Thank you to the Cabinet Secretary for his statement. I will also note my thanks to the chief medical officer, Dr Frank Atherton, for his second report. It’s important, despite that, that I draw attention to the fact that we’re having a statement here today on this report, while in the past, including last year, we had debates on the report of the chief medical officer. I would encourage the Government to return to that practice and not let the political balance here and the fragility of that balance to decide in what way important matters with regard to health in our nation are discussed here at the Assembly.

We could go into several different areas, almost any area with regard to health in Wales here, as a result of this report. I will keep to what has been mentioned in the statement itself by the Cabinet Secretary today.

The statement has noted there are many factors that influence public health. That has been discussed several time here. But possibly these reports and what we’ve heard from the Government in general could give greater clarity for us about the true effect that austerity and expenditure decisions in areas separate to health can have on health outcomes. Cuts to social care, housing and so on are cuts to the health service in general as well and I would ask for ways of having an evaluation to measure exactly what the effects of those cuts are on the health service in future.

I will move to the main body of the statement today, which is on gambling. The report does shed light on the problems that are caused by people becoming addicted to gambling and it notes the progress with regard to betting advertisements on television. We are aware of the hypocrisy of the football association in England banning players from gambling on games whilst drawing a great deal of sponsorship from gambling companies.

Your statement, Cabinet Secretary, says that you regret that gambling is being regulated at a British level. I would agree that, when something is regulated at a UK level, that should be the cause of regret because very often it means that regulation happens for the benefit of industry rather than the benefit of the public. I would hope that that’s something that we could look at in Wales in future. But, there are some things that the Government could do. The chief medical officer’s report notes that the Wales Act does give powers for Welsh Ministers with regard to fixed-odds betting terminals to decrease the highest stake from £100 to £10 in B2 categories. I would ask whether you will do that. Is that something that you would wish to do?

Also, there are powers available to local government with regard to giving planning consent for the change of use of shops to betting shops. Research here with regard to discussions on a potential Bill has found that several local authorities are very careful and are concerned about using the powers that they have to increase the number of betting shops, in case of legal steps that might be taken against them. Will you ask the Cabinet Secretary for local government to give greater clarity and certainty for local authorities who want to take steps to prevent the increase that there has been in the number of betting shops?

I will finish, if I may, by referring to what you said about hepatitis C. As one of the champions of the issues related to hepatitis C in the Chamber—I and many other Members—it’s good to see that Wales is in the vanguard in this area. Very often, the situation that we face is finding those people who have hepatitis C—finding enough patients to go through our system. It’s a good problem to have, but it is an issue that we need to solve. May I take this opportunity—and I often find, as do other Members, an opportunity to do this—to press you to make a statement today, perhaps, to be even more ambitious with regard to the need to move forward with getting rid of hepatitis C in Wales?