do identify that they’re experiencing mental health problems.

However, it is to be welcomed that an increasing number of local authorities, health boards and other public services in Wales are starting to recognise the benefit of providing mental health awareness training, often in partnership with their trade unions. My own union, Unison, for example, has developed a comprehensive training package in this area for its members. There are also some excellent examples of major companies, like Admiral and Dŵr Cymru, who provide comprehensive mental health awareness training for their employees, not only to help them in their engagement with customers, but also to support colleagues in the workplace. These companies see raising awareness around mental health issues as a key part of their health and safety obligations.

I hope, therefore, that, in recognition of the importance of the delivery of this strategy, more public bodies will look to embrace mental health first aid programmes and provide awareness training, both for their workforce and for the delivery of their services.