4. Will the Minister provide an update on support for people in Wales whose mental health is impacted by lockdown restrictions? OQ55802

Thank you, Hefin, and thank you for asking two questions through the medium of Welsh today. The pandemic and the restrictions have impacted us all in one way or another, but we recognise the additional impact that there has been on mental health and well-being. As a result of this, we have invested over £9 million in addition to support mental health services and to respond to changes in this area.

Diolch, Minister. I approve of the announcement made today as well—the investment in mental health that you've announced this afternoon. The concern I've got is the constituents who've contacted me who've been affected by COVID, who've never had mental health problems before and are being affected by it directly because of this COVID crisis. Can I ask you if more money could be put into the CALL helpline to support those people? What else are you doing to help people who may not want to go to their GP with their mental health problem because they've never had to do it before? What action is being taken in those areas, please?

Thanks, Hefin. I think we've got to recognise that some people still feel a bit embarrassed about the fact that they may need mental health support, and so we have to make sure that there are mechanisms for them to get some help. Sometimes they may not want to go via their GP, and that's why we've already expanded the CALL helpline, so thank you for inquiring about that. That facility has already been expanded. We've seen an increase in calls to that helpline. I was fortunate enough to speak to the head, based in Wrexham, about the services that they can provide, and they can also be a signpost where people can go for additional support.

The other thing that I'm very proud that we've introduced is a new online cognitive behavioural therapy support scheme. This is called SilverCloud. It's only been launched since September, and already about 2,000 people have used it. It's supported by experts and I'm hoping that this will be a mechanism that people, perhaps, who haven't needed to deal with this issue before may be willing to use to see if they can deal with some of their problems through this online support facility. So, I'd be very grateful if Senedd Members would help to advertise that to their constituents.

Minister, I've been in contact with ColegauCymru, who are very concerned about the support that further education learners and the sector are getting. Higher education has been given another £10 million for mental health services and while some of that is for students who've had to lock down in their student housing, there is some, I believe, for suicide awareness and dealing with mental health issues. Can I ask you—I know that this covers education as well—could you have discussions with the Minister for Education to see whether this sort of support could be extended into further education as well? I think there is a need for further investment, greater investment, in mental health issues, counselling and in suicide awareness, particularly within the further education sector.

Thanks very much for that, Nick. Certainly, I think we have put considerable support into schools and into HE. I will look into whether we need to give additional support to further education. Presumably they will be able to access other pots of funding, but I'm not aware so far that there is a specific pot for further education, so I will look into that, Nick. I'm only a couple of weeks into the job—I'll take a look at it.

Mandy Jones.

Can you hear me, Llywydd?

Yes, carry on.

Diolch. Welcome to your new role, Minister. Our mental health is not just a matter for the health service, it's a matter for each individual, families and communities. I'm deeply concerned at the closure of gyms, which as well as providing the mental health benefits of exercise are mini communities within themselves, and also places of worship for communal prayer. Both establishments provide a sense of purpose and a feeling of community at a time when we need those things now more than ever. Minister, will you acknowledge the importance of gyms and places of worship—and you've just mentioned exercise as well—for our sense of well-being, and can you do all you can to ensure that they remain open after this firebreak ends in Wales, please? Thank you. 

Thank you, Mandy. Just to say that the Government had to make some very difficult decisions. The decision we came to was that it would be better to lock down quite brutally and have a shorter period of a lockdown, rather than to leave some open. And there were plenty of cases where we could have said, 'Well, just this one', or, 'Just that one', and all of that would have contributed to an overall lesser impact on trying to stop the virus from spreading. And that's why we went along with closing gyms. We absolutely understand. There is an acknowledged connection between physical activity and improved mental health. So we know that closing gyms is not something we did lightly and that's why we're going to be reopening them.

And certainly places of worship—we know how important that is for people's mental health and well-being. There's evidence again to suggest that people's spiritual—that the spiritual aspect of their lives is something that can improve their mental health. And certainly, as a woman with a husband who is a priest, I know that it is an important issue for many people and, once again, we'll be very pleased to be opening those places of worship a week on Sunday.