Preventative Spend

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:07 pm on 20 November 2019.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 2:07, 20 November 2019

I think that there's always an important balance to be achieved in terms of the preventative agenda and then actually dealing with the health issues that are presenting themselves to the health service today. I know that Angela Burns recognises that, actually, the preventative agenda is very much a longer term kind of agenda, and it takes a long time to turn the ship that we've already got at the moment.

I think that work we are doing across Government—so, the extra investment we're putting into active travel is really important. So, this year alone we'll be increasing the budget for active travel to £34.5 million, and then £30 million further again in 2020-1, because we know the important role that physical exercise and just being out and about in the fresh air can have in terms of your physical well-being and your mental well-being.

So, it is important that we work in that joined-up way across Government, and that's one of the reasons why we've taken the approach this year of looking at our budget through the lens of those eight priority areas. So, mental health is there, early years is there, housing is there—all of those I think have a really, really strong preventative focus. I hope that when Members see the narrative that goes alongside our budget, which we'll be publishing on 16 December, they will get a really clear flavour of the preventative work that is going on across Government.