Questions now from the party leaders. The Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price.

Thank you, Llywydd. Twice over the past few weeks—in a Confederation of British Industry conference and in an interview with Guto Harri—you have referred to the increasing numbers of successful Welsh businesses that are selling out to companies outwith Wales. You said that you  want to follow the mittelstand system in Germany, where indigenous companies grow and develop from small companies into medium-sized companies, rather than being sold. Have you made an assessment of the length and breadth of this problem? How many medium-sized Welsh businesses have been taken over during the past 12 to 15 months?

No, but what I do know is that we need to change the culture as regards businesses in Wales. The tradition of mittelstand in Germany is an exceptionally strong one, and there is a tradition there where companies continue to manufacture and don’t sell out to other companies, but that hasn’t been the case in Wales. This is an old problem. One of the things we were considering at one time was whether we could reopen the Cardiff stock exchange. By now, of course, most are digital in nature. The reason we were looking at the feasibility of that was to ensure that more companies or businesses from Wales would consider being listed on that stock exchange, but, by now, I would say that that’s no longer relevant.

Culture change is the thing for me, to ensure that more businesses from Wales think, ‘Right, we want to grow. We want to stay as we are', and to not always think, 'We must sell out to a larger company'. This is not the case in Ireland, and neither is it the case to some extent in Scotland. So, a change of culture is what’s important.

In terms of the scale of the problem, perhaps I can provide the First Minister with some information. Since the summer of last year, the civil engineering company Alun Griffiths from Abergavenny has been sold to Tarmac. Gap Personnel from Wrexham, one of the five largest recruitment companies in Britain, has been sold to Trust Tech from Japan. Princes Gate, from Pembrokeshire, one of the eight largest mineral water companies in the UK has been bought by Nestlé. Even in your own constituency, there are two substantial Welsh companies that have been bought by foreign companies recently: Harris Pye engineers, a company like Alun Griffiths, with a turnover of over £100 million, was purchased by Joulon from France, and Aircraft Maintenance Services has been purchased by the American company JBT. There’s been some talk about the missing middle. At this rate we’ll have nothing left soon. So, can you confirm whether your Government made any request to the market and competitions commission to prevent any of these sales, and do you accept that one of the problems is that the bank of Wales currently doesn’t have the financial capacity to fund the management buy-outs at the necessary scale? One or two of these deals would take all of the bank's annual funding, so isn’t it now time to look at what’s being offered in Scotland, which is a far greater fund and which could ensure that we are in a position to offer alternative options to these companies rather than being sold?

Well, it’s true to say that you have examples there of the culture that we have. People tend to retire and sell out, rather than thinking about ensuring that the company can carry on. So, the next question is: what can we do about this? So, I think I would like to consider what’s happening in Scotland to see whether there are any lessons that we can learn from Scotland, because it’s one thing to say that we must change the culture, but we have to find ways of being able to do so.

Is part of the problem the overemphasis in terms of Government policy on inward investment? Two years ago, you referred to attracting Pinewood to Wales as one of the main successes of your economic policy. Yesterday we heard that only 20 per cent of the proposed economic benefit has actually come to pass. Your economic director said that more transparency in this case would have been useful, but in this case and in the case of Aston Martin you have refused to be transparent because of commercial confidentiality. You argue that you need to strike the right balance between indigenous development and inward investment, but how can we judge if this balance is right if we don’t have the figures?

Now, of course, we need a strategy for overseas companies, but rather than writing blank cheques for white elephants, wouldn’t it be better for the Welsh Government to look more at safeguarding the companies that we have? To this end, does the Government intend to respond to the European Commission inquiry into the merger of ThyssenKrupp and Tata, which could mean the sale of the Trostre site? And, remaining with Llanelli, can I ask specifically when the Welsh Government became aware of Schaeffler’s intention to close the plant in Llanelli? And as there uncertainty about Brexit is noted as one of the main reasons for that decision, to what extent has Jeremy Corbyn’s opposition and the Labour Party’s opposition to membership of the single market contributed to this decision?

Well, there were a number of questions there. As regards the last one, I don’t think that any contribution has been made by Jeremy Corbyn in relation to Schaeffler, to be fair. I heard this morning about Schaeffler. I wasn’t aware of the company’s plans prior to that. Overseas companies are crucial to the economy of Wales. We know that. Aston Martin will be crucial. Pinewood has secured millions of pounds of investment in the Welsh economy, and it's something we shouldn't be afraid of. But there is a point as regards in what way can we ensure that more companies from Wales grow, because, it's true to say, if a company has their headquarters in a particular country, they tend to stay there. So, that's the challenge. I don't think that we need to make a choice; we have ensured that the bank of Wales is available to assist and support companies in growing. And we also want to ensure that it's possible for those companies to prosper, and also to collaborate with international companies. We know that international companies not only employ their own people, but they are all important in terms of employment in SMEs in Wales that ensure they sell products to them.

I remember, in the days of the WDA, they had no interest whatsoever as regards small businesses. Everything was concentrated on inward investment. Of course, that's very important, but we must ensure that the pyramid that we have, where we have a lot of small businesses, very few large businesses—that that pyramid grows over the years in order to give Welsh companies the confidence that they can grow and expand and that they can stay as they are.

