Mark Isherwood: Well, as you say, this is about higher activity waste that's been accumulating over 60 years, and you referred to the statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs. I understand that she said a geological disposal facility provides a permanent solution to the long-term management of higher activity waste, rather than leaving the responsibility to future generations....
Mark Isherwood: Fortunately, we saw the error of our ways and changed our policy on that, and it's not been our policy now for 13 years. So, yes, nice look into the past. However, mirroring Mr Corbyn's terminology, the First Minister has now slipped in the meaningless term 'a customs union' instead of 'the customs union', knowing full well that the Prime Minister is committed to a customs arrangement, and...
Mark Isherwood: I wonder if Alun Davies would have supported a people's vote if the referendum result had gone the other way. But it didn't go the other way. Eighty-five per cent of votes cast in the 2017 UK general election were for parties that committed to abide by the referendum result and implement Brexit in their manifestos. It is therefore more than regrettable that many in this place have devoted all...
Mark Isherwood: Our motion notes that Welsh council tax payers currently pay a higher proportion of their income on council tax than in England or Scotland. It also regrets that the level of council tax in Wales has trebled since the formation of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999, and that the level of council tax in Wales has risen at a faster rate than in England and Scotland. In 1998, the average...
Mark Isherwood: I will be addressing that in the rest of my speech. Rhondda Cynon Taf, with reserves of £152.1 million, is also receiving a 0.8 per cent rise; Newport, with reserves of £102.3 million, a 0.6 per cent rise; Swansea, with reserves of £95.1 million, a 0.5 per cent rise. However, councils with the largest cuts of -0.3 per cent include Flintshire, with reserves of £49.4 million, Conwy with...
Mark Isherwood: —but they're in receipt of some of the most generous financial settlements. Joyce, yes.
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. Our motion today recognises the important role played by local authorities in delivering public services across Wales. It also acknowledges the funding challenges currently faced by Welsh local authorities. From their obsolete local government funding formula to their botched local government reforms, successive Welsh Labour Governments have left councils having to balance the books...
Mark Isherwood: But, of course, it's not just the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, because the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service consultation response stated that despite assertions to the contrary in the White Paper—clearly I think this will cause some offence across the nation of Wales—existing members of the fire and rescue authority do remain accountable to their home authorities, however in...
Mark Isherwood: Well, they also said that the proposed objective seeks, somewhat bizarrely, to preserve the current high standards of fire and rescue services by reforming the arrangements that have produced them. The White Paper lacks coherence in that it proposes solutions to problems that it accepts do not exist, and the White Paper speaks of a perception that fire and rescue authorities are...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch, Llywydd. Well, as the Minister responsible for fire and rescue services in Wales, you've inherited the White Paper issued on the 'Reform of Fire and Rescue Authorities in Wales' last November, with the consultation period closing on 5 February. As the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service response states, 'Fire and rescue services are highly regarded. It goes without saying, therefore,...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. Well, curlew is listed as globally near threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened species and is a red-listed bird of conservation concern in the UK. Minister, you may be aware that the 'State of Birds in Wales' report 2018 indicated that more than three quarters of the Welsh curlew population has disappeared over the last 25 years...
Mark Isherwood: 7. How does the Welsh Government help protect threatened species in Wales? OAQ53645
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. Figures published last December confirmed that Wales is still the least productive of the 12 UK nations and regions. Figures published this month show that unemployment in Wales is, once again, higher than in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Why do figures also published this month show that, although the UK spent £527 per head on research and development in 2017—the latest...
Mark Isherwood: 4. How is the Welsh Government supporting research and development in Wales? OAQ53644
Mark Isherwood: Because this matter is under judicial consideration and therefore prohibited from public discussion elsewhere, I stuck to historic facts and quotes from the record; I didn't express a view and we do not oppose a judicial review. But because of the circumstance, I did not feel it appropriate to risk a sub judice contribution.
Mark Isherwood: I'm coming to that, but I'm aware this is a matter of live litigation.
Mark Isherwood: That's very kind, thank you. I'm conscious, because this is live litigation, I'm trying to avoid expressing an opinion and rather focusing on the actual history behind this. So, the Pensions Act 2014 then increased state pension age to 67 between 2026 and 2028, and introduced regular reviews of the state pension age, the first of which was the 2017 Cridland review, to ensure that the system...
Mark Isherwood: I wasn't aware there was a—. Yes, certainly.
Mark Isherwood: Diolch, Llywydd. The change to state pension age, announced in 1993, followed equality legislation and various cases in the European courts. Changes in life expectancy were also being considered. Equalisation was initially brought about by the Pensions Act in 1995, when an EU directive prompted the UK Government to equalise retirement age for men and women—then 65 and 60 respectively. The...
Mark Isherwood: I thank the Member in charge for all his hard work and for the non-partisan and consensual manner in which he has worked with other parties throughout the Bill process. It's been one of the rare occasions that all parties have generally agreed on a piece of legislation. However, I was disappointed, of course, that my own proposed amendments were unsuccessful. The ombudsman plays a vital role...
