I'm always very happy to engage with and continue discussions with anybody who has an interest in aspects of the budget, but I think it's really important that we are clear about what's being asked. Finding additional funding from the COVID-related consequentials might be one option that is talked about, but I do think that we need to reflect on the fact that £766 million was allocated for COVID next year, as compared to £5.2 billion this year. So, what are the trade-offs? Are we talking about less funding for the NHS's response to COVID? Are we considering giving less money to local authorities for their efforts in terms of supporting communities through the pandemic? These are the serious decisions and serious choices that we have to make when we're calling for additional funding for parts of the budget. And, equally, would a suggestion be to look for further funding from the unallocated contingency? We normally go into a financial year with about £100 million of contingency, and that tiny amount of money is there to help us manage pressures that emerge right across the whole financial year. And, when you think of £100 million of contingency to help you manage a £20 billion budget, I think that we can all genuinely reflect on the challenges there. And, of course, other options would be about cutting from the budget, and I think that we need to have serious conversations about where additional calls for funding would be met from.

Over the past weeks and months, I've heard Plaid Cymru in particular call for spending that would result in hundreds of millions, or billions, of pounds of additional funding. So, as to the item that is reflected in the amendment today, and then £100 million for a council-tax freeze next year, free childcare for all children aged from birth to four, the weekly Welsh child payment of £34 a week and social care free at the point of use, we're talking about hundreds of millions or even, potentially, billions of pounds, and I just think it's important that, when we do come forward with ideas—and I think that it's wonderful that we do come forward with ideas—we have to be genuine in doing so by demonstrating how those things would be paid for.

Colleagues have expressed some particular interest in mental health during the debate, and I did want to comment just briefly on that and also on social care, because those are areas where I know there's particular interest. The budget does provide an additional £20 million of additional funding for mental health support across a range of areas, including increased support for front-line non-clinical services, all-age crisis support, memory assessment services, and support for the mental health clinical pathway, through the 111 telephone service. And there's additional funding in the budget to support the roll-out of CAMHS in-reach across Wales, and that builds on the additional funding that is provided in this financial year and £5.4 million additional funding for the NHS child and adolescent mental health services for tier 4 and community intensive teams. Again, really important investment in light of the pandemic. And there's an additional £13 million to the NHS growth funding to support an increase in mental health services. So, all of those things will be really important in our budget next year.

And then, on social care, we're also allocating £15.5 million of support for social care, which includes increasing the social care workforce grant by £10 million to £50 million, and allocating additional funding through the third sector grants and investing through Social Care Wales. So, we've prioritised both mental health services and social care, just bearing in mind how important both of those things will be in terms of supporting people with the recovery.

And then, just a couple of comments on my approach now to the final budget. Obviously, I'll be reflecting on the debate that we've had today. Colleagues will also be considering all of the committee reports and the recommendations that committees have made. I've already indicated that I would be looking to make some additional allocations from that unallocated COVID funding, particularly in respect of the NHS and local authorities, and I'm very interested to see what more we can do in the area of apprenticeships as well, given the fact that, as a number of colleagues have recognised, jobs and skills will be absolutely crucial in terms of our emergence from the pandemic and into the recovery period ahead. So, again, I'm grateful to all colleagues for all their comments, and I look forward to reflecting on them with colleagues in the Cabinet.