Mohammad Asghar: Cabinet Secretary, one of the aims of the Caerphilly public services board is to improve the health of everyone living in this area and to require public bodies to think about the long-term impacts of their decisions to prevent persistent problems such as health inequalities. What advice would you give to Caerphilly public services board on how to react to the council's plans to close...
Mohammad Asghar: Cabinet Secretary, the increasing tendency for consumer spending to shift online and to out-of-town retail parks has resulted in the closure of many shops in city centres around south-east Wales. The Centre for Cities think-tank has said struggling city centres should end their dependency on retail by replacing shops with offices and housing. They point out that in Newport, more than 40...
Mohammad Asghar: Leader of the house, may I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Education on the current pay offer made by ColegauCymru to lecturers, please? Welsh Government publications have recognised that further education provides opportunities for individuals to build and fulfil their ambitions. The better people's skills, the better their chances of getting fair, secure and rewarding...
Mohammad Asghar: First Minister, in England, offenders with mental health problems are being referred to health services as part of community sentences, in an effort to steer them away from jails. Under a pilot scheme in five areas, psychologists and a panel comprising justice and health officials have been providing information to judges or magistrates to determine whether offenders should be required to...
Mohammad Asghar: What action is the Welsh Government taking to reduce the skills gap in Wales?
Mohammad Asghar: The creative industries sector generates nearly £1 billion for the Welsh economy, and its fastest growing part is film, TV and radio. Will the Cabinet Secretary join me in recognising the contribution of production companies such as Bad Wolf in promoting brand Wales as a place to make films and television programmes, and will he welcome plans by Urban Myth Films to convert a warehouse in...
Mohammad Asghar: May I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for health on mandatory eye tests for motorists in Wales, please? In May last year, a driver with poor eyesight—
Mohammad Asghar: Okay. Leader of the house, may I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for health on mandatory eye tests for motorists in Wales, please? In May last year, a driver with poor eyesight who defied his optician's advice to stay off the road was jailed for seven years after he killed a motorist in an accident on the M4 in Newport. At the moment, it is the responsibility of the driver to...
Mohammad Asghar: 'We were once the nation that championed education—we were pioneers of state schools, high standards and achievement and had one of the first universities that was open to all. Now we underperform at every level.' These are not my words, Deputy Presiding Officer; these are the words of the Cabinet Secretary for Education in her leadership speech to the Welsh Liberal Democrat Party...
Mohammad Asghar: Thank you for the answer, Cabinet Secretary. The Stroke Association currently provides a stroke recovery service to stroke survivors across the Aneurin Bevan health board area with the exception of Newport, after the local authority cut funding for the service at the end of 2015. Caerphilly council cut funding for the service earlier this year, with the health board paying the authority's...
Mohammad Asghar: Thank you, madam Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary, campaigners claim that supply teachers in Wales are having to take an extra job to make ends meet, and many are considering leaving the profession altogether. They claim the employment of supply teachers through agencies has led to lower pay and poorer terms and conditions. The Welsh Government has set up an independent taskforce to make...
Mohammad Asghar: 1. What action is the Welsh Government taking to improve services for stroke survivors in south-east Wales? OAQ52582
Mohammad Asghar: I thank the Minister for her statement today. It is clear that if we are to ensure workforce supply needs and business needs are met there has to be better collaboration between industry and education. Local colleges, training providers and universities need to understand and respond to the requirements of businesses by providing training programmes tailored to meet existing skill demands in...
Mohammad Asghar: Leader of the house, may I ask for a statement on the ongoing delays to the rolling out of the second phase of Superfast Cymru high-speed broadband? The second phase is designed to extend availability of superfast broadband to those premises not covered under either the original Superfast Cymru scheme or the commercial roll-out of telecommunication companies in the next three years....
Mohammad Asghar: I'm very grateful for this opportunity to say a few words in tribute to Huw Vaughan Thomas on his retirement as the Auditor General for Wales. I have served on the Public Accounts Committee for the whole time since Huw's appointment in October 2010. In that time, I have been impressed by his commitment to the role, his pursuit of excellence and his dedication to his duties. His experience,...
Mohammad Asghar: Thank you very much for the reply, Cabinet Secretary. A reduction in public funding has given a greater focus on charging for services by local authorities. In November 2016, a report by the Auditor General for Wales concluded that the local authorities are not pursuing all options to generate income because of weaknesses in their policies and in how they use data and information to support...
Mohammad Asghar: Cabinet Secretary, the Assembly's education committee has highlighted concerns that the pupil development grant funding aimed at helping poorer pupils may not be delivering value for money in Wales. Given that tackling poverty is a key core aim of the Welsh Government, what consideration was given when setting the education budget to ensuring that the pupil development grant meets its aim of...
Mohammad Asghar: 7. What consideration was given to service charges by local authorities when setting the budget for the local government and public services portfolio? OAQ52533
Mohammad Asghar: Leader of the house, may I ask for a statement from the Welsh Government on access to sport by disabled people? A study commissioned by Sport Wales showed that people thought access to sport by disabled children and adults is perceived to be very patchy in many areas and across many sports, with accessible changing rooms and direct access to the sporting facilities often lacking in Wales....
Mohammad Asghar: I recently visited the Alacrity Foundation in Newport, which is an educational charity with a mission to train and mentor graduates to create the next generation of high-tech companies based in Wales by providing the skills and knowledge required to run a profitable technology start-up. It also supports businesses by challenging its graduates to solve practical problems sourced directly from...
