2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Social Prescription pilot scheme? OAQ(5)202(FM)

We are committed to piloting a social prescription scheme as part of our programme for government, and we are currently working with stakeholders to scope how the scheme could best operate.

Thank you, First Minister. Social prescribing offers an opportunity to look beyond medication. Chronic loneliness is as bad for our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and as damaging as obesity and physical inactivity. Research shows it affects people across their lifetime. Befriending groups can provide a vital lifeline in the battle against loneliness and are one example that can help reduce medication. In Aneurin Bevan health board, there’s an exciting new project called ‘Ffrind i Mi’ which is designed to act as a prescription for loneliness. Does the First Minister agree with me that communication between health and community services must be as good as possible to make this work, and what support can be given to encourage volunteers, who will be crucial to the success of social prescribing?

It’s absolutely correct to say that we need to look at holistic approaches to helping people when they feel depressed and when they feel isolated, and the Member’s right to point that out. I can say that the Welsh Government is providing £180,000 over the next three years to help develop volunteer-led networks that support lonely and isolated people within communities, similar to the scheme that she’s already mentioned.

First Minister, as you’re aware, social prescribing is highly dependent on the third sector, the community organisations and voluntary groups. However, many rural communities have faced consistent downgrading of community assets and the support networks. How will the Welsh Government, the health boards, and local government work effectively together to ensure that community assets are in place? A brief example is the threatened closure of the Avenue Centre in Tenby, which was being threatened with closure under the terms of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. That’s what the local government tried to do. If you take that kind of asset away, then social prescribing, which we utterly support and think is an excellent way forward, is really going to struggle to be delivered on the ground specifically in rural communities. So, how are you going to tie all this together to make sure—

You’ve asked your question. First Minister.

It’s absolutely right that good communication between health and community services will be crucial for the networks to be developed and established in order to spend the money that I referred to earlier wisely. We did launch our new three-year delivery plan for our mental health strategy, ‘Together for Mental Health’, yesterday, and the social prescribing pilot included in the delivery plan will also complement that action. I would hope then that local government can learn from the delivery plan and implement best practice in their areas.