National Assembly for Wales

Staffing matters within the Welsh Government are a matter for the Permanent Secretary. I will ask him to write to you.

We know households across Wales continue to struggle to meet their energy costs. Energy prices remain stubbornly high at a time when wider cost of living pressures is also putting significant pressure on household finance.

I am keen to work closely with the new UK Government on our shared ambition of tackling poverty to develop a permanent, effective form of protection for households in need.

The Senedd Library provides access to a wide range of print and online Welsh regional and UK national newspapers.

The Library cancelled print subscriptions to a large number of national and regional newspapers during the pandemic to avoid waste and reduce costs.  This included The Sun newspaper which was cancelled in February 2021.

All food offerings in our day-to-day counter offering in the Senedd canteen and Member’s tearoom are made using non-halal produce. Halal options are only cooked to order upon request. As stock levels are continually changing, it is not possible to provide a precise proportion as requested but, for the reason given, the levels of halal produce relative to the overall levels of non-halal produce will always be extremely small.

The Senedd catering service strives to meet a range of dietary and cultural needs within the catering service to support our commitment to create a diverse and inclusive workplace.   All menu dishes containing meat in the Senedd canteen and Member’s tearoom use non-halal produce at all times.  If requested by customers, halal options are also always available and will be cooked to order to minimise food waste. Any halal food items such as sandwiches are clearly labelled with the relevant signage and branding.

The Senedd catering service is designed to serve a wide range of dietary requirements to meet the needs of all Members and all others who use the services on our estate.  If requested, halal options are available and will be cooked to order.  Any halal food items such as sandwiches are clearly labelled with the relevant signage and branding.

Members and Member Support Staff Intranet:

There are 346 users of which 15 have their default set to Welsh based on access and assignment via ICT group policy.

Commission Staff Intranet:

There are 528 users of which 60 have their default set to Welsh based on access and assignment via ICT group policy.

Welsh Public Sector Procurement spend:

Please note, spend is based on submissions received from organisations through the Welsh Governments spend analytics system which receives data from individual organisations finance systems.

Spend for 2023/24 is still being collected and the spend analysis system is still open for organisations to amend and validate, and for system data enrichment activities, so 2023/24 figures are subject to change. Spend figures are correct as at 01 August 2024.

The spend is ex. VAT.

I can confirm that I have discussed the visitor levy with my counterpart in the Scottish Government, and that we have agreed for officials to work closely together to share knowledge and experience.

Officials have been meeting regularly since 2021 with officials in Scottish Government to discuss the visitor levy, share learnings and understand the approach taken in Scotland.

Similarly, the visitor levy has been discussed by officials from the Welsh Revenue Authority in their routine conversations with the Scottish Government, Revenue Scotland and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).

The Chancellor’s Statement has illustrated the gravity of the challenges the Welsh Government faces as we begin preparations for our next budget. I issued a Written Statement in response to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Statement on the 29 July[1]. The Welsh Government will continue to prioritise the public services that matter most to people in Wales.

Officials are working closely with HM Treasury to work through the details which lie behind the Chancellor’s statement in order to inform our own planning assumptions. Consequential funding will be confirmed as part of the Supplementary Estimates process 2024-25.

[1] Written Statement: Welsh Government response to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Statement on the UK Government’s spending inheritance (29 July 2024) | GOV.WALES

Officials are working closely with HM Treasury to work through the details which lie behind the pay offer to junior Doctors in England and the Chancellor’s recent statement in order to inform our own planning assumptions.

The level of consequential funding received will depend on several factors including whether this will be funded with new money or through savings or reprioritisation within existing Whitehall departmental budgets.  Consequential funding will be confirmed as part of the Supplementary Estimates process 2024-25.

There has been a delay in finalising the community asset commission terms of reference and associated work programme. Details are currently being confirmed and will be contained within a statement after the summer recess, along with a full membership list.

The Welsh Government have the following residential properties:

• 1 in Housing and Regeneration - Land Division’s portfolio;
• 3 in Culture, Heritage and Sport - Cadw’s portfolio;
• 3 in Business and Regions - Property Infrastructure’s portfolio;
• 50 in Transport, Digital Connectivity – Infrastructure’s portfolio;
• 4 in Land, Nature and Food – Land Management Reform’s portfolio.

