Cabinet meeting: 17 March 2025

• Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS (Chair)
• Huw Irranca-Davies MS
• Jayne Bryant MS
• Mark Drakeford MS
• Rebecca Evans MS
• Jane Hutt MS
• Julie James MS
• Jeremy Miles MS
• Lynne Neagle MS
• Ken Skates MS
   
• Dawn Bowden MS
• Sarah Murphy MS
• Vikki Howells MS

Apologies

• Jack Sargeant MS

Officials

• Andrew Goodall, Permanent Secretary
• Rachel Garside-Jones, Director First Minister’s Group
• Toby Mason, Head of Strategic Communications
• Sinead Gallagher, Deputy Director Cabinet Office
• Wayne David, Special Adviser
• Sarah Dickins, Special Adviser
• Madeleine Brindley, Special Adviser
• Ian Butler, Special Adviser
• Haf Davies, Special Adviser
• Victoria Evans, Special Adviser
• David Hooson, Special Adviser
• Kirsty Keenan, Special Adviser
• Jackie Jones, Special Adviser
• Stephen Jones, Special Adviser
• Philippa Marsden, Special Adviser
• Martha O’Neil, Special Adviser
• Maddie Rees, Special Adviser
• Victoria Solomon, Special Adviser
• Mary Wimbury, Special Adviser
• Christopher W Morgan, Head of Cabinet Secretariat (minutes)
• Damian Roche, Cabinet Secretariat
• Helena Bird, Permanent Secretary’s office
• Kath Hallett, First Minister’s office
• Tracey Burke, Director General Climate Change & Rural Affairs
• Sioned Evans, Director General, Education, Culture and Welsh Language
• Tim Moss, Chief Operating Officer
• Judith Paget, Director General Health and Social Services
• Andrew Slade, Director General, Economy, Energy and Transport
• Nia James, Director Legal Services
• Amelia John, Director Communities and Social Justice (item 4)
• Amira Evans, Head of Equalities (item 4)
• Gill Huws-John, Head of the Disability Rights Taskforce (item 4)
• Matt Downton, Deputy Director Mental Health and Vulnerable Groups (item 5)

1.1 Cymeradwyodd y Cabinet gofnodion y 10 Mawrth 2025 / Cabinet approved the minutes of 10 March 2025.

International Investment Summit

2.1 The First Minister informed Cabinet that she would be announcing, later that week, the International Investment Summit, which was being arranged for 1st December at the Celtic Manor.

VE Day commemorations

2.2 Cabinet noted that a series of events were being planned to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe, where there would be opportunities for communities to come together.

3.1 Cabinet considered the Plenary Grid and noted that voting time was scheduled for 6:30pm on Tuesday and would be around 6.25pm on Wednesday. It was reported the first Open Debate would be taking place on Wednesday, the topic related to renewable energy and the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning would be responding.

4.1 The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip introduced the paper, which asked Cabinet to approve the content of the draft cross-Government Disabled People’s Rights Plan and that it should be published for a 12-week consultation.

4.2 In 2021, the number of disabled people in Wales was 670,000, amounting to 21% of the population. The proportion of disabled people increased steeply by age, and females were more likely to report being disabled than by males. Disabled people faced multiple forms of discrimination and exclusion, in education, employment, health, housing, transport, and every area of life.

4.3 Of the working-age population in 2023, disabled people were more likely to have no qualifications than non-disabled people and they continued to have an employment rate that was 30.9 percentage points lower than non-disabled people. One in four disabled people or people with a limiting long-standing illness lived in a household in material deprivation, compared with one in ten people who were not disabled.

4.4 The Disability Rights Taskforce was established in response to the ‘Locked Out’ report, which highlighted the inequalities experienced by disabled people as a result of COVID-19. The pandemic had a disproportionate impact on disabled people, increasing existing inequalities and generating additional harm, with 68% of the COVID-related deaths amongst disabled people.

4.5 The report also provided evidence of disabled people experiencing discrimination in health, restricted access to public services and social support, along with exclusion from public spaces and public life, restrictions on independent living, and an erosion of basic human rights.

4.6 The plan, which had been heavily influenced by the Disability Rights Taskforce, disabled people and supporting organisations, had been structured against 4 overarching areas for action:

• Neighbourhoods and Places
• Employment, Income and Education
• Independent Living
• Justice and Supporting Environments.

These were aligned to the 7 National Well-being Goals of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act.

4.7 Cabinet welcomed the paper and put on record its thanks to all those involved in developing the Disabled People’s Rights Plan.

4.8 Cabinet approved the paper.

5.1 The Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing introduced the paper, which asked Cabinet to agree the cross-government commitments and support necessary to achieve the objectives of both the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and the Suicide Prevention and Self Harm Strategy. Both were 10-year strategies, that aimed to protect and provide support for some of the most vulnerable people in society.

5.2 Cabinet had previously considered papers on the strategies: one in July 2023, which set out the high-level direction and the second in January 2024 in advance of the 16-week consultation.

5.3 Over the course of the strategies’ development during the past 2 years, there had been engagement across Welsh Government, with the Public and Third Sectors, and with people with lived experience, which had been fundamental. Through the pre-consultation and formal consultation process, more than 500 online responses were received. In addition, there was tailored support to engage with young people and more than 400 shared their views as part of this process. This had been a comprehensive process to meaningfully engage on the development of the strategies, which demonstrated co-production.

5.4 It was important to recognise the good progress already made, with improved access to mental health services, such as through the 111 press option 2 and providing online cognitive behavioural therapy. There had also been a series of new services to help prevent suicide, including Real Time Suicide Surveillance and support for people and families bereaved by suicide.

5.5 The Suicide Prevention and Self-harm Strategy, which was due to be published in early April, set the ambition to create a more compassionate understanding of suicide and self-harm, by reducing the number of people who died by suicide. To achieve this there would be a need to provide holistic and person-centred support for people who self-harmed; and support those affected by self-harm and suicide. It aimed to ensure that all relevant services, where people may present with self-harm or suicidal ideation, to be able to provide timely, compassionate and evidence-based support and interventions, including establishing a pathway to support people who self-harmed.

5.6 The vision within the Mental Health and well-being Strategy was for people in Wales to live in a country that promoted, supported and empowered them to improve their mental health and wellbeing, while being free from stigma and discrimination.

5.7 The strategy, which would be published at the end of April, set out the intention to transform mental health services based on a stepped approach, by delivering effective and the least resource-intensive support first and only stepping up to more specialist services when required.

5.8 The improvements to mental healthcare would significantly contribute to enhancing the support available for people who self-harmed or had suicidal thoughts or feelings, the services which people would naturally turn to for support in times of need.

5.9 The Minister for Children and Social Care highlighted that the person-centred approach to the strategies reinforced the principles under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 to help people who had care and support needs to achieve wellbeing, by placing them at the heart of the system. This emphasised partnership and co-operation to drive service delivery, focussing on services to promote the prevention of escalating need, while ensuring the right help was available at the right time.

5.10 Cabinet welcomed the paper and put on record its thanks to all those involved in producing both strategies and highlighted that these were another good example of cross Government working and co-production with those with lived experience.

5.11 Cabinet approved the paper.

Cabinet Secretariat
March 2025