Can I firstly commend the Government on its approach to the delivery plan, and in particular the extensive formal consultation and the engagement with stakeholders, carers and users of services?

As many people have mentioned today, one of the most significant contributions to the improvement of mental health services was the passage of the Mental Health (Wales) Measure 2010 and, in particular, I want to refer to the increasing ease of access to primary mental health assessments.

It goes without saying that timely access to assessments is crucial in terms of the prior diagnosis and ongoing treatment of mental ill health. Targets for those assessments have been challenging, but progress in meeting them has been very good in many parts of Wales. But there’s clearly been an increase in demand. No doubt, part of that has been caused by the availability of better access, and so that’s obviously to be welcomed, but it seems to me that an increase in people presenting with potential mental illness is also a result of the increasing pressures that people face in leading their lives—financial worries, relationship breakdowns, other health conditions and so on. So, the question of access to an assessment and the capacity to meet increasing demand, even if current performance is encouraging, is going to be vital.

One of the changes brought in by regulations under the Act was to change the eligibility for those entitled to undertake a primary assessment, in particular by withdrawing entitlement, for example, from psychotherapists. During consultation, under the regulations, concerns were raised in relation to that change, not least since some of those practitioners provide NHS services to patients at different points in their journey, as we’ve heard today. It’s obviously essential that those providing services are properly trained, that their expertise and experience is current, and that they operate within a recognised ethical framework. The Government has indicated it would look again at the issue of eligibility to provide assessments. So, in the interest of ensuring that we have the right levels and the right types of capacity to meet what is surely going to be an increasing need, I’d welcome an indication of whether the Government’s intention is still to bring forward proposals on the issue of eligibility, and if so, within what sort of timescale.