Mark Isherwood: Diolch. Thank you very much indeed. I think it's about 18 or 19 years since I first highlighted to the then Welsh Government the fact that there would be an affordable housing crisis in Welsh communities if the then cuts to social housing weren't reversed. But do you share my concern that the latest published figures for quarter 2 of 2022 show that, once again, new home completions in Wales...
Mark Isherwood: The National Migraine Centre state that, because migraine in children can involve subtly different symptoms to adult migraine, half of those affected never receive a diagnosis. With migraines in children and young people, stomach pains are more frequent. Studies suggest that around 60 per cent of children aged between seven and 15 experience headaches, but a diagnosis of migraine may be...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. Migraine is a common, painful and debilitating condition that affects an estimated one in 10 children and young people. According to Brain Research UK, the working name of the Brain Research Trust, migraine is one of the most common neurological conditions. Whilst migraine has a significant impact on the lives of adults who live with it, its early impact on children and young people...
Mark Isherwood: I don't think you were listening earlier to my figures, which were accurate and which I actually put to you 18 years ago. Child poverty in Wales did fall for a few years after the Blair-Brown Government came in, but then it started rising again and had reached the highest level in the UK, not last year but in 2008. And it has risen again, whilst going backwards in the rest of the UK. That is...
Mark Isherwood: You haven't answered my question, which was when the Welsh Government will make funding available—
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. In my absence, I can't hear that, but thanks for the interruption. The question is: when is the Welsh Government going to make funds available to the local authorities to enable them to pay this increase? The question was for the Welsh Government. But, moving on, you earlier used the word 'shamefully'. So, shamefully, child poverty in Wales has been rising since 2004, when I...
Mark Isherwood: Responsibilities as Minister for Social Justice include the living wage in Wales. Welsh Conservatives have been calling for the Welsh Government to align social care staff pay with NHS pay scales, an investment of just £9 million. How, therefore, do you respond to the care home director in north Wales who has asked me to raise a question in the Senedd regarding the Welsh Government's...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. The First Minister's statement on ministerial responsibilities last week stated that you'll take responsibility now for the protection and management of wildlife, although cross-cutting responsibilities with the Minister for Climate Change still include biodiversity and the nature recovery plan. Speaking at the launch of Gylfinir Cymru's 'A Wales Action Plan for the Recovery of...
Mark Isherwood: 1. What engagement has the Minister had with cabinet colleagues regarding animal health and welfare? OQ58436
Mark Isherwood: In your update on Ukraine statements before the summer recess, you spoke of the constructive working relationship you had with the then UK Government Minister for Refugees, Lord Harrington. And of course you've referred to him in your statement today also. When he resigned from this role earlier this month, Lord Harrington stated that the role was no longer required because a permanent system...
Mark Isherwood: Yes, to ask a question, if that's appropriate, to yourself.
Mark Isherwood: That's very kind, thank you. Well, I've been a Member for almost 20 years, and throughout that time, I've heard the Welsh Governments talk constantly about the amount of money it has to spend but almost never about how that money is earned. In consequence, Wales has the lowest prosperity, lowest wages, lowest employment and the highest child poverty in the UK, and pays billions less in tax...
Mark Isherwood: How does the Welsh Government ensure that there are sufficient accessible toilets in Wales?
Mark Isherwood: The committee's report found that the Welsh Government's £360 million Warm Homes programme lacked scale, size and purpose. This is a matter of serious concern, as is the report's finding that the drastic changes to the energy market over the course of this year are expected to hit the poorest households in Wales harder than any other UK nation or region, according to the National Institute...
Mark Isherwood: I think the same constituent possibly contacted me, although I think they named us individually rather than collectively on this occasion. They explained that because their household income was just over the eligibility threshold for an income-assessed NHS bursary, their son wasn't eligible. He was already short £317 before taking into account food, laundry and travel expenses. They pointed...
Mark Isherwood: I call for two Welsh Government statements, the first on support for children and young people impacted by migraine. During the last week of the Senedd summer recess, 4 September to 10 September, Migraine Awareness Week was held, and, at the start of the week, the Migraine Trust published a short report outlining research they've conducted into the impact on children and young people and...
Mark Isherwood: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was a permanent feature of our lives for so long, combining continuity with change, example with empathy, and dignity with dedication. She achieved so much, and I will miss her presence among us, personally, greatly. When my wife and I were introduced to the Queen at successive official openings of the Senedd, she always made an effort to make everyone feel...
Mark Isherwood: To reiterate, our motion calls on the Welsh Government to develop a national strategic plan to deliver HCV elimination by 2030 at the latest, which is sustainably resourced, patient centric, and focuses on the whole pathway. At least 8,000 people in Wales are estimated to be chronically infected with hepatitis C, about half of whom are unaware they have the virus. Hepatitis C is a preventable...
Mark Isherwood: —when his current dentist stopped carrying out NHS treatments and there was a minimum two-year waiting list. People are in pain now. It's great that relief is coming down the road, but what are you doing about it for the people who need it now?
Mark Isherwood: Of course, this isn't new. Before the pandemic, constituents were contacting me about the lack of NHS dentists in Arfon. As one stated in 2019, 'Both my daughter and myself have been without a dentist now for well over a year. Please is there anything you can do to resolve this problem regarding the lack of NHS dentists in Bangor and further afield?' I wrote to you last August on behalf of a...
