Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:27 pm on 2 February 2022.
Six years, sluggish progress and we need to get it back on track, if you'll excuse the pun. One of the other things that has been failing for a long time in north Wales now, of course, is mental health services. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was put into special measures because of failings in its mental health services back in 2015. Seven years on and mental health services are still subject to special measures, and everybody recognises that they need to be improved significantly. Why is it that it takes the Welsh Government so much longer to get to grips with and to deal with problems in north Wales's public services, such as mental health services, and it takes you less time to resolve problems that are elsewhere in Wales? Isn't this more evidence that north Wales is a secondary issue, a bit of a blind spot for most of the people in your Cabinet? I'm not saying it's necessarily you, because you're a representative for north Wales, but doesn't it suggest to you that there's clear evidence that north Wales just isn't getting sufficient focus from this Welsh Government?