Mark Isherwood: Thanks very much for your statement in Refugee Week. I don't think you're going to find any real disagreement with the information and the sentiments that you've expressed. You say that all of us in the Chamber here should do one simple thing to show our support for refugees and asylum seekers by embracing the concept of Wales as a nation of sanctuary. I'm pleased that I ensured that that was...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch, Llywydd. In a joint statement after the people of Wales and the UK voted to leave the EU on 23 June 2016, the Presidents of the European Commission, European Council and European Parliament said, and I quote, 'We now expect the United Kingdom government to give effect to this decision of the British people as soon as possible.... We hope to have the UK as a close partner of the EU...
Mark Isherwood: Was it 79 or 80 Labour MPs that defied the Labour whip in the Commons last week over the withdrawal Bill? It must endure. It must protect people's jobs and security. It must be consistent with the kind of country we want to be as we leave: a modern, open, outward-looking, tolerant, European democracy. And in doing all of these things, it must strengthen our union of nations and our union of...
Mark Isherwood: Will you give way on that point?
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. Well, thanks very much, everybody, for contributing, and to Angela Burns for opening the debate—her tribute to the immense contribution made by the health and social services workforce in the seventieth year of the NHS. As she said, even the NHS is not beyond challenge and improvement. Caroline Jones said that the situation was made worse by a lack of future planning, putting the...
Mark Isherwood: They say there are 3,000 vacancies including those in the independent care and GP surgery sectors. So, I will call on you to endorse the motion as unamended, and I regret, as did Angela, the removal of January prior to 2019 in the Welsh Government amendment calling for an integrated strategy for our health and social care workforce. We need a clear commitment, and I hope we heard it from...
Mark Isherwood: How is the Welsh Government implementing the framework for action on independent living in order to meet its equality objectives?
Mark Isherwood: Terms of reference for the undercover police inquiry, which I think was launched in 2015 by the then Home Secretary, says the investigation would include but not be limited to whether and to what purpose, extent and effect undercover police operations had targeted political and social justice campaigners. However, it makes no explicit reference to the many women deceived into...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. Of course, I have visited Airbus very many times. I've known Katherine Bennett for many, many years and discussed this and other matters with her. I've even been to Toulouse and met senior management and employees there, some of whom were from Broughton and were working alongside their colleagues in Toulouse. After Friday's announcement by Airbus, I received an e-mail from an...
Mark Isherwood: As I said here in January, everyone will be disadvantaged until we identify and meet the accommodation needs of Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, enabling the provision of authorised residential and transit sites. It can't be acceptable that, according to the 2011 census, 62 per cent of Gypsies, Roma and Travellers in Wales have no qualifications, 51 per cent in England and Wales were in...
Mark Isherwood: I have one comment and a straight question. I was delighted to see that the need for housing to be put at the heart of health and social care and broader community regeneration is acknowledged—a point I was banging away on back in 2003 in this place, when there were warnings that if urgent action wasn't taken, Wales would face the housing supply crisis that we now have. But, moving on,...
Mark Isherwood: 10. How does the Welsh Government allocate resources to schools in Wales? OAQ52408
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. As you're aware, the service pupil premium is available in England to support service children in education, and the Royal British Legion is calling for schools in Wales to have a similar fund for approximately 2,500 children who currently attend schools in Wales. It's very positive that the Welsh Government announced £200,000 funding to support armed services children for...
Mark Isherwood: Just a matter of clarity: you said it wouldn't apply to shared buildings, but it would to residential houses. How would you address the issue of flying freeholds?
Mark Isherwood: Flying freeholds, where you have different people living in their own homes, but within buildings that overlap other buildings. Therefore, flying freeholds compromise their ability to address repairs.
Mark Isherwood: Diolch, Lywydd. After two decades of Labour Government in Wales, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's 'Poverty in Wales 2018' report found the proportion of households living in income poverty in Wales remained higher than in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and that poverty among couples with children had been rising since 2003-06. In that context, how do you respond to the statement by...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you for your statement. As chair of cross-party groups, including on disability and autism, I endorse your statement: there are pockets of good practice, but too many people are having to fight for the support and adjustments to services they need to enable them to lead an ordinary life. You refer to working with the Minister for Housing and Regeneration. How, alongside her, will you be...
Mark Isherwood: I just want to very much endorse the comments you've just made. I visited the school of oceanic sciences in Bangor last year. They spoke to me about the Prince Madog. Of course, it is in dual ownership, and I raised it with the Welsh Government. They represented that as a reason not to intervene, rather than a mechanism they need to follow to ensure this ship continues, but I fully endorse...
Mark Isherwood: How is the Welsh Government supporting armed forces personnel in Wales?
Mark Isherwood: Will you give way?