We have a number of residential decarbonisation schemes that cover all housing tenures in Wales. We also work closely with the UK government to promote schemes that cover Wales such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

Social landlords are supported through the Optimised Retrofit Programme (ORP), a test and learn programme aimed at developing capability and a decarbonisation knowledge base in Wales. This programme aims to develop our understanding of how to undertake retrofit effectively and cost efficiently, develops local supply chains and creates job opportunities across Wales. Running since 2020, the programme has represented a c£290 million commitment to decarbonisation and will result in the retrofit of 27,000 homes.

The ORP investment sits alongside Major Repairs Allowance funding and Dowry gap funding (for local authorities and large-scale voluntary transfers) of £108 million per annum. These funding pots can be combined with other social housing funding such as the Energy Company Obligation Scheme and are there to support social landlords to meet their commitments under the Welsh Quality Housing Standard 2023.

Warm Homes Nest scheme supports low income households who own their homes or live in private rented accommodation, with £30 million committed this financial year. This programme’s focus on energy efficiency and low carbon heating solutions aims to tackle the twin objectives of fuel poverty and emissions reduction. The private rental sector can also access funding through Leasing Scheme Wales with £1.3m committed to support decarbonisation through this programme in the 24/25 financial year.

We are currently working with the Development Bank of Wales to develop a finance product for homeowners to access low cost finance to undertake decarbonisation works, we are working to launch a pilot of this scheme later this year.

Anyone in Wales can access advice about available funding and the eligibility through the free Nest helpline.

Welsh Government is taking an integrated catchment approach to improving water quality across Wales including Pembrokeshire. We have on-going strong engagement with local government, regulators, and all relevant sectors in Wales working together.

I am delighted that all 14 designated bathing waters in Preseli Pembrokeshire alone received an ‘excellent’ classification in 2023 from Natural Resources Wales. I plan to continue the close engagement that Welsh Ministers have established with the National Parks Authorities, including six-monthly oversight meetings with all Park Authorities during the year.

To support our ambitions for improving water quality, we have committed to provide more than £40 million of additional funding between 2022-23 and 2024-25 to address water quality challenges across Wales. This includes £1.5 million of funding for Nutrient Management Boards, which were established to address Special Area of Conservation (SAC) river catchments. Welsh Government have provided both funding and steers to the West Wales NMBs and I look forward to them producing deliverable, actionable Nutrient Management Plan for the West Wales SAC rivers by the end of this financial year.

Welsh Government is taking an integrated catchment approach to improving water quality across Wales including Pembrokeshire. We have on-going strong engagement with local government, regulators, and all relevant sectors in Wales working together.

I am delighted that all 14 designated bathing waters in Preseli Pembrokeshire alone received an ‘excellent’ classification in 2023 from Natural Resources Wales. I plan to continue the close engagement that Welsh Ministers have established with the National Parks Authorities, including six-monthly oversight meetings with all Park Authorities during the year.

To support our ambitions for improving water quality, we have committed to provide more than £40 million of additional funding between 2022-23 and 2024-25 to address water quality challenges across Wales. This includes £1.5 million of funding for Nutrient Management Boards, which were established to address Special Area of Conservation (SAC) river catchments. Welsh Government have provided both funding and steers to the West Wales NMBs and I look forward to them producing deliverable, actionable Nutrient Management Plan for the West Wales SAC rivers by the end of this financial year.

Welsh Government is taking an integrated catchment approach to improving water quality across Wales including Pembrokeshire. We have on-going strong engagement with local government, regulators, and all relevant sectors in Wales working together.

I am delighted that all 14 designated bathing waters in Preseli Pembrokeshire alone received an ‘excellent’ classification in 2023 from Natural Resources Wales. I plan to continue the close engagement that Welsh Ministers have established with the National Parks Authorities, including six-monthly oversight meetings with all Park Authorities during the year.

To support our ambitions for improving water quality, we have committed to provide more than £40 million of additional funding between 2022-23 and 2024-25 to address water quality challenges across Wales. This includes £1.5 million of funding for Nutrient Management Boards, which were established to address Special Area of Conservation (SAC) river catchments. Welsh Government have provided both funding and steers to the West Wales NMBs and I look forward to them producing deliverable, actionable Nutrient Management Plan for the West Wales SAC rivers by the end of this financial year.

We have committed to build on our bathing waters programme by beginning to designate more inland bathing waters for recreation and strengthen water quality monitoring. In Preseli Pembrokeshire, all 14 designated bathing waters achieved the highest classification of ‘excellent’ in 2023.

