Mark Isherwood: Diolch. Small and medium-sized businesses in Wales make up, as you probably know, 99.3 per cent of all businesses, almost 65 per cent of employment, turning over £46 billion a year, £126 million every day. But, sadly, a high proportion don't survive more than five years, and beyond survival also face considerable challenges. The Small Business Saturday campaign exists to support, inspire...
Mark Isherwood: 2. Will the Welsh Government make a statement on the effectiveness of the free-school-meals initiative for pupils in Wales? OAQ54750
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. TCC—that's Trefnu Cymunedol Cymru/Together Creating Communities—is a coalition of over 30 schools, community and faith organisations, and groups across north-east Wales. Last week, I attended the official launch of their all-Wales school hunger campaign at Ysgol y Grango in Rhosllannerchrugog, near Wrexham. Their research had found that many of the most vulnerable pupils aren't...
Mark Isherwood: Well, successive independent reports following the banking crash showed that the last UK Labour Government ignored warnings and applied light-touch regulation to the banks. By 2010 the UK budget was the worst in the G20, behind only Ireland and Greece in the EU. The austerity inherited by the incoming UK Government in 2010 was, therefore, a legacy, not a choice.
Mark Isherwood: If the UK Government had spent and borrowed more, as some advocate, greater cuts would have been imposed on them. I give way.
Mark Isherwood: Well, it wasn't backed by me, as I said here in the Chamber here in 2004—or I should say in the old Chamber here in 2004. And if you check the dates on the reports and the people it names, you'll see Labour names coming up, not people who were in opposition at the time—independent reports. As I was saying, if UK Government had spent and borrowed more since 2010, greater cuts would have...
Mark Isherwood: I not only support you, but I hope that you will share my pleasant response to the statement in the Conservative manifesto that: 'The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will be used to bind together the whole of the United Kingdom.' In Wales, there will be no loss of equivalent EU funding—it's in the manifesto.
Mark Isherwood: 1. What progress has been made to establish a community bank in Wales? OAQ54778
Mark Isherwood: Well, I note the cross-party group today, which I couldn't attend, referred to that and the development of the group working in Banc Cambria to take forward your proposals for a community bank. Of course, these run in parallel to the development of the Post Office banking framework agreement with 28 UK banks to enable customers on the high street to access wider banking services, and the...
Mark Isherwood: As you stated, today is the International Day of Disabled People. The theme this year of the international day is 'the future is accessible'. In March 2013, I chaired an event here—'Towards an Enabling Wales: improving employment prospects for disabled people'—as then co-chair of the cross-party group on disability, which I chair today. In my introductory comments then, I detailed the...
Mark Isherwood: —I'm conscious that's even supported my own daughter in work. And finally, if I may—one final question.
Mark Isherwood: How are you working with key third sector bodies that are also working with the DWP, such as the Autism Directory in Treforest, working with the DWP on an autism employment programme, and Oxfam Cymru, working with the DWP on embedding their sustainable livelihood approach to equip DWP staff with the skills needed to deliver person-centred service, moving away from short-term fixes that trap...
Mark Isherwood: 2. What provision is the Welsh Government making for cross-border co-operation within Britain post-Brexit? OAQ54780
Mark Isherwood: You can't resist it, can you? As you know, the UK European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, which secured legislative consent from this Chamber, is developing frameworks to ensure that, whatever happens post Brexit, there is a UK single market so we don't have internal barriers between the nations of the UK. Clearly, framework negotiations are paused at the moment until the outcome of the general...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch, Llywydd. The Minister might recall, I think correctly, that both he and I actually discussed that last matter with the Flemish Government in Brussels. A week ahead of the UK general election, it's understandable that you would refer disparagingly, as you did a few moments ago, to the UK Conservative manifesto. But nonetheless, will you at least cautiously welcome the statement within...
Mark Isherwood: Well, I'll tell you what the Conservative Party has given details on: we will guarantee that Wales does not miss out on a penny of funding; we will match funding for agriculture throughout the next UK Parliament; and most importantly, we will actually deliver on the Brexit that the people of Wales voted for and continue to support. Your UK manifesto tells us how you don't want funding to be...
Mark Isherwood: Well, I was referring to your UK party manifesto, which does not give any idea on how they would allocate the funding. So, it would appear that they either haven't read your document or don't agree with it. But you stated, quite rightly, that Wales must not lose any equivalent funding as a result of leaving the EU and that all decisions regarding this funding must continue to be taken in...
Mark Isherwood: As our report states, around 27,000 private sector homes in Wales have been empty for more than six months. Many owners, we said, 'do not wish to see their properties lying idle and should be supported to bring them back into use. When attempts to tackle the problem informally fail, local authorities have powers to deal with empty properties; but this isn't straightforward.' The Welsh...
Mark Isherwood: Will you give way? Referring to the comments previously regarding community trusts, actually, previously, the Welsh Government did have a programme for this, delivered with Keith Edwards at the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru, when he was the director, and with the Co-operative Centre for Wales. I went to the launch of this in Rhyl West, for example, initially hosted by a housing...
Mark Isherwood: Once again, the nationalists are in Brexit denial. On 23 June 2016 the UK voted to leave the European Union. Wales voted to leave. Ynys Môn, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham voted to leave. Carmarthenshire voted to leave. The Rhondda voted to leave, as did the rest of the south Wales Valleys. They repeated that pattern in the European elections this year, and even replicated it in...
