I'm also pleased to report that we're continuing to see positive outcomes for those in treatment: 86.5 per cent of people reported a reduction in their substance misuse treatment in 2017-18, up slightly from the year before. Whilst these improvements are welcome, there is clearly more work to do across the agenda. For example, the data shows a rise in alcohol-related specific deaths from 388 in 2016 to 419 in 2017. That emphasises how important it is that tackling alcohol misuse remains a priority for the Welsh Government, as both alcohol and drugs remain major causes of death and ill health.

The Public Health (Minimum Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Act 2018 is a crucial part of responding to what is a major public health issue. This legislation will focus on reducing alcohol consumption amongst hazardous and harmful drinkers. It will also help to reduce the negative impact of alcohol misuse on our hard-pressed public services. Minimum unit pricing will form part of and complement our wider substance misuse work. We're already working to tackle the excessive consumption of alcohol through better education, prevention and treatment services to support the most harmful drinkers. We will also continue to support families of those who misuse alcohol.

Turning to drug-related deaths, the small overall decrease in 2017 is welcome, but 185 drug misuse deaths is still far too many people dying needlessly within our communities. I'm particularly concerned about regional variations that exist and I'm clear that we must work with our partners to focus significant effort upon this. My officials continue to work with partners in a number of areas to try and reduce drug-related deaths further. Our groundbreaking WEDINOS—Welsh emerging drugs and identification of novel substances—project continues to play a key role in reducing drug-related deaths, with the analysis of a range of drugs. Testing substances enables us to examine the chemical compound of the substance, but then crucially to disseminate widely the risk factors involved when individuals take them. The distribution of naloxone, a drug that temporarily reverses the effects of opiate overdose, has been a key strand of our harm-reduction approach for a number of years, and will continue. A total of over 19,000 naloxone kits have been distributed throughout Wales since 2009, with 2,186 reported uses. This is available in every community drug treatment service, along with all prisons in Wales. Given its success, we'll work closely with areas of Wales to further expand the provision of naloxone, especially in relation to those who are not engaging in treatment. For example, our officials have been working closely with police custody suites, accident and emergency departments and community pharmacies to ensure that naloxone is available for hard-to-reach individuals who don't normally engage with services. The complexity of this agenda can be seen when we consider the rise in other substances such as image and performance-enhancing drugs. This reflects major pressures that exist in today's society in terms of body image, and where substances are misused to the detriment of the individual's health and well-being.

Information and education are key elements of our strategy, and we continue to support DAN 24/7, a free and bilingual substance misuse helpline providing a single point of contact for anyone in Wales who wants further information or help relating to their drug or alcohol issues. During 2017-18, there were over 5,000 calls to DAN 24/7, which marks a 26 per cent increase on the previous year. Traffic to the website has also increased by 92 per cent during the same time frame, with the DAN 24/7 interactive website receiving over 145,000 hits. DAN 24/7 played a part in numerous information campaigns over the last three years, in line with our continuing harm-reduction approach.

In terms of recovery from substance misuse, and reintegration into society, being able to support employment is hugely significant, but we know that people often face numerous barriers to working, including a lack of education and skills, particular mental health problems and low self-confidence. Our European social fund-supported out-of-work peer mentoring service is a unique approach in Wales, tackling these key employment barriers through a single service. It provides free, long-term support from trained mentors who have personal experience of substance misuse or mental health problems. And since its launch in August 2016, over 4,200 people recovering from substance misuse alone or from substance misuse combined with mental ill health have enrolled in the service.

In total, we’re investing £17.3 million, including £11.6 million of European social fund support, to support the delivery of the out-of-work peer-mentoring service. This will allow us to support over 14,000 people in their recovery journey by summer 2020. I’m keen to build on this work, and my officials are currently liaising with the Welsh European Funding Office to extend the service until 2022 and to provide more support to more people. Substance misuse is a major cause of people being sick, losing jobs, or feeling unable to get into work, and this service contributes to our commitment to supporting people, to break down the barriers that ill health places on employment.

Turning briefly to the amendments, we'll not support amendment 1 by Darren Millar, as the latest statistics on drug-related deaths show they're falling, not rising. Also, on residential rehabilitation, it’s essentially a matter for area planning boards, in line with clinical guidance and input from service users, to decide what is the most appropriate intervention when commissioning services, whether tier 4 provision or, for example, community rehabilitation.

We won’t support amendments 2 and 3 from Rhun ap Iorwerth. It should be recognised that the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales report looked at people’s experiences at the time of the review. However, officials monitor waiting times rigorously through our published statistics, and over 90 per cent of people, as I have recounted, are seen within our target of 20 working days. However, we will continue to focus and work with partners on the issues raised. And, as found in a recent evaluation, we're making progress on issues that are complex and challenging.

We will support amendment 4 from Rhun ap Iorwerth. Substance misuse is regarded as a health matter, and the harm-reduction approach is something that has been a focus of our work on substance misuse for the past 10 years. As opposed to criminalising individuals, there should be a strong focus on rehabilitation with a harm-reduction focus. I look forward to hearing Members contributions during the debate.