Bathing water quality testing is undertaken by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) at designated bathing waters during the bathing season, which runs from 15 May to 30 September. NRW conducts their testing programme in accordance with the statutory requirements set out in the Bathing Water Regulations 2013. NRW provides each bathing water with an annual bathing water classification of ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘sufficient’ or ‘poor’ based on its water quality results from the last four years.  This rigorous monitoring programme ensures that the public is well-informed, and improvements are identified and implemented to protect public health.

As part of our commitment, the Welsh Government is also supporting NRW to better understand how new technology could be used to benefit the bathing water testing regime in Wales.

I was delighted to hear of the return of the ospreys to Gilestone Farm in April and would like to place on record my thanks to the local community volunteers of the Usk Valley Ospreys community group and other stakeholders for their support in ensuring the safety and protection of the birds at the farm.

The Welsh Government’s well-established principles for use and disposal of land and property assets is currently providing a basis for discussions about the long-term future of Gilestone Farm. This process is currently ongoing and may include commercial discussions so we will not be making a public statement on these discussions at this time. An update will be provided to members once a final decision on the site has been made.

The farm is currently being managed via a formal Farm Business Tenancy on commercial terms. We will continue to manage the site appropriately until a final decision is made on the long-term future of the site.

Welsh Government recognises the importance blue carbon habitats play in addressing the climate and nature emergencies. Marine and coastal habitats such as seagrass and sub-tidal sediments provide us with many benefits, including storing up to 170% more carbon compared to forests. Wales has an extensive network of protected areas that seek to protect such habitats and species, recognising their national and global value including their blue carbon potential. Welsh Government has recently awarded funding to Project Seagrass through the Nature Networks Fund. This is an important step towards expanding seagrass restoration in Wales.

Together with the other UK governments we have established the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership to increase our knowledge on these habitats, carbon interactions, and how we can manage them.  I am very pleased that a new forum for blue carbon will be established for Wales in the autumn. The forum will bring together a network of practitioners in Wales to share information and knowledge, to accelerate the already growing body of expertise and experience we have in Wales, and to identify research needs. The Forum will be supported by Environment Platform Wales and chaired by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.  

The investment package to support education and training programmes for healthcare professionals in Wales in 2023/24 was £281.98m.

The budget for the 2023/24 financial year can be broken down into £147.36m for wider health professional education, £3.37m for the Mental Health Workforce Plan, £15.53m for pharmacy training, £68.52m for medical training places, £36.44m for GP training, £9.91m for Dental training and £0.85m for the Primary Care Plan (including Primary Care Pre-Registration Nursing Placement costs).

As part of the National Planned Care programme, a new clinical implementation network for anaesthetics has been set up. One of its aims is to deliver a national approach to pre-operative care.

It will be working with health boards to identify and collect relevant data to support this new approach. This may include the number of repeat pre-operative assessments per pathway, however the decision will be clinically owned and delivered to best support effective operational management.

Officials sit on a cross government working group where UK wide representatives meet and discuss the approach to Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC). Capital funding requirements linked to the presence of RAAC have been prioritised from within the NHS All Wales Capital Programme.

The HIV Action Plan for Wales was launched in March 2023, containing 30 actions for implementation by 2026, which aim to help Wales achieve the World Health Organisation target of zero new HIV infections by 2030. Implementation of the plan is being taken forward via the work of five workstream groups and overseen by the HIV Action Plan Implementation Oversight Group.

Significant progress has already been made, including the establishment of the HIV collaborative network Fast Track Cymru, which has signed up four of the seven health boards in Wales to form their own regional Fast Track Coalitions.

Wales’ free online testing service for sexually transmitted infections and blood borne viruses (including HIV) has been allocated £3.9m and use of this service increases year-on-year with more people being tested than ever before. Almost 5,000 community test kits have also been distributed for collection from a range of settings with points of access guided by local stakeholders.

Health boards have evidenced good engagement with the plan and are participating in the Late Diagnosis Cohort Review board, which was established last October to look at each individual late diagnosis case in Wales, understand why they occur and focus resources on the best strategies to end further transmission.

The offer made in England to junior doctors was to end their long running pay dispute from 2023 with a two year pay deal for 2023/24 and 2024/25.

In Wales we settled the pay dispute for 2023/24 and I am currently considering the independent recommendations from the Doctors and Dentists Review Body on the pay award for 2024/25 which will be confirmed as soon as possible in due course.

We are working through all the details which lie behind the offer and the Chancellor’s recent statement and the implications for our budget.

Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) develops an annual Education and Training Commissioning Plan (ETP) in partnership with, and after extensive engagement with, stakeholders across NHS Wales. The ETP includes recommendations on a wide range of healthcare professional areas at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including specialty medical training posts. 