Leader of the opposition, Paul Davies.

Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, as you may know, this week is International Stress Awareness Week and November is Men's Health Awareness Month. Considering that over 63 per cent of adults and over 55 per cent of children in Wales are waiting longer than four weeks to access mental health treatment, and given that the Equality and Human Rights Commission believe that getting timely access to mental health services should be a top priority, why isn't it a top priority for your Government?

Well, I would argue that it is. We've seen huge improvements, for example, in ensuring access to mental health for children and for adolescents, and also emphasis made on ensuring that counselling is available rather than clinical intervention at an earlier stage. We have the Mental Health (Wales) Measure 2010, of course, which I would argue is a unique piece of legislation that improves access to, and delivery of, mental health services. It's driven improvement since its implementation in 2010, it does provide effective and helpful services at an early stage through the local primary mental health support service, and it ensures that those in need of specialist services receive the highest quality of care and treatment.

There are many other things I could refer to, of course, such as, for example, the 'Talk to me 2' strategy to help prevent suicide and self-harm. That strategy, of course, is overseen by a national advisory group. So, I would argue, in fact, that services in Wales have much improved over the years, and that's recognised by the amount of money that we've invested in mental health.

Well, First Minister, clearly, it's not a top priority for your Government, otherwise these people wouldn't be waiting so long. When your Government laid its budget last month, there was no clarity on how you would improve Wales's mental health service provision. This is in huge contrast to the UK Government, who made clear its decision to invest further in the NHS to support those with mental illness in its budget.

Now, First Minister, I know you like talking about England, so, as a result of the Chancellor's announcement last week, the UK Conservative Government is implementing a new mental health crisis service, with comprehensive mental health support available in every major A&E. It's introducing children and young people's crisis teams in every part of England, it's introducing more mental health ambulances, it's introducing more safe havens in the community, it's introducing a 24-hour mental health crisis hotline—all of this, but not on this side of the border. It's becoming clear that mental health provision in Wales is falling behind that of England and other parts of the United Kingdom. Will you now be exploring some of these measures and looking to implement them here in Wales?

What he's suggesting is, in some ways, what we're doing already; he seems not to know that. Can I say that the last published data shows that we are meeting the targets for assessment and interventions on an all-Wales basis? Over 184,000 people have been seen by local primary mental health support services in Wales since their introduction as part of the Measure.

I can say, in terms of crisis care, well, we introduced the Wales mental health crisis care concordat in 2015. That's been successful in significantly reducing the use of police custody for people detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. We continue to work with local health boards, with local authorities and police authorities across Wales to support front-line services that are most likely to be the first contact for people in mental health crisis. We're improving out-of-hours and crisis care; that's a priority in the mental health transformation and innovation fund, which is supported by £7 million of additional funding by the Welsh Government, and, as part of that, we've committed over £1 million this year for a range of approaches to improve support, including liaison services, crisis support and street triage. And, a priority, of course, for our mental health crisis care concordat assurance group is to better understand the context of crisis presentations, and we are developing the data to support this. England is playing catch up.

Not at all. This is just absolute complacency from you and your Government, as usual. We know that, without timely treatment, a person's mental health, just like any other condition or illness, is likely to worsen. Time and time again, children and adults have to display a serious level of illness, often to the extent of harming themselves, before they can access timely services. But, sadly, it's clear that your Government is failing to drive forward the comprehensive sea change that our mental health services desperately need. Even when proposals were put in front of you by the Assembly's Children, Young People and Education Committee on how to improve the dire state of preventative mental health services in Wales, you refused to take on board the majority of those recommendations, even against the wishes of some of your backbenchers. So, can you tell this Chamber today why did your Government refuse to accept those recommendations, supported by Members of all parties, and why, in spite of a 4 per cent real-terms increase in the Welsh budget in 2015 to 2020, you are not sufficiently investing in mental health services in Wales to bring down the unacceptable waiting times for people with mental health conditions?

We are investing in mental health services in Wales. All the data show the improvement that is there. He didn't listen to the answer I gave, did he, for the second question—I gave him a number of answers to his question illustrating what we were doing in Wales. So, let me try, if I can, to help him further. We know that prevention is important. It's why it's a key theme, along with early intervention, in 'Together for Mental Health', and that includes a focus on non-clinical support. We have the healthy and active fund, launched in July by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services and the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport—that is a partnership that delivers an integrated way in which we can introduce a well-being bond and a challenge fund for sport. During phase 1, £5 million is available to invest over three years, with the aim of improving mental and physical health by enabling healthy and active lifestyles, with a particular focus on strengthening community assets.

The Cabinet Secretary also recently announced our investment of £1.3 million for Mind Cymru and the British Red Cross to deliver social prescribing projects across Wales—they'll help to deliver evidence for social prescribing for mental health issues to support our future—[Interruption.]—I know that he didn't expect this answer, but he's going to get it—to support our future actions in this area. We recognise, of course, the impact of adverse childhood experiences on our life outcomes; that's why we funded the ACE support hub. This is a centre of expertise to increase understanding of adverse childhood experiences and resilience. And we continue, finally, to support the Time to Change Wales campaign to end the stigma and discrimination faced by people with experience of a mental health problem in Wales. Phase 3 of that campaign will run for the three-year period from April, jointly funded between health and social services, economy, transport and Comic Relief.

