1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd on 15 November 2016.
3. How does the Welsh Government monitor the effectiveness of its strategies to improve public health in Wales? OAQ(5)0259(FM)
We’re committed to using a range of evaluation mechanisms to ensure that our approach has a positive impact on people’s lives in Wales.
Thank you very much, First Minister. The Welsh Government figure reveals that more than 60,000 people attended drug and alcohol treatment services between January and March this year, and only 13 per cent successfully completed the treatment. It means that 87 per cent of people never completed the treatment. What plans does the Welsh Government have to review the effectiveness of drug and alcohol treatment services in Wales, which are clearly failing to help the majority of those who need them here?
We know that when it comes to drug rehabilitation, it is a long road for many, many people. For some, they don’t manage at the first opportunity to kick the habit. We know that for many it is a process that takes some time. If we look at our substance misuse strategy, the review of that concluded that the main elements of the strategy had been implemented. It did identify a number of areas where additional work would deliver greater benefits, and actions were built into the 2013-15 substance misuse delivery plan in order to take those recommendations forward.
First Minister, your preventative agenda is important to ensure the good public health of people in Wales. Vaccinations are part of that preventative agenda, and particularly in this case, flu vaccinations. We have seen improvements in take-up, but there is still a challenge to NHS front-line staff. What’s the Welsh Government doing to ensure that NHS front-line staff increase the number who take up flu vaccinations to ensure that they can deliver?
I know that GP surgeries in particular have been particularly proactive in ensuring that people are aware of flu vaccinations, and are aware particularly of flu vaccinations that are available without charge to vulnerable groups. And that has proven to be successful over the last few years, and I thank GP surgeries—and pharmacists, for that matter—for the work that they’ve done.
First Minister, you will naturally be aware that smoking rates have declined over the years, partly of course because legislation has been put in place because the number that smoked was still stubbornly high until we had that ban on smoking in public buildings. In the same period, in the last decade, the rates of obesity have increased rather than fallen. Would you agree that legislative measures such as a sugar tax and a minimum price per unit of alcohol could also have a place in all of this obesity agenda? Would you agree that those two steps would strengthen any public health Bill in Wales?
Yes, I would. As regards alcohol, we welcome the fact that the Scottish courts have granted the will of the Scottish Executive, and that’s something that we are now studying in Wales. But, of course, the problem at the present time is the UK Government’s plan to shift this matter from Cardiff to London, and therefore the National Assembly’s powers as regards drafting legislation on this would be curtailed. So, that’s not to be welcomed.
First Minister, the Public Health (Wales) Bill was introduced into the National Assembly on 7 November. If passed, the Bill will, amongst other things, create a national register of retailers of tobacco and nicotine products, create a licensing scheme for special procedures such as acupuncture, body piercing, electrolysis and tattooing, and it will require public bodies to carry out health impact assessments in specified circumstances, as well as requiring local authorities to prepare a local strategy for toilet facilities for public use. So, the Welsh Government is seeking to enact laws that have, at their heart, measures to systemically monitor activities on the ground. What advice would the First Minister offer Members such as the Member for South Wales East opposite, when they come to vote on the Public Health (Wales) Bill, if they wish the Welsh Government to monitor the effectiveness of strategies we pass in law in this place?
I take it the Member refers to the Member who asked the question originally.
I do indeed.
Well, it’s hugely important, of course, that Members understand that the public health Bill is part of an overall strategy to improve health and well-being; they’re not standalone measures. The intention is, of course, for us to present a Bill that is as comprehensive as it can be whilst remembering, of course, the difficulties that were experienced and the strongly held views of some Members in relation to bits of the previous Bill. And we know, of course, the history of that.