Mark Isherwood: Great. As I say, they want to inspire our future service leavers that great things can happen. In February, the UK Defence Secretary announced that service leavers and their families will now be able to access military accommodation for up to a year after leaving, giving them more time to look for permanent accommodation as they transition back to civilian life, where housing is clearly key...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch, Llywydd. My questions will focus on your role as Welsh Government lead on policy and relations with the armed forces and veterans in Wales. In February, I hosted an event in the Assembly, celebrating the launch of the first national Welsh Veterans Awards, celebrating and rewarding armed forces veterans or ex-forces personnel that have made the transition to civilian life and have gone...
Mark Isherwood: 7. How is the Welsh Government supporting fair work in Wales? OAQ53854
Mark Isherwood: Can I call for a single statement on support for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome, in Wales? Last Sunday, as you might be aware, was ME Awareness Day, on 12 May, and this month is ME Awareness Month. I called for a similar statement on 13 November, or last November, after I hosted an event here with the Welsh Association of ME and CFS Support and with ME...
Mark Isherwood: You referred to your 24 April written statement to Members during the Easter recess, when you announced the merging of three funding streams and the single advice fund. You said that providers are being encouraged to design and deliver services more collaboratively, and on a regional basis, you're establishing new regional advice networks in partnership with key stakeholders, with inaugural...
Mark Isherwood: Welsh Government has proved averse to implementing the Localism Act 2011's community rights agenda, which would help community engagement. In 2012 the Welsh Government rejected the Wales Council for Voluntary Action's 'Communities First—A Way Forward' report, which found that community involvement in co-designing and co-delivering local services should be central to any successor tackling...
Mark Isherwood: Last week, Labour's ruling body rejected calls for the party to commit to a second EU referendum, with some senior Labour figures counselling that the alternative would have forfeited leave-supporting Labour areas, but with others having since quit the Labour Party because of Mr Corbyn's failure to support a second referendum—a situation, may I say, that other parties may be familiar with...
Mark Isherwood: In fact, it was 2015 when the Welsh Government appointed Liberty Properties Developments Ltd as developers for Bangor's Parc Bryn Cegin site. Last September, the former First Minister told this Assembly that 'The development land at Parc Bryn Cegin is available for development and is being actively marketed via our commercial property agents…on our property data base as well as Gwynedd...
Mark Isherwood: Of course.
Mark Isherwood: I'm not going to comment on fly-by partisan comments, because I want this to be a united debate with a united message. I'm happy if we want to have a partisan debate on issues to partake in on that basis but not this debate. In south Wales KIRAN want to promote knowledge and mutual understanding between different racial groups and generate activities to foster understanding between people...
Mark Isherwood: The UN convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination is an international treaty adopted in 1965 by the United Nations General Assembly. The convention covers the rights of all people to enjoy civil, political, economic and social rights without discrimination on grounds of race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin. The UK ratified this in 1969, 50 years ago. ...
Mark Isherwood: Well, 38 years ago, I was party to my thesis at university with two other students on industrial democracy, believe it or not, looking at many of these areas and experiments and proposals at that time, but, at core, recognising that a successful organisation listens to its customers, both externally and internally, and that an organisation that maximizes productivity and success, recognises...
Mark Isherwood: Could I call for two statements? The first is on support for disabled people experiencing violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence in Wales. Last week, I chaired a joint meeting of the cross-party groups on disability and on violence against women and children, looking at the impact of violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence on disabled women. We produced...
Mark Isherwood: Welsh Women's Aid believes that schools need to be equipped with the resources they need to properly publicise the benefits of the new RSE curriculum—relationships and sexuality education—in order to ensure and protect children's rights. How do you respond to the reinforcement by Welsh Women's Aid of the need for a designated and trained RSE lead practitioner to develop and deliver the...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. On 6 February, we debated the Deffo! Wales Deaf Youth Forum petition asking for deaf young people to have better access to education, qualified staff to work with, and help to develop the skills of deaf young people using British Sign Language. Deffo! is concerned that, in your subsequent response to a letter you were forwarded from them, you stated that none of the £289,000 extra...
Mark Isherwood: 3. How is the Welsh Government supporting pupils using British Sign Language in schools? OAQ53779
Mark Isherwood: How does the Welsh Government encourage the take-up of additional learning needs training for teachers?
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. In his response to Paul Davies yesterday, the First Minister said that, 'our GP community has to do more to match the expectations of patient populations'. But it's now over seven years since the British Medical Association Cymru and the Royal College of General Practitioners launched campaigns aimed at Assembly Members, warning of a ticking time-bomb and that 90 per cent of patient...
Mark Isherwood: 2. What consideration did the Welsh Government give to the NHS when allocating funding for the 2019-20 final budget? OAQ53707
Mark Isherwood: I call for two statements, firstly on diet as a treatment for diabetes 2, following the encouraging results from two diabetic diet trials conducted by diabetic dietician Claire Chaudhry at Wrexham Maelor Hospital. Last Friday, I had the pleasure of visiting the hospital to meet the dietetic service lead for diabetes in Betsi Cadwaladr, together with the head of dietetics east and the...