I think I've illustrated very, very strongly the commitment of this Government to mental health issues and have illustrated the commitment that, financially and politically, we have made. And I'm glad that the party opposite has decided to catch up.

Leader of the UKIP group, Gareth Bennett.

Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, for the next financial year, it has been forecast that just over half of the Welsh Government's entire budget will be spent on health. However, when we look at opinion polls, it's clear that the Welsh people don't think that the NHS is working in Wales. In May 2014, after 15 years of the Welsh Assembly, the BBC and ICM Research asked people if having the Assembly had led to an improvement in the NHS, a decline, or had made no difference. Less than one in four people believed that it had led to an improvement. Health is clearly a vital area for your Government and for the people of Wales, but do you think that spending 50 per cent of the whole budget on health is sustainable, and are the Welsh people getting the health service they deserve?

Well, if he's suggesting that spending 50 per cent on health isn't sustainable, he is advocating another model. Now, if he's advocating another model that includes a reduction of coverage or the introduction of an insurance-based scheme, then I'm willing to hear what his ideas are. I'm sure he can explain those to the people of Wales. We have shown the people of Wales that we have continued to spend the money that's needed on the health service, despite, of course, seeing enormous cuts—£4 billion in real terms of cuts—over the past eight years from the UK Government. And I know full well that, if you ask people in England what are their views of the health service in England, you're likely to get very similar results to those in 2015. And, since 2015, things have hugely improved: the new treatments fund that's been launched, the fact that we have, of course, targets, more targets, that have been reached—if we look at ambulance response targets in terms of red calls, they are being reached, and that's a sign of the commitment that we have made to the health service.   

Clearly, your assessment of your Government's performance isn't really shared by the people of Wales, but one key issue that is clearly having a detrimental impact on the NHS is health tourism and immigration. [Interruption.] Yes. The UK Government has estimated that treating health tourists costs up to £300 million a year. There is also the pressure caused by mass immigration. The Office—[Interruption.] The Office for National Statistics stated that, in 2017, there were 280,000 more people migrating into the UK than migrating out, so 280,000 more people having access to our NHS. That's more than the population of Swansea. So, First Minister, do you accept that uncontrolled immigration has played a major part in the huge crisis in our NHS?

Well, my experience of people who have come to the UK is that they are young, fit and vigorous. They don't put much pressure on the NHS because they are net contributors, tax-wise, and they take very little out as a result of it. Let me give him an example of health tourism: the doctors who work in our NHS, the nurses, the physiotherapists, the medical staff—all of whom have come to Britain to work within the national health service. The national health service could not exist—could not exist—without being able to access the medical expertise of doctors, nurses and others from other countries. Yes, I think health tourism is a good thing because it makes sure our people stay well and alive.

Yes, First Minister, I thought you would do you your usual thing and trumpet on about all of the foreign nationals working in the NHS. And, of course, you normally add how Brexit will be threatening the health service. However, BBC research revealed that, as of September 2016, just 2.5 per cent of all NHS staff in Wales are from the European Union. In fact, more than 93 per cent of staff working in the Welsh NHS are from the UK. If you are really worried about filling the gaps, then you should be asking yourself, 'Why are we not training more British people to work in the NHS?' Yet, again, your side is condemning me for mentioning uncontrolled immigration. However, this year—[Interruption.] This year, a Migration Watch poll found that 73 per cent of—[Interruption.]—73 per cent of voters support the goal of immigration being reduced dramatically. This also includes a majority of Labour voters. Is this not another case, First Minister, of you being out of touch with the Welsh people in general and, even worse, out of touch with your own Labour voters? 

Well, we win elections on this side. I don't know about you over there, but your group has gone down quite significantly since you first arrived in the Assembly. I know you have a rotating leadership scheme within UKIP. But let me say one thing to him now: people will be amazed at his dismissal of the contribution of those from outside the UK to our health service. Even on his own figures, he says that 7 per cent of those working in the NHS are from other countries. Is he saying that they shouldn't be there because they are the wrong skin colour or they're from the wrong part of the world? I don't care where they are from. What I care about is that they make people well. I don't care where someone was born. What I want to make sure is that somebody has the expertise to treat cancer, to treat heart disease, to perform operations in orthopaedic wards. That's what I care about. I could not care less about their background, as long as they are providing services for our people. Take the blinkers off your eyes, open your eyes to the world, and stop thinking that, somehow, anybody and everybody who lives in this country from a migrant family is in some way not welcome.

Every single person, as I've said before in this Chamber, is the descendant of an immigrant—every single person. It's simply a question of when our families came. In some ways—. UKIP don't seem to recognise that, but take the blinkers off and stop saying to the people of Wales, 'We want to get rid of doctors that make you well because of our own strange political—and often racist—dogma.'