Part of 3. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:31 pm on 12 November 2019.
I thank the Member for that important question. We have worked over many years to make sure that the lessons that are learnt in one part of Wales are spread to others, too. Funds that have been established over the last decade have always had that at the heart of them. It's why, on 1 October, when the Minister for Health and Social Services announced £30 million for winter resilience—announced earlier than ever before—£17 million of that has gone direct to the regional partnership boards, because learning the lessons in the health service, in a winter period, has to involve the social care services, as well as the health service. Now, up until now, the money has gone direct to the health service, and the health service makes the decisions. Now, £17 million will be jointly decided upon in those regional partnership boards, allowing the lessons that have been learnt over the recent past to be applied more widely across local authorities, and that there is learning between health boards as well.