Mark Isherwood: Clearly, the horrific ongoing events in Ukraine, following Putin's illegal invasion, have a direct impact on the number of Ukrainians arriving in Wales, and will continue to do so in the future, with January's UK Government figures showing that 8,700 visas have been issued to those with a sponsor in Wales, and with 6,300 people with sponsors in Wales having arrived in Wales, of which almost...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. Trees provide numerous environmental, social and economic benefits, and tree planting is widely considered to be one of the most important ways to combat climate change and poor air quality. However, the decline in the curlew is strongly associated with increased amounts of woodland near breeding sites. Although the iconic curlew is our most pressing bird conservation priority, it...
Mark Isherwood: 10. What action is the Welsh Government taking to protect threatened wildlife species? OQ58941
Mark Isherwood: I call for a statement from the Minister for Health and Social Services on Welsh Government support for GP practices to implement the new GP contract in Wales, starting this year. For example, the single consulting room, cramped and crowded workspace and restricted waiting room at Hanmer surgery, near the Shropshire border in north-east Wales, means that their GP is unable to comply with the...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. I thank the Member for South Wales Central, Joel James, for securing this timely and important debate in this Love Your Liver awareness month, and national awareness raising day for less survivable cancers. He's been a great advocate on liver health as chair of the cross-party group on liver disease and liver cancer, and I share his commitment to tackling unwarranted variation in...
Mark Isherwood: Just very briefly, do you share my concern that the Welsh Government has failed to use the powers available to it since the introduction of the UK's Localism Act 2011 to introduce a community asset register and a community right to bid, to help tackle that top-down approach you refer to?
Mark Isherwood: Responding as chair of the cross-party group on fuel poverty and energy efficiency to your statement on improving the energy efficiency of Welsh homes on 8 November, I referred to the Equality and Social Justice Committee recommendations for the Welsh Government to ensure that the Warm Homes programme embeds the fabric and worst-first approach to retrofitting, as well as targeting the poorest...
Mark Isherwood: How is the Welsh Government supporting additional learning needs pupils?
Mark Isherwood: Thank you for your statement. Following Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, with its massive impacts on global food and fuel prices, and the pressures on the economy caused by the pandemic, the UK Government has taken extraordinary steps to support people with the cost of living. In addition to the pre-existing Warm Homes discount scheme, winter fuel payments and cold-weather payments, this...
Mark Isherwood: How does the Welsh Government ensure accessible healthcare for people with sensory loss?
Mark Isherwood: Are you not concerned that that approach makes you sound more like Liz Truss than Alistair Darling?
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. We support the contents of this motion. Speaking here in 2019 in support of a motion calling on the Welsh Government to produce a tackling poverty strategy, budget and action plan, I noted the statement by the Children's Commissioner for Wales then that 'Welsh Government has a Child Poverty Strategy which outlines its long-term ambitions, but at the moment there’s no clear plan',...
Mark Isherwood: What assessment has the Minister made of the economic outlook in Wales?
Mark Isherwood: How does the Welsh Government ensure accessible healthcare for people with sensory loss?
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. I call for a statement on support for people with eating disorders in Wales. Research has found that using menu labels to limit calories has been shown to be related to binge eating amongst women and to be associated with more weight-related concerns, dieting and unhealthy weight-control behaviours amongst both women and men. Beat, the UK's eating disorder charity, met with Lynne...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch, Llywydd. Well, Gareth Davies, our colleague, obviously, opened this debate by extending his thoughts and condolences—and I know every Member here shares this—to Logan Mwangi's family and friends and community. Such a tragedy, he said, highlights the need for the Welsh Government to ensure this never happens again, with an independent review to ensure that 'never again means never...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. Well, firstly, thank you very much to Mike Hedges for your support for this proposal. As he said, deaf communities use BSL as their main means 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...
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: Thank you. I did respond accordingly. But of course, this wasn't a freedom of information request, I was making representations—as we all do—on a neutral basis, representing my constituents at their request, and with their written authority, so it was an alarming response. And in that context, as I trust you're also aware, the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, Part 10, code...
Mark Isherwood: Well, thank you. It's my understanding that there are voices in senior UK Labour leadership who do grasp the east-west axis of crime and criminal justice across the Wales-England border and recognise that full devolution accordingly could be counterproductive. However, responsibilities you hold as Counsel General include matters relating to legislation passed by the Senedd and accessibility...
