2. What legal advice has the Counsel General given to the Welsh Government in relation to improving children’s access to mental health support in Wales? OQ55373

Children's access to mental health support is a key priority in the Government's 'Together for Mental Health' delivery plan, and particularly so during COVID-19. In addition to pre-existing children's mental health services, in response to COVID, we've given additional funding for online mental health toolkits via Hwb and advice-line services for children.

Thank you. Accessing support for childhood mental health issues should be a simple and smooth process. However, it has been found that only 43 per cent of children and young people in Wales would be confident seeking help from a mental health team, and 39 per cent from school counselling. Regional partnership boards, of course, are required by law to prioritise the integration of services for children with complex needs. However, we now know that two health boards have recently disputed the responsibility for the health needs of a young person, and that a child was kept in a mental health facility for weeks, despite having no mental health diagnosis. Will you investigate whether regional partnership boards have been rightly prioritising services for children, and if there is any such failure to have done so, has this seen a breach of article 24, that is the right to the best possible healthcare for children?

I thank Janet Finch-Saunders for that supplementary question, some of which takes me into areas that are the responsibility of the Minister for health, principally, so I'll make sure that he is aware of the question that she has asked. In relation to the question on convention rights, of course, that is a question that remains continuously in the forefront of our reflections as a Government. But, as I say, in relation to the policy points that she has raised in her question, I'll make sure the Minister for health has heard her question.