Mark Isherwood: 9. What support does the Cabinet Secretary provide to people with additional learning needs who want to study the Welsh baccalaureate? OAQ51838
Mark Isherwood: Yes, I'll take one intervention.
Mark Isherwood: As I said, to give the Governments—plural—a time to decide and put in place a UK-wide framework. Responding to me in this Chamber last week, the finance Secretary, Mark Drakeford, stated that Mr Lidington's speech 'did move a step forward in relation to our clause 11 concerns.' Mr Drakeford then added, 'What we now need to do is to have a detailed discussion with the UK Government about...
Mark Isherwood: As the person chairing discussions between the UK Government and the devolved Governments on the EU withdrawal Bill, Cabinet Minister David Lidington MP stated, at Airbus Broughton in Flintshire last week, we must protect the UK internal market whilst respecting devolution. As I noted last week, he also said that eight out of 10 goods lorries leaving Wales go to the rest of the UK,...
Mark Isherwood: I call for a single Welsh Government statement, hopefully from the health Secretary, on multiparametric—or mp—MRI scans for suspected prostate cancer patients from NHS Wales. When I wrote to the health Secretary regarding this, he wrote back to me last week saying that the current guideline from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence—or NICE—doesn't recommend...
Mark Isherwood: Thanks for that partial clarification. The independent living fund, pre-devolution, was about giving individuals choice and control over how they spent their money, their fund, to live independently. Initially, the Welsh independent living grant worked that way, but, unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland that have developed their models in partnership with the third sector, you're requiring...
Mark Isherwood: Will you give way?
Mark Isherwood: Are you therefore rejecting the report written by the leading international expert Lars Karlsson for the European Parliament on this, and also the continued advice being provided by the head of HMRC, who I suspect might have a little more technical knowledge, even than you, on this matter?
Mark Isherwood: I didn't use the term 'special relationship'. This is what the next stage—. He knows from the evidence we've taken on the committee that we're just starting stage 2 and the full negotiations outside the EU can't begin until we've actually left—formally left—the EU. But there's going to be a transition period, as you know, which will further smooth that process. With groundhog day...
Mark Isherwood: Whether people voted leave or remain, they now want to see a Brexit deal that works for a global UK. The UK Government is therefore committed to delivering control of our money, borders and laws while building a new, deep and special economic and security relationship with the European Union. Plaid Cymru's motion today shows that they're instead continuing to try and frustrate the Brexit...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. Let me start by praising Assembly Commission staff as somebody with hearing loss, that, whenever a problem arises with technology, they are wonderful in seeking to help and remove those barriers. But in the early Assembly—. I've been here long enough to have sat in the old Chamber, and, in those days, Members with impairments, including those like myself with hearing loss, would...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. You mention national indicators and, as you know, the Act said Welsh Ministers must publish national indicators that may be applied for the purpose of measuring progress towards the achievement of the purpose of this Act. Given that 29 April this year will be the third anniversary of Royal Assent for the Act, could you give us a little more information on where you stand with national...
Mark Isherwood: Analysis published by Which? in June last year found that Anglesey was thirteenth out of the 20 worst places for broadband in the UK, behind only Powys and Monmouthshire in Wales. On 30 January, you announced the first details of your new strategy to help to make fast and reliable broadband available to every property in Wales, with three lots going out to tender. The related tender document...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you, and I'm sure the expert advisory group emphasises that the pressures on the statutory services you referred to add avoidable costs—if we could perhaps do things a little bit differently in terms of early intervention and prevention in this area. One of those areas relates to residential treatment, and particularly respite for people with complex mental health issues who've...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. Notwithstanding the, I think, £100,000 extra continuation funding provided for Veterans NHS Wales, the report highlighted, or recommended, that funding for Veterans NHS Wales should be reviewed and targets for access to the service established, and performance against the targets regularly published. As at the time we debated this in November, waiting lists for Veterans NHS Wales...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch, Llywydd. Although the UK Government's July 2017 response to the defence select committee report, responding to the armed forces covenant annual report commented on progress—and it used the word 'progress'—in Wales, there hasn't yet been an independent review of progress and delivery across the whole of Wales since the establishment of the armed forces covenant. You are the Welsh...
Mark Isherwood: 9. Will the Leader of the House provide an update on the implementation of the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015? OAQ51804
Mark Isherwood: 2. What evaluation has the Assembly Commission undertaken regarding the facilities it provides for disabled people? OAQ51785
Mark Isherwood: Thank you, finance Secretary, for your statement. The joint communiqué issued by you, by David Lidington for the UK Government, by the Scottish Government, and a senior civil servant from the Northern Ireland administration, following last Thursday's JMC on European negotiations, 'noted the engagement that had taken place between UK Government and Devolved Administration officials since...
Mark Isherwood: I'm sure as you're aware, the 'West and Wales Strategic Rail Prospectus' was launched in Westminster yesterday—with Ken Skates speaking alongside the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling—a proposal developed by a partnership of public and private sector bodies on both sides of the border. Clearly, we also support the proposals within that. But parallel to that and critical to...
