Mark Isherwood: It is noted that there has not been an equivalent progress report on the apprenticeship programme in Wales.
Mark Isherwood: You refer, as I did in my conclusion, to the Reform report, and, of course, that spared no blushes for the UK Government, but it also made a series of proposed changes, and it said that the UK Government's approach was, in principle, the right approach and that, if these changes were implemented, it would set things right for years to come. Why won't the Welsh Government therefore consider...
Mark Isherwood: Could I call for two statements, or responses to two matters? The first on advance care planning: this is actually Dying Matters Week, from the 14 May to 20 May. Macmillan Cancer Support have published their report into advance care planning across the UK, including Wales, called 'Missed Opportunities', and they've asked me as chair of the cross-party group on hospices and palliative care to...
Mark Isherwood: Stonewall's—. Well, let me start by saying we can all be fabulous, and that you're as fabulous as you feel inside, so be fabulous. [Laughter.] Stonewall's 'LGBT in Britain—Trans Report' in January 2018 found that two in five trans people and three in 10 non-binary people had experienced a hate crime or incident because of their gender identity in the last 12 months, that one in eight...
Mark Isherwood: Well, I will conclude similarly and in the same context, with the section in the same report that says, 'In Wales, access to treatment is particularly poor. There is currently no gender identity service in Wales and patients have to travel to London for care. They face long journeys, extended waiting times and difficulties in bringing supportive family or friends to accompany them. The...
Mark Isherwood: Well, my only own experience is that one of my grandmothers died before I had a chance to know her, because she was taken by bowel cancer when I was two months old. Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK. Around 16,000 people die from the disease each year—900 in Wales—making it the second biggest cancer killer. The scale is growing, where it is estimated that between...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. Although child poverty in Wales fell briefly to the UK level in the middle of the last decade, it started rising above UK levels again before the financial crash and recession, and only started falling after the change of UK Government in 2010. At 28 per cent, child poverty levels in Wales still exceeded those in Scotland and Northern Ireland last year. According to the End Child...
Mark Isherwood: I'll take one intervention, certainly.
Mark Isherwood: The statistics I've read out, no, because they relate to the pattern over 20 years and longer, rather than a short period of recent time. After almost two decades of Labour Welsh Government, Wales has been left trailing behind—14 per cent of children in Wales living in a workless household compared to 11 per cent for the UK. Wales has the lowest employment rate and highest economic...
Mark Isherwood: Will you agree that the End Child Poverty local authority data published in January, which broadened the definition of child poverty to take account of wider demographic factors, found that, in fact, Wales did have the highest child poverty in the UK? The reduction in child poverty I referred to came from Government statistics, from Government databases, and not from something I pulled out of...
Mark Isherwood: 4. Will the First Minister make a statement on the provision of orthopaedic surgery? OAQ52221
Mark Isherwood: A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a constituent who had seen a news report on tv the night before of waiting times of as much as 18 months for hip operations. But she noted that this didn't mention knee operations, having been informed that see wouldn't get an appointment for two years minimum, but if she wanted, or could afford, to go private she could have it done within six weeks at a...
Mark Isherwood: Formerly known as Dementia Awareness Week, 21-27 May is Dementia Action Week 2018, and I call for a Welsh Government statement accordingly. As most Members are fully aware, there are 45,000 people in Wales estimated to have dementia. This is expected to rise 35 per cent over the next couple of decades, yet only around half of individuals in Wales with dementia have a diagnosis. Four years...
Mark Isherwood: You'll recall that at Stage 4 of the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015, your colleague Peter Black, Jocelyn Davies and I took the Government to the wire on healthy relationships education, and the assurances that we received then ensured that, hopefully—well, they contributed to the position that we're now in with your announcement today. Part of...
Mark Isherwood: 2. What is the Welsh Government's policy on school closures in North Wales? OAQ52214
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. I previously raised concerns with you that, in Flintshire, in the past, old and inaccurate data was used in breach of the school organisation code in terms of school closures in Llanfynydd, Flint Mountain and John Summers High School. There are now proposals to close and forcibly amalgamate Lixwm County Primary School, which I hope will be on your list, because it's very much a...
Mark Isherwood: In accepting our report’s recommendations 1 and 4, the Welsh Government reiterates its position: 'that we must maintain full and unfettered access to the Single Market and we remain to be convinced that being outside a Customs Union with the EU is in our interests, at least for the foreseeable future.' However, as we heard from policy think tank Open Europe in Brussels, it would be strange...
Mark Isherwood: Of course.
Mark Isherwood: Yes, and I think it's essential that we work with the whole of the population on both sides of that border to give them the assurances they need, where some people are trying to, I think, make them more concerned than they need be. In accepting our recommendation 2, the Welsh Government states that it is 'working with the UK Government to protect Wales’ international reputation for high...
Mark Isherwood: What is the Welsh Government doing to deliver healthcare for the armed forces community?
