Mark Isherwood: It's the IFS.
Mark Isherwood: Our north Wales Betsi Cadwaladr university health board is in special measures and overspent because Labour Welsh Government dismissed our warnings over many years. On each occasion, Labour Ministers dodged responsibility by instead accusing us of talking down our NHS when we were speaking up because staff, patients and families had asked us to do so. The board was only put into special...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. Well, commenting in June in our mutual local paper, after the First Minister had approved a planning application in Llay on the basis of a recommendation by an independent inspector, you said that controversial issues such as this will continue until a council adopts a local development plan. I recently, at the request of residents, attended a public inquiry in Penyffordd,...
Mark Isherwood: We've been in correspondence over recent months, on behalf of an Anglesey farmer—a lamb producer—who's highlighted the potential for Welsh lamb exports in, particularly, Saudi Arabia. He's also previously worked for the Meat Hygiene Service. He says the Saudis are far more interested in quality Welsh lamb carcasses than cuts, and, clearly, this will have implications for the importance of...
Mark Isherwood: 7. What guidance does the Welsh Government issue regarding planning applications for housing developments? OAQ51343
Mark Isherwood: How does the Welsh Government determine the allocation of funding to local authorities in Wales?
Mark Isherwood: The primary reason we have a shortage of social housing is because, without going back over prehistory, the Welsh Governments in the first three Assembly terms took the decision to give it low priority in their funding, and they cut the supply of new social housing over 12 years by over 70 per cent. There were warnings from the sector, from the commercial through to the charitable sector,...
Mark Isherwood: I had the pleasure of attending the Be The Spark event last Wednesday. They welcomed the fact you had hosted it. They did express regret that nobody from Welsh Government was able to attend it, but it was great to hear contributions not only from business, including someone from Wrexham sat next to me, but also from local authorities, with the chief executive of Monmouthshire speaking, and,...
Mark Isherwood: Leader of the house, could I call for two statements, please? Firstly, on refuse and bin bag collection—something often raised here, but not in this part of Wales I'm about to refer to. Concerns have been raised with me in Flintshire, from Higher Kinnerton to Holywell, that people are no longer allowed to leave any extra black bin bags alongside the council-provided black bin. One...
Mark Isherwood: As with the other recommendations in this report, this role has been supported and endorsed by the armed forces community and armed service heads. The report calls for the Welsh Government to establish key performance indicators for devolved public sector organisations in Wales to monitor adherence to the covenant; to supplement its Welcome to Wales initiative with a single national armed...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch, Llywydd. The Royal British Legion officially launched its Honour the Covenant Campaign in London in September 2007 and in Wales there was an event held in this National Assembly the following month. Since the early nineteenth century, men and women have served and fought for their country under the terms of the military covenant, which states that those who serve in the armed forces,...
Mark Isherwood: How is the Welsh Government promoting the use of public transport in North Wales?
Mark Isherwood: I move amendment 2, which regrets that the 2017 annual report for the Welsh Government's 10-year substance misuse strategy, 'Working Together to Reduce Harm', shows that there has been an increase in both alcohol-related and drug-related deaths in Wales. Whilst this report also claims good progress on providing quicker treatment, our amendment 2 also quotes Welsh Government statistics showing...
Mark Isherwood: I call for a single statement on the number of pupils being taken out of school to be taught at home who are on the autism spectrum or with other additional learning needs. You might be aware that, last Friday, BBC Wales reported research showing that the number of pupils being taken out of school to be taught at home had doubled in the previous four years, with many of those pupils believed...
Mark Isherwood: Well, thank you. Housing-related support funded through the Supporting People programme and delivered through housing associations and third sector bodies has been improving lives and saving significant sums for statutory sector providers—health boards, local authorities—for many years. In your deal on the draft budget with Plaid Cymru, you agreed that you would ring-fence Supporting...
Mark Isherwood: 5. How is the Welsh Government maximising the use of preventative services to help vulnerable groups in Wales? OAQ51316
Mark Isherwood: Thank you for that. As you're aware, concerns are regularly raised that Welsh Government criteria for twenty-first century schools funding is driving council decisions on which schools to close. When I attended the call-in on the rural school closures in Flintshire last year, evidence-based presentations were made in accordance with the Welsh Government's own school organisation code.Despite...
Mark Isherwood: 2. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on Welsh Government proposals for the closure of rural schools? OAQ51262
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. We know that the figures show that, in general, children growing up in working households do better in school and adult life. How do you respond to concern expressed since the recent publication of the Office of National Statistics figures for 2016, showing that the number of children living in long-term workless households fell by 92,000 across the UK last year—down in Scotland,...
Mark Isherwood: Yes, it was set up by Iain Duncan Smith. That’s a statement of fact, but he deliberately brought in a chief executive who was not a member of the party. Actually, he was a former communist—certainly, far to the left of the Conservative Party. He deliberately populated the centre with non-Conservatives, and he deliberately has Labour MPs and former MPs on his board of management.
