Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:03 pm on 6 October 2020.
May I thank the Member for that very wide range of questions on the whole of the document? Just the point that you concluded on, this document describes the journey over the ensuing period, but the finance Minister's statement will follow on the finance, and then other Ministers will make more bespoke statements on the various specifics that you asked about in due course. There will be an opportunity for ministerial statements generally in that regard.
As regards what we've learnt generally, there are a number of challenges here and they are familiar challenges, but I think that there’s been a greater depth of understanding amongst the public about the level of the challenge, and, of course, that has changed the context from the point of view of us all, I would say. I would say that the response that we received to the public consultation and the consultation with the organisations has reflected generally the principles and the priorities that we had as a Government prior to that, and we have continued to prioritise those elements of the programme for government in these fields. So, this, perhaps, builds on that, with a number of new ideas, but perhaps emphasises some of the things that we haven't been able to achieve.
As regards your specific questions, certainly we need to offer young people hope and acknowledge that children and young people have carried a significant part of the burden over the past period. So, I'm sure she will appreciate the investment in the schools and in higher and further education. You talked about mental health and that includes the fund to support people in the universities who are going through mental health issues and so on to deal with the current situation.
The Member also asked a number of questions regarding the level of support and so on and our intentions for supporting people in their jobs. The figure of £2.4 billion is the level of investment that we've made to date, as regards support for companies and so on. We think that that has probably saved about 100,000 jobs, more or less, over the past period, but the Member is right to emphasise the need for training, the need for sustainable jobs in the long term, and also to ensure that there is continuity and progress, and that they can have career development in their jobs. That's part of the priority included in the document.
As regards mental health in the wider sense, we are offering support to the third sector to deliver and provide mental health services because they’ve been under great pressure in that context, and also in schools, in higher education and through the NHS to support people who don't always have huge problems in this context, but certainly they do require some element of support.
As regards the other questions she asked, I completely agree with her about how unacceptable the Chancellor in Westminster's comments were. I draw attention to yesterday's statement that the scheme has opened to help the freelancers, and that there will be a second phase too. I know that the Deputy Minister responsible for the sector will be listening intently to this discussion and I know how important this issue is for him as a priority.