LAST month, I met with the Post Office regarding the Highlight Park service based inside Lloyd’s Pharmacy, after local residents contacted me with their concerns about its future, following Lloyd’s notice to leave.

I wrote to Lloyd’s to request that they extend their notice period to allow the Post Office more time to find alternative premises and I am pleased that Lloyds have agreed to extend their notice.

I have also written to the Chief Executive of Tesco to request a meeting to discuss the possibility of its Highlight Park branch taking on this vital local service. I understand that the company is considering this and I hope that a positive solution can be found.

On the subject of vital services, last week, the Welsh Government announced that it will step in to support severely disabled people in Wales who currently rely on the Independent Living Fund, (ILF) when the UK Government closes it in June 2015.

The ILF makes direct cash payments to disabled people who have significant care needs. Payments can be used for assistance with cooking, eating and drinking, dressing, cleaning and domestic duties.

As of July this year there were 1,686 ILF recipients in Wales and the Welsh Government is now consulting on options for providing the ILF support after June 2015. These range from passing responsibility and funding to local authorities to establishing a Welsh fund similar to the current Independent Living Fund.

Finally, as Finance Minister I recently announced nearly half a billion pounds of extra funding for the NHS in Wales over this year and next.

This decision came as a result of the evidence provided by the Nuffield Trust, an independent Foundation which analysed the financial position of the health service in Wales resulting in a report published earlier this year which gave a very clear message. It said that a sustainable NHS is within our grasp, provided we make the necessary improvements to productivity and service delivery on the back of the additional investment of £425m that I announced as part of the Draft Budget.

Investing in our Health Service is a priority of this Welsh Government. That is what the people of Wales expect.