Mark Isherwood: How can you possibly say that unless you bring in statutory duties to provide the support from statutory services that these people and countless others need, that you're going to be able to meet their needs with this service? Until and without enforcement of your existing legislation, such as the social services and well-being Act, how can you possibly tell how well you're doing currently?
Mark Isherwood: Thank you for your statement. I have to say the vast amount of autism-related casework my office is handling and the personal stories from outside of north Wales we're receiving indicate that huge sums of money continue to be spent getting it, sadly, very, very and sometimes tragically wrong. How do you respond to concerns raised with me that one of the four integrated autism service, or IAS,...
Mark Isherwood: I call for two statements. Firstly, to add my voice to the voice of Simon Thomas earlier regarding the provision of medicinal cannabis on prescription. We heard of the case—it was well publicised—of Billy and Charlotte Caldwell. You may recall that, in January, I led a debate in the Assembly, as chair of the cross-party group on neurological conditions, highlighting that this wasn't about...
Mark Isherwood: Would you recognise that the minority who receive the least—and there's a funding gap in delegated budgets to schools of over £1,000 per pupil between the best and worst funded—and who suffer the most financially have only a minority voice? Those who benefit clearly aren't going to support because there's a disincentive for them to do so. So, we need to be objective about this and see...
Mark Isherwood: Will you take an intervention?
Mark Isherwood: Caroline Jones asked, 'Who cares for the carers?' And many are struggling—two out of three don't get enough sleep, and there are too many suffering depression, and Age Cymru identifying wide variations in care. She said that we need to do more to support unpaid carers and enable young carers to combine caring with access to education and training. Angela Burns gave a heartfelt 'thank you'...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you to everybody for their contribution in this, Carers Week 2018. As Suzy Davies said at the beginning, we have to improve the lives of the 11 per cent of the population that we're talking about today. And she said for the Welsh Government to refuse to be scrutinised is shameful, following their failure in practice to guide councils on what the statutory guidelines in the Social...
Mark Isherwood: In addition to the north Wales tidal energy proposal for the lagoon, which you referred to, you also briefly referred to proposals off Anglesey. When the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee met Anglesey enterprise zone earlier this year, we had given to us a presentation on the proposals for deep green technology to produce electricity off the coast of Anglesey. You mentioned, I...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you very much for that. In a recent meeting with a group of organisations—the Countryside Alliance, the British Trust for Ornithology, Natural Resources Wales—I heard that agri-environment schemes for the curlew have been operating for 40 years, but they haven't worked. We've seen an 80 per cent reduction in the population in Wales over the last 22 years, and we're facing...
Mark Isherwood: 1. What plans does the Welsh Government have to encourage agri-environment schemes in Wales? OAQ52297
Mark Isherwood: How does the Cabinet Secretary oversee the audit, inspection and regulation of local authority compliance of Welsh Government legislation?
Mark Isherwood: How is the Welsh Government helping vulnerable groups of people to increase the energy efficiency of their homes?
Mark Isherwood: Last week, responding to me, the Cabinet Secretary referred to the Farmers' Union of Wales statement that Arla was set to retain the site while potential opportunities for other products are explored, and that he would be taking that further with them. I've since been told by one source that 'other opportunities for the site' simply refers to recommencing production should tariffs be...
Mark Isherwood: Clearly, the distance for producers between the proposed new site and their sites will make them additionally vulnerable. At the end of your previous comments you also referred to the reports I've also seen that Arla is to retain the existing Llandyrnog site while they explore other opportunities. What actions will you therefore be taking in your dialogue with them to further explore and...
Mark Isherwood: It is a matter of concern, particularly for Welsh Government, that, after 19 years of devolution, Joseph Rowntree Foundation's 'Poverty in Wales 2018' report found that the proportion of households living in income poverty in Wales remains higher than England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and that poverty among couples with children has been rising since 2003. Throughout the second, third...
Mark Isherwood: Okay, well I'll conclude by asking what action you propose to take to ensure that the health board works better with third sector providers, who are delivering a wide range of services, but despite engagement, some of which I facilitated with some of those bodies, years later we're still waiting for new arrangements to go into place to ensure that proper commissioned services, which don't...
Mark Isherwood: Okay. Why do you believe that those waiting for more than four hours in A&E has shown a deterioration of 3 per cent over the last two years to what remains, sadly, the worst performing of all local health boards? You referred to management of complaints and concerns. How do you respond to concern not only evidentially from my casework, but from constituents, that we've seen a reversion to...
Mark Isherwood: I call for a Welsh Government statement on the issue of electrical safety and older people in Wales. At an Assembly event last November, over six months ago, the only charity dedicated to reducing and preventing damage, injuries and deaths caused by electricity, Electrical Safety First, launched their report, 'How can we keep older people in Wales safe?' With more than half of accidental...
Mark Isherwood: Yesterday's statement by the economy and transport Secretary said that we'll see a second limited-stop express service every hour on the Wrexham to Bidston line from 2021 and, from 2022, see services stopping at Wrexham as part of a new two-hourly Liverpool to Cardiff service. How, therefore, do you respond to the statement made to me yesterday by rail user groups in north-east Wales that...
Mark Isherwood: Yes, and I think it's essential that we work with the whole of the population on both sides of that border to give them the assurances they need, where some people are trying to, I think, make them more concerned than they need be. In accepting our recommendation 2, the Welsh Government states that it is 'working with the UK Government to protect Wales’ international reputation for high...
