1. Will the Minister make a statement on supporting wellbeing and mental health in South Wales West? OQ56485

There is a range of mental health support available in South Wales West, in terms of services that are provided not just by the third sector but also by the NHS. This includes the sanctuary service in Swansea Bay, which has been developed by mental health services together with the regional partnership board for West Glamorgan and the mental health charity Hafal.

Thank you for that, Minister. Could I ask what progress has been made in treating emergency mental health problems, just as we deal with physical health problems in an emergency? With a heart attack, for example, a GP can phone a hospital doctor directly, and get urgent access that very same day for the patient as a matter of urgency. We used to be able to do that with mental health emergencies 20 years ago, but no longer. We've lost that direct link between the GP and the psychiatric specialist in hospitals. What hope is there of restoring that old connection?

Thank you, Dai. I know that a lot of work has been done in terms of emergency services, and that's where we've been focusing our work at present in terms of mental health. Because what was happening was that we were in a situation where, when people picked up the phone, some of the only services available, particularly after 5 o'clock in the afternoon, were emergency services. And very often, the police or the ambulance service often isn't the best place to deal with mental health problems. That's why great work has already been done, under the umbrella of the concordat, to ensure that we look at this in detail, and that we collaborate with the third sector, and that there is provision in place. Because what we have realised is that, for the majority of people who came into emergency services, maybe mental health services, in terms of pure mental health services, is not what they needed, but perhaps more social and economic support. So, that work is being done.

I'm sure you will be aware that Swansea Bay has been undertaking a pilot scheme in terms of one contact point for mental health, by phoning the 111 number. And that will now be expanded to Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board. Another thing that's worth emphasising is the fact that we do have a scheme that helps to transport people who are suffering from mental health problems. It's not appropriate, of course, to take people who are suffering from mental health problems in a police car, for example. That's why we are piloting a new programme in this area as well.

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Ann Jones) took the Chair.

Minister, yesterday I raised concerns about support for young children, and children going back to schools, who have struggled, I think, during this pandemic, and how we can be sure that there are sufficient resources available for them to be able to benefit from talking therapies, therapists and counsellors. I'm deeply worried that we are still short of those numbers of counsellors and therapists within that area. What can you do to ensure that, as children go back to schools, as we face probably the next 12 months of challenges for some of these children, there will be sufficient therapists, and talking therapists in particular, available to meet the demand that this will bring?

Diolch yn fawr, Dai. I'm really anxious about this situation. We know that the children's commissioner has found that about 67 per cent of our children from age 12 to 18 are suffering with some form of anxiety at the moment. And of course, being out of routine is going to cause an issue for many people, and I do hope that we'll see those levels come down now, as children go back to school.

But there will definitely be a group that will need continued support. That's why we've got a comprehensive approach now to looking at children and young people. We know that 80 per cent of problems relating to mental health start when people are children or young people, and that's why it makes sense for us to focus on this. We've got a whole-school approach, so there is significant additional funding being put into schools, and we're also extending our support to early help and enhanced support, which will be rolled out from July next year, to make sure that all of the different services are working together so that children don't bounce around the system.

A lot of that work can be undertaken by the third sector. I've been on a call, actually, this morning; we had our second meeting of the oversight and implementation group for Together for Children and Young People. One of the aspects we were looking at this morning is have we got the right workforce in place, because it's clear that we have to keep on driving up that development. So, that work is ongoing. It's happening. We probably need to do more, but, obviously, we will keep an eye. The fact that we've already injected altogether about £9 million into this area I hope should give you a degree of comfort that we're heading in the right direction.