Mark Isherwood: How does the Welsh Government support deaf school pupils?
Mark Isherwood: ...armed forces, the active front line north to south runs along 900 miles of territory. The World Bank, in October, said it expected Ukraine's economy to contract by 35 per cent in 2022, and the Kyiv school of economics stated in November that the war has caused more than £34 billion in economic losses in the agricultural sector, and in January it estimated that it would cost £138 billion...
Mark Isherwood: ...north Wales Ukraine response by charity Link International, and to the response to the invasion of Ukraine by the Catholic Bishops Conference for England and Wales. Last Friday, I visited a primary school in Denbighshire with my colleague Laura Anne Jones, shadow education Minister, when the headteacher referred to their Ukrainian pupils, whose families were supported and housed locally by...
Mark Isherwood: ...whom live in Flintshire. In recent months alone, e-mails received from Flintshire parents include the following: 'We attach evidence showing behaviours that are autism related and are held in her education file, yet she's without a formal assessment and diagnosis of autism.' Another neurodiverse mother said, 'If anything, we're excluded from anything such as when social services recently...
Mark Isherwood: ...or debate accordingly. I also call for an oral statement or debate in Welsh Government time on support for deaf children in Wales. National Deaf Children's Society Cymru have warned of a looming educational crisis for deaf children in Wales. Their Consortium for Research into Deaf Education survey of local authorities shows that the numbers of teachers that are deaf in Wales has fallen by...
Mark Isherwood: ..., a mindset focused only on treating the symptoms rather than tackling the causes, and dodging the reality that the Welsh Government has been responsible for matters including economic development, education, skills, housing, health and social services in Wales for almost 24 years. It is silly to simply deflect blame by claiming that austerity was a political choice. The Welsh Government...
Mark Isherwood: ...of communication and, for deaf communities, this is an important piece of legislation. Thank you to Laura Anne Jones for her comments. As she said, this would bring a positive change in BSL in education. She highlighted the increase in numbers of people using BSL, the need to adapt to using BSL in public services and daily life, and the need to allow students to take qualifications through...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. In February 2021, the Senedd voted in favour of my proposal for a Bill that would make provision to encourage the use of British Sign Language, BSL, in Wales, and improve access to education and services in BSL. As I said then, in October 2018 calls were made at the north Wales Lend Me Your Ears conference for British Sign Language legislation in Wales, looking at the British Sign...
Mark Isherwood: ...do you account for this, where the UK Government has responsibility for criminal justice functions, including prisons, but the Welsh Government is responsible for housing, health, social care and education when these women return to Wales?
Mark Isherwood: ...had been illegally refused entry to a business or service because they were with their guide dog. They've launched what they've called the Open Doors campaign against illegal access refusals to educate the public and businesses and grow understanding and awareness of how access refusals impact guide dog owners. But that's not the only barrier that people with guide dogs encounter. Guide...
Mark Isherwood: ...Forces Act 2021 enshrines the armed forces covenant in law for the first time to help prevent service personnel and veterans being disadvantaged when accessing essential services like healthcare, education and housing. The UK ‘Armed Forces Covenant and Veterans Annual Report 2021’, published last December, also covers actions taken by the UK Government and the devolved Governments. The...
Mark Isherwood: ...a coherent and streamlined framework of help in Wales. As they said: 'The Welsh Government and Welsh local authorities provide a number of different schemes which...range from the provision of free school meals to discretionary housing payments.' They added: 'At present, each of these schemes is viewed as discrete from each other, meaning that claimants often have to make multiple claims...
Mark Isherwood: ...that, sadly, modern slavery is a reality in our country and, in order to tackle this crime, we need partnerships between the statutory agencies and the third sector, protecting the vulnerable, educating all members of the community, supporting survivors, and working towards making Wales a safer place where criminals are not able to exploit others. I call for a Welsh Government statement...
Mark Isherwood: ...research, which found that children often feel left out of their own healthcare and think that their care is poor. The findings also suggest that migraine can limit their ability to take part in education, social activities and other important parts of growing up. Ninety per cent of affected young people report that migraine made it harder to do their school work, whilst 76 per cent of...
Mark Isherwood: ...a period of a year and negatively impacts on their ability to carry out their normal day-to-day activities, they may be classed as disabled under the Equality Act 2010, putting an obligation on schools to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled child to ensure that they're not put at a major disadvantage. And if an affected child or young person does not have an individual healthcare...
Mark Isherwood: ...which the Welsh Government is responsible. At the event in July, new arrivals were arriving in buses and I learned of people being placed in increasing numbers in emergency accommodation, hotels, schools, et cetera. At the St David's parliamentary prayer breakfast for Wales on 3 March, I sat next to someone working with the Ministry of Defence on sustainable modular housing solutions for...
Mark Isherwood: ..., the Migraine Trust published a short report outlining research they've conducted into the impact on children and young people and putting forward recommendations to improve their well-being at school and in other settings, because an estimated one in 10 children and young people live with migraine and this can impact their development and participation in education, social activities and...
Mark Isherwood: ...for self-catering accommodation and how it affects women and/or unpaid carers, to which 83 per cent of respondents were women, found that 71 per cent of respondents had caring responsibilities for school-age children, a disabled child or partner, or elderly parents; that 69 per cent fitted the self-catering accommodation around those responsibilities; and that 94 per cent were finding it...
Mark Isherwood: ...opposition parties worked together to secure concessions from the Welsh Government, including to involve stakeholders from the violence against women sector in developing healthy relationships education within the curriculum, to be followed by all schools. We had each visited schools with Hafan Cymru’s Spectrum project to educate pupils and train teachers about healthy relationships. Now...
Mark Isherwood: ...having fun and talking with others in their own language. Responding to your update on Ukraine statement six weeks ago, I asked how you were working with ministerial colleagues to ensure that school places and local GP and NHS services are available to Ukrainian refugees when they arrive in Wales. You responded stating, 'It's crucial in terms of education that children can obtain admission...
