2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:38 pm on 21 January 2020.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 2:38, 21 January 2020

I'm grateful to Huw Irranca-Davies for raising three really important issues. The first he raised was regarding access to DBT for individuals with borderline personality disorder. Improving access to a range of therapies is a current priority for the Welsh Government, and over recent years, we have continued to implement our commitment to improve access to psychological therapies, and we provided an additional £4 million to health boards in 2018-19 to support that. A further £3 million was also made available as part of the mental health service improvement funding from this financial year. Improving access, quality, and the range of psychological therapies will, I can confirm, remain a top priority in the forthcoming 'Together for Mental Health Delivery Plan 2019-2022' and it is the intention of the Minister for Health and Social Services to publish that very shortly.

The second issue that was raised was the concern that Huw Irranca-Davies has raised previously in the Chamber, actually, in relation to access to Cardiff from Maesteg. In the first instance, it's an operational matter for Transport for Wales and KeolisAmey, which must meet the franchise commitment, and that is those two trains from Maesteg to Cardiff to arrive before 9 a.m.. But in recognition of the particular issues that he's described, I understand that Transport for Wales representatives have held a stakeholder workshop to look at this issue. The Maesteg-to-Cardiff morning service and the challenges you describe are currently under consideration, and I know that they'll be keen to provide an update following those stakeholder workshops. 

The third issue was the issue of welfare reform, and particularly universal credit and the devastating impact that's had on many people right across Wales. Another piece of evidence that adds, I suppose, to our understanding of the impact of the roll-out of universal credit, is the piece of research I published on the council tax reduction scheme in Wales. And Huw Irranca-Davies has described the impact it has on people in terms of rent arrears. That is one piece of a suite of research that we've undertaken that relates to both council tax and non-domestic rates, and as we gather more of those pieces of research together, they will help inform our way forward, and obviously I'd be keen to update Members in due course.