Specialty medical training posts refers to those training posts at core and higher specialty level, based in secondary care. The recommendations included in the ETP are based on a range of data including projected need, national priorities and training capacity. New posts are distributed appropriately across health boards and NHS trusts in Wales.

Over the past five years, 327 new specialty training posts (excluding foundation and GP training posts) have been established and funded by the Welsh Government:

• August 2024 – 21 new posts
• August 2023 – 92 new posts
• August 2022 – 90 new posts
• August 2021 – 74 new posts
• August 2020 – 50 new posts

To provide further context, there were a total of 2,026 specialty grade doctors in August 2023.

These numbers represent the number of specialty training posts where new funding has been requested and will vary considerably year on year, depending on the priority areas reviewed and capacity. They do not represent the total number of posts that are advertised – as any posts that were funded through previous ETPs but not filled during recruitment processes are carried over and would not feature in these numbers.

Between 2020 and 2023, a significant number of new posts were funded and established. Whilst the current financial position has resulted in lower numbers of new posts for an August 2024 start, there has still been a significant increase, demonstrating the ongoing commitment to increase the number of posts aligned to the current and future needs of the population of Wales.

Good progress is being made developing all the recommendations made by Lord Burns, including improvement of the South Wales Mainline and new stations along it. Working with the new UK Government in a genuine partnership we can improve services for rail passengers in South East Wales and the Borders.

The Welsh Government is not currently assessing the feasibility of extracting lithium on Anglesey. The UK Government commissioned the British Geological Survey to undertake the study, “Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK”, delivered by the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) and published in 2023. The report identified no prospective sites of geological potential in Wales for extracting lithium.

Transport for Wales are currently testing the Class 756 trains on the Core Valley Lines and carrying out operational training. They plan to bring these trains into passenger service on the Core Valley Lines this Autumn.

Transport for Wales undertook the trial of the novel Request to Stop technology in July 2024. They are now reviewing feedback from passengers, drivers and conductors following the trial before making any recommendations for future use at stations in Wales and the borders.

The public bodies listed in section 6(1) of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (‘the WFG Act’) are subject to the sustainable development and well-being duty. This duty requires public bodies to carry out sustainable development, which is the process of improving the economic, social, environmental, and cultural well-being of Wales by acting in accordance with the sustainable development principle, aimed at achieving the well-being goals as set out in the WFG Act. The public bodies listed in section 6(1) of the WFG Act were identified against a set of four criteria:

• The body must be over 50% publicly funded.
• The body undertakes functions or activities that impact on the economic, social, and environmental well-being of Wales or their local area.
• The body has strategic functions.
• The Auditor General for Wales has the authority to audit the body.

These criteria were used to identify public bodies in the original Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Bill as well as the recent review of public bodies that led to the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (Public Bodies) (Amendment) Regulations 2024. The criteria are published in their respective explanatory memoranda.

Housing societies, otherwise known as registered social landlords, are not listed in section 6(1) of the WFG Act as they do not meet the criteria set out above.

Higher education institutions and further education colleges are also not listed in section 6(1) of the WFG Act as they are non-profit institutions serving households independent of government control and are not auditable. However, the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research (known as Medr), which has responsibility for the funding, oversight and regulation of tertiary education and research in Wales, is listed in section 6(1) of the WFG Act, and therefore subject to the sustainable development and well-being duty. In addition, under section 10 of the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022, Medr must promote the pursuit of a civic mission, which means taking action for the purpose of promoting or improving the economic, social, environmental or cultural well-being of Wales (including action aimed at achieving any of the well-being goals in section 4 of the WFG Act).

Furthermore, representatives from the tertiary education sector in Wales contribute regularly to the Well-being of Future Generations National Stakeholder Forum, which provides oversight and advice on the implementation of the Act.

The Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 (‘the SPPP Act’) is designed to complement and build on the five ways of working that make up the sustainable development principle in the WFG Act by introducing the principle of social partnership as an essential way in which public bodies should work. Part 2 of the SPPP Act places social partnership duties on those public bodies subject to the sustainable development and well-being duty (i.e. those bodies listed in section 6(1) of the WFG Act).  Therefore, neither housing societies nor higher education institutions and further education colleges are subject to the social partnership duty.

