Mark Isherwood: More than six weeks into lockdown, consumer champion Which? published their findings that thousands of very high-risk or extremely vulnerable people across the UK are struggling to access the food and basic supplies they desperately need amid the coronavirus pandemic. Based on the huge number of reports they're seeing from vulnerable people struggling to get access to basic food and supplies,...
Mark Isherwood: Although the top-up business grant announced by the UK Government for England includes grants to bed and breakfast businesses that pay domestic rates rather than business rates, the Welsh Government omitted this when it extended its COVID-19 grant scheme. How do you therefore respond to the bed and breakfast owners in north Wales who have asked me to tell you that if they don't receive the...
Mark Isherwood: Referring to your responsibility for tourism in and to Wales, holiday parks and many other tourism businesses receive most of their annual income between Easter, which they've already lost, and the October half term. Even if they manage to stay afloat this autumn, they fear they will go under over the winter impacting on the jobs they provide and all the businesses in their communities they...
Mark Isherwood: Many north Wales holiday let businesses contacted me when the Welsh Government announced revised criteria for business support grants, but only for them. One said that for many farmers, they represent an essential part of their income; the process is dreadfully stalled, causing great distress for my constituents. Another asked, 'How many self-catering businesses have to go bust before we get...
Mark Isherwood: Your colleague, the finance Minister, has confirmed to me that the additional £95 million that Welsh Government is receiving following the UK Government's announcement of extra funding for local government in England will go into the Welsh Government's central fund. Given the comments you've made, how will you address the impacts of COVID-19 on local authority finances after the survey that...
Mark Isherwood: [Inaudible.]—schools in Wales should close in response to COVID-19, with the exception of making provision for children who are vulnerable or whose parents are critical to the COVID-19 response. You said that vulnerable children include those with care and support plans and statements of special educational needs, and I commend all the staff on the rotas for this, including my youngest son....
Mark Isherwood: The Home Office announced on 11 April that it was working with charities in England to provide an additional £2 million for domestic abuse helplines and online support. Almost two weeks later, Welsh Women's Aid wrote to your Deputy Minister stating that violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence specialist services across Wales have expressed confusion, frustration and...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch, Llywydd. In a letter to you on Monday, Autistic UK Cymru said the Wales regulations—the health protection coronavirus restriction regulations—had been written in a way that further confuses autistic people. In England, people with specific medical needs, including those with learning disabilities or autism who require specific exercise, may leave their homes to exercise in open...
Mark Isherwood: 'the majority of the evidence received oppose the provisions that allow principal councils to choose their own voting system.' The regulatory impact assessment also notes that an additional cost would be incurred should a principal council opt to change its voting system, but that these costs are currently unknown. It is therefore deeply concerning that the Minister rejected the committee...
Mark Isherwood: [Inaudible.]—a cut-and-paste job including, possibly, 28 provisions contained within Mark Drakeford's 2017 local government White Paper, which was originally dropped. In his written statement on the Welsh Government's approach to legislation in light of COVID-19 last week, the First Minister asked this Welsh Parliament to work with the Welsh Government to explore novel approaches to...
Mark Isherwood: What policy or guidance has the Welsh Government issued regarding provision for critical workers to access educational childcare settings for their children? A number of contacts have been made with me, by or on behalf of critical NHS staff living in Flintshire, who have been told that both parents have to be critical workers to qualify, one of whom has had to stay at home rather than join a...
Mark Isherwood: I recently had the pleasure of revisiting Llangollen Railway's major engineering project at Corwen central station, which will have a massive impact on boosting tourism in the region, to see first-hand the progress they had made. I'm always amazed and massively impressed by what a group of volunteers with an average age of 68, working on a part-time basis, are able to achieve. A year ago,...
Mark Isherwood: It's now, I think, two years since the children's commissioner produced her follow-up report on wheelchair accessibility in schools in Wales, 'Full Lives: Equal Access', which identified a number of areas for improvement, some of which were strict duties under the Equality Act 2010, some of which were not. It found, for example, 'over-reliance on individual schools to plan for the needs of...
Mark Isherwood: 9. How is the Welsh Government removing barriers to access for disabled pupils in school? OAQ55247
Mark Isherwood: 11. How is the Welsh Government supporting tourism in North Wales? OAQ55246
Mark Isherwood: Thank you very much for your statement. Following your press conference with the leader of the WLGA this morning, it was reported that he had stated that bin collections and other council services may be reduced during the crisis and you were quoted as saying that reductions were not happening immediately but were being considered for the weeks and months ahead. I wonder if you could expand a...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch, Llywydd. Dirprwy, not Llywydd. Sorry. [Laughter.] Okay.
Mark Isherwood: Firstly, on behalf of some parents who are self-isolating because their children have underlying conditions, they've said, 'Although we've been told by the chief medical officer that children are relatively spared, what advice would you give to parents of children with underlying health conditions under the current circumstances?' The second issue, on behalf of pregnant women—clearly,...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch, Llywydd. How are you engaging with business umbrella organisations across Wales? You'll be aware, for example, that North Wales Tourism are inundated with calls from members requesting help and guidance. Therefore, how are you maximising the opportunity to use other access points to both gather intelligence but also share information? You've announced the relief in rateable value of...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. Given the circumstances, I'll postpone the question I was going to ask and instead put a question to you I've received from the independent diversity adviser who is the force co-ordinator for the National Police Autism Association in north Wales and who works with the North Wales Integrated Autism Service developing and delivering training, and who's also an independent autism...
