Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:38 pm on 7 February 2023.
Well, I know what steps you could take, and you could put some pressure on your Government in Westminster to increase our capital budgets. Our capital budgets have not been increased by the UK Government. However, we have committed more than £335 million towards important NHS and social care capital projects this financial year, and a further £375 million next year to support those organisations, because it's right across Wales. We know we have a lot of our buildings, across all hospitals and health boards in Wales—. Some of them are over 30 years old. So, we know that there has been an increase in backlog figures, for instance, and I know that the Minister for Health and Social Services has met with the chair of the health board and the interim chief executive of Betsi to discuss what prioritisation the health board has, because, as I said in my opening answer to you, it's up to them to identify the priorities that they have, and then put in the bids to the Welsh Government. But you must appreciate the pressures on our capital budget.