The public bodies listed in section 6(1) of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (‘the WFG Act’) are subject to the sustainable development and well-being duty. This duty requires public bodies to carry out sustainable development, which is the process of improving the economic, social, environmental, and cultural well-being of Wales by acting in accordance with the sustainable development principle, aimed at achieving the well-being goals as set out in the WFG Act. The public bodies listed in section 6(1) of the WFG Act were identified against a set of four criteria:

• The body must be over 50% publicly funded.
• The body undertakes functions or activities that impact on the economic, social, and environmental well-being of Wales or their local area.
• The body has strategic functions.
• The Auditor General for Wales has the authority to audit the body.

These criteria were used to identify public bodies in the original Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Bill as well as the recent review of public bodies that led to the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (Public Bodies) (Amendment) Regulations 2024. The criteria are published in their respective explanatory memoranda.

Housing societies, otherwise known as registered social landlords, are not listed in section 6(1) of the WFG Act as they do not meet the criteria set out above.

Higher education institutions and further education colleges are also not listed in section 6(1) of the WFG Act as they are non-profit institutions serving households independent of government control and are not auditable. However, the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research (known as Medr), which has responsibility for the funding, oversight and regulation of tertiary education and research in Wales, is listed in section 6(1) of the WFG Act, and therefore subject to the sustainable development and well-being duty. In addition, under section 10 of the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022, Medr must promote the pursuit of a civic mission, which means taking action for the purpose of promoting or improving the economic, social, environmental or cultural well-being of Wales (including action aimed at achieving any of the well-being goals in section 4 of the WFG Act).

Furthermore, representatives from the tertiary education sector in Wales contribute regularly to the Well-being of Future Generations National Stakeholder Forum, which provides oversight and advice on the implementation of the Act.

The Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 (‘the SPPP Act’) is designed to complement and build on the five ways of working that make up the sustainable development principle in the WFG Act by introducing the principle of social partnership as an essential way in which public bodies should work. Part 2 of the SPPP Act places social partnership duties on those public bodies subject to the sustainable development and well-being duty (i.e. those bodies listed in section 6(1) of the WFG Act).  Therefore, neither housing societies nor higher education institutions and further education colleges are subject to the social partnership duty.

Torfaen County Borough Council is continuing to work with Network Rail and Transport for Wales to open the new facilities at Pontypool and New Inn station as soon as possible.

Any new facility of this nature is subject to industry regulation and there remains some outstanding historical issues, that need to be resolved before the facility can be granted authorisation to open. Unfortunately, resolving these issues has led to some delays, but they are being addressed to ensure the facility meets the strict criteria, necessary for an operational railway environment.

Torfaen County Borough Council is hoping that works will begin on site in September with the aim of opening the station by the end of the calendar year.

All parties are working hard to make sure these works are completed, to deliver a brand new station which is both compliant and fully accessible for the local community.

Wales was the first country in the UK to enshrine children’s rights in law through The Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011. The measure requires that Welsh Ministers must pay ‘due regard’ to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) when exercising any of their functions.

A procurement exercise to appoint the contractor to deliver the income maximisation awareness raising training is being undertaken. Further information will be provided on how frontline workers can access the free training sessions in the autumn.

We have already set out our plans for childcare in Wales. 

The Welsh Government provides up to 30 hours of Early Education and funded childcare for 3 and 4 year olds under the Childcare Offer for Wales. From September 2022, the Welsh Government expanded this offer to include parents in education and training, supporting the commitment made in our Programme for Government. In the first year, this expansion saw 675 additional families supported through the Offer.

We are making excellent progress in extending the eligibility of Flying Start childcare by rolling out high-quality childcare to two-year-olds across Wales through our Flying Start programme. This is a phased roll-out, starting with our areas of greatest deprivation and takes account of the capacity within the childcare sector across Wales. 

During 2023-24 and 2024-25 we are investing £46m in expanding Flying Start childcare to support long-term, positive impacts on the lives of those children and families across Wales facing the greatest challenges. We expect to support more than 9,500 additional two-year-olds across Wales to access quality Flying Start childcare during phase 2 (2023-24 and 2024-25) and we are well on track to deliver that.

Whilst our Flying Start programme is geographically targeted, the Outreach element of the programme provides a degree of flexibility and enables services to be delivered to individual children and families living with assessed needs outside of recognised Flying Start areas.

Focusing resources on our most disadvantaged communities, in the first instance, ensures that support reaches families in greatest need at the earliest opportunity. Our ambition remains for Flying Start childcare services to be available for all two-year-olds in Wales. We are working with the sector to gradually build capacity to ensure that any increase to provision is sustainable.

The ministerial gynaecological summit held on 08 July 2024 was organised to bring together representatives from health boards, Velindre University NHS Trust, the NHS Wales Executive and the Welsh Government to make clear our collective focus on improving access to and the performance of gynaecology services across Wales.

