Vaughan Gething AM, Minister for Health and Social Services
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
Today I launch the Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales 2020-2022 Delivery plan.
This is the first of our five, two-year delivery plans which sit within the wider Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales 10 year strategy I launched in October last year.
The plan for 2020-2022 plan places significant emphasis on early years, children and families. The focus is on prevention and I aim to see targeted interventions which will help people by making the healthy choice the easy choice. We will be investing £5.5 million per year into the implementation of Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales to help deliver key areas in the plan. This includes:
- £2.9m for health boards and partners to provide support services for adults, young people and families to maintain a healthy weight;
- £1.2m to develop system approaches, working with local people to identify solutions;
- £600,000 for a children and families programme to develop locally led solutions;
- £500,000 to be invested in a sport and leisure offer for over-60s;
- £300,000 will fund grants for sports bodies and evaluation.
There has been strong support for both the strategy and the delivery plan following collaborative work across government departments, and with public, private and third sector partners. This has helped to ensure that the delivery plan is grounded firmly on international evidence, best practice and behavioural insight. I have also chaired the first meeting of a National Implementation Board to discuss the draft plan, where there was strong support for its initial scope and ambitions.
The task is not an easy one and the first delivery plan is at the start of the journey we will take as a Government to effect long-term change. We are confident that with clear foresight, a strong evidence-based approach and continuous evaluation, we will bring about real change. I will be setting out a further outcomes framework and an evaluation approach later this year, which will underpin the delivery of the strategy. I am also committed to launching a further consultation before the summer on our approach to consider changes in the food environment.
I welcome continued cross-party support as we move into a period of intense delivery with our partners across Wales.