Mark Isherwood: In reference to the early part of your response—and I acknowledge what you say—nonetheless, Audit Wales highlighted the need to change the culture of organisations and the key challenge for them to become more entrepreneurial. And they found that the skills of elected members themselves was a barrier to councils taking advantage of commercial opportunities and greater entrepreneurship,...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. Well, I hope that means that there will be consideration in future years over how to help those with the least reserves specifically who may have less flexibility in all the areas you mention. But, in their second report, 'Commercialisation in Local Government', Audit Wales argued that 'With future funding at best unpredictable, new thinking is needed to transform the way councils...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch, Llywydd. Last week, Audit Wales published two reports regarding local government in Wales. The report on 'Financial Sustainability of Local Government as a Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic' said that, in the first six months of this year, councils in Wales recorded financial costs of £325 million due to the pandemic and, whilst this has been largely offset by the Welsh Government's...
Mark Isherwood: After I initially wrote to you on behalf of constituents about this, you stated that you do have regular meetings and you have been reassured that their policies continue to maintain social distancing in all stores in line with Welsh Government policy. Constituents responded to your letter, stating that wasn't the case in the three stores they had visited in Mold, and it wasn't the case in...
Mark Isherwood: 2. What discussions has the Minister had with supermarkets to ensure that they are COVID-19 compliant? OQ55678
Mark Isherwood: As the Welsh Government's explanatory memorandum to this Bill states, 'The private rented sector (“PRS”) plays an important part in meeting the housing needs of the people of Wales' and 'the Welsh Government wishes to ensure there is the right balance of support and regulation in the PRS'. However, given the increasing dependency of people on the private rented sector for housing, a fine...
Mark Isherwood: I call for a statement on support for bed-and-breakfast businesses in Wales. Many small bed-and-breakfast businesses have contacted me after the Welsh Government again excluded them from financial support to help them survive the pandemic; this time barred from the third round of the economic resilience fund. They were also deemed ineligible in previous rounds and have been denied small...
Mark Isherwood: Although our report notes that since March 'the Welsh Government has taken a number of measures to address the specific or unequal effects on certain groups of people', it also states that many respondents to our inquiry stressed the need for immediate action rather than the production of more strategies, and that 'in drawing up policies and actions that address these issues, there must be...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. How do you respond to the hospitality sector representatives in north Wales who have asked me to advocate most strongly on behalf of full-licensed hotels being able to serve alcohol to hotel residents after the 10 p.m. curfew, emphasising the critical distinction be taken into consideration in that the hotel will become the guest's official residence during their stay, effectively...
Mark Isherwood: 6. What support is the Welsh Government providing to hospitality businesses during the coronavirus pandemic? OQ55629
Mark Isherwood: I live in the largest population crossing a national boundary in the UK, with close relatives nearby on both sides of our invisible border. In this context, what penalties for breaking COVID-19 rules do you believe should apply were an anaesthetic junior doctor at Ysbyty Gland Clwyd to meet his fiancé, undertaking a clinical fellowship at Christie hospital in Manchester, when each has to...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. According to Welsh Government statistics, 721,000 or 23 per cent of all individuals—children, working-age adults and pensioners—are living in relative income poverty in Wales, higher than any other UK nation. According to the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Wales faces the highest relative poverty rate in the UK, and 25 per cent of jobs in Wales pay...
Mark Isherwood: I've been contacted by ambulance staff in north-east Wales concerned that the lack of ambulance staff testing could contribute to deaths due to COVID-19 in hospitals in north Wales. When I pursued this with the Welsh ambulance NHS trust, the chief executive stated that for asymptomatic ambulance personnel, testing is deemed neither appropriate nor reliable. Their deputy chief executive said,...
Mark Isherwood: You refer to the £90 million transforming towns package announced in January and the written statement that you issued shortly before summer recess on support for our town centres to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Your written statement on 15 July, announcing a £9 million fund, stated that £5.3 million of this was from the transforming towns programme and £3.7 million from Valleys...
Mark Isherwood: Communication about delivery to stakeholders and the wider public needs to be improved. Establishing a national communication platform is critically important, cascading information to the people who are actually on the ground. Key management data in terms of readmission rates, waiting times, length of stay in hospital and so on is collected and analysed at local health board level, but...
Mark Isherwood: The role of the neurological conditions implementation group, or NCIG, is clearly defined within the NCDP. However, when the NCDP was first introduced, there was little or no co-ordination across neurological services at an all-Wales level. Networks for conditions such as cancer, cardiac and renal services were well established by that stage, but this was not the case for neurological...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch, Llywydd. I speak today as the chair of the cross-party group on neurological conditions. There are more than 250 recognised neurological conditions. In Wales, approximately 100,000 people are living with a neurological condition that has a significant impact on their lives. From 2011 onwards, the Welsh Government published a number of health delivery plans. The neurological conditions...
Mark Isherwood: The Labour amendment states that the Welsh Government will meet its 20,000 affordable homes target by the end of this Senedd term, but fails to mention that, although independent reports state that Wales needs 20,000 social homes over a Senedd term, their target includes not just social homes, but intermediate rent, low-cost home ownership and anything else they can squeeze in, hence our...
Mark Isherwood: I move amendment 1. From 2003, I've campaigned for the sector, warning the Welsh Government that Wales faced an affordable housing supply crisis unless urgent action was taken. We heard this when we took evidence on Pen Llŷn, 15 years ago. Instead, the Labour Welsh Government cut the number of social homes by over 70 per cent during the first three Assembly terms, as waiting lists...
Mark Isherwood: What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Housing and Local Government regarding the financial pressures on local authorities?