I can confirm that my officials are drafting a report summarising the discussions, outcomes and priorities from the summit, which will be published later this year.

Maintaining the continuity of supply of medicines to the UK is a reserved matter and is the responsibility of the UK Government. However, managing the implications of supply disruptions requires co-ordinated action between the UK and devolved governments and the NHS. My officials are working closely with their counterparts in the UK Government, as well as manufacturers, wholesalers, prescribers, and pharmacies to mitigate the effect of any disruption.

The extensive measures taken by the Welsh and UK governments to support pharmacists, prescribers and patients to manage HRT shortages were set out in a written statement issued by the former Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on 18 October 2023, which is available at: https://www.gov.wales/written-statement-disruptions-supply-medicines

A range of Serious Shortage Protocols (SSP) for HRT medicines were put in place last year allowing pharmacists to supply clinically appropriate alternative HRT medicines when those prescribed are unavailable without the need for people having to return to their prescriber. All of these SSPs have been withdrawn, reflecting improved availability of HRT medicines.

Occasionally, the NHS experiences temporary shortages of specific medicines and the disruption to the supply of these is unsettling for those who have been prescribed them. GPs and community pharmacies are informed of these by way of a medicines shortage letter providing advice on the mitigating actions that need to be taken during the supply disruption.

There are currently known supply issues for two HRT products:

• FemSeven Sequi patches – anticipated re-supply date January 2025
• Indivina 1mg/2.5mg tablets – anticipated re-supply date October 2024

NHS Wales has been informed of the supply disruption to these HRT products and been advised of mitigating actions. A number of alternative HRT preparations are available and anyone having difficulty obtaining any treatment should contact their doctor or pharmacist to discuss a suitable alternative.

The Welsh Government’s Medicines Shortages web page offers general advice about why shortages occur and how they are managed https://www.gov.wales/medicines-shortages-0 and https://www.llyw.cymru/prinder-meddyginiaethau-0

Maintaining the continuity of supply of medicines to the UK is a reserved matter and is the responsibility of the UK Government. However, managing the implications of supply disruptions requires co-ordinated action between the UK and devolved governments and the NHS. My officials are working closely with their counterparts in the UK Government, as well as manufacturers, wholesalers, prescribers, and pharmacies to mitigate the effect of any disruption.

The extensive measures taken by the Welsh and UK governments to support pharmacists, prescribers and patients to manage HRT shortages were set out in a written statement issued by the former Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on 18 October 2023, which is available at: https://www.gov.wales/written-statement-disruptions-supply-medicines

A range of Serious Shortage Protocols (SSP) for HRT medicines were put in place last year allowing pharmacists to supply clinically appropriate alternative HRT medicines when those prescribed are unavailable without the need for people having to return to their prescriber. All of these SSPs have been withdrawn, reflecting improved availability of HRT medicines.

Occasionally, the NHS experiences temporary shortages of specific medicines and the disruption to the supply of these is unsettling for those who have been prescribed them. GPs and community pharmacies are informed of these by way of a medicines shortage letter providing advice on the mitigating actions that need to be taken during the supply disruption.

There are currently known supply issues for two HRT products:

• FemSeven Sequi patches – anticipated re-supply date January 2025
• Indivina 1mg/2.5mg tablets – anticipated re-supply date October 2024

NHS Wales has been informed of the supply disruption to these HRT products and been advised of mitigating actions. A number of alternative HRT preparations are available and anyone having difficulty obtaining any treatment should contact their doctor or pharmacist to discuss a suitable alternative.

The Welsh Government’s Medicines Shortages web page offers general advice about why shortages occur and how they are managed https://www.gov.wales/medicines-shortages-0 and https://www.llyw.cymru/prinder-meddyginiaethau-0

Spend by health boards, NHS trusts and special health authorities is detailed in the NHS Wales Summarised Accounts, which are laid in the Senedd. They are available on the Senedd website at:

NHS Wales Summarised Accounts 2019-20: gen-ld13422-e.pdf (senedd.wales)

NHS Wales Summarised Accounts 2020-21: agr-ld14491-e.pdf (senedd.wales)

NHS Wales Summarised Accounts 2021-22: gen-ld15322-e.pdf (senedd.wales)

NHS Wales Summarised Accounts 2022-23: gen-ld16138-e.pdf (senedd.wales)

Spend for the most recent financial year will be available following audit of the NHS Wales Summarised Accounts.