Mark Isherwood: Back to, I think, the issue raised yesterday, Bangor University are facing, or staff are facing, 115 compulsory redundancies. The university says this is because they need to save £8.5 million to address significant financial challenges, and we understand a number of other universities across the length and breadth of Wales are considering how they’re going to square the financial circle...
Mark Isherwood: Could I call for a single statement on diagnosis of autism spectrum conditions? Only today, I received a letter from Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board regarding a constituent’s daughter who had not received the diagnosis of autism through her child and adolescent mental health service, but did receive a diagnosis from an independent, experienced doctor—a clinician, who is...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you for that. As you’ll be aware, the UK Government’s Work and Health Programme in Wales is currently out to tender, forecast to reach 16,000 disabled people, those with health conditions, or those out of work for more than two years, although there are 270,000 economically inactive people in Wales, excluding students and pensioners, according to Welsh Government figures. How will...
Mark Isherwood: 4. Will the First Minister make a statement on employability programmes in Wales? OAQ(5)0713(FM)
Mark Isherwood: Will you give way?
Mark Isherwood: I’m sure you’ll agree that Wales is part of the UK and the UK Government welfare reforms apply throughout the UK. Why is Wales bottom on all the key social measures I quoted?
Mark Isherwood: Yes.
Mark Isherwood: In Wales, the only part of the UK governed by Wales, we have the highest level of non-permanent contracts in the UK, and the second highest level of zero-hours contracts amongst 12 UK nations and regions. That is Labour’s legacy. The rest of the UK, look and learn—this is what you would get in London if you repeat their mistakes. Commenting on the January 2017 White Paper, ‘Reforming...
Mark Isherwood: If the prosperity of communities across Wales is to be enhanced, regeneration schemes must, first and foremost, empower the people living in those communities. As I’ve emphasised since arriving in the Assembly in 2003, housing is key to sustainable community regeneration, not just in bricks and mortar terms, but adding value by unlocking the human potential in communities. However, although...
Mark Isherwood: The UK Government states that securing a deal on the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU has always been a priority, but of course, prior to the beginning of formal negotiations, both the Commission and the UK Government had said that offers and counteroffers and discussion on deals couldn’t begin until those negotiations formally started. So, the UK has made an offer,...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. Clearly, this portfolio covers things like families, children, welfare reform, financial inclusion, homelessness and housing advice in the voluntary sector. Getting advice in those areas is not only better for people, but it would actually save money for the public purse. Therefore, given that the Welsh Government had already commissioned, alongside the National Advice Network,...
Mark Isherwood: Building on the North Wales Economic Ambition’s Board growth vision document last summer, the team developing the growth deal bid have called for devolved powers to be granted to the region, including skills, transport, strategic land use planning, business innovation, advisory functions, careers advice and taxation. By taxation, they’re not referring to business rates, but to tax...
Mark Isherwood: 3. What were the Cabinet Secretary’s priorities when allocating money to the communities and children main expenditure group in the 2017-18 final budget? OAQ(5)0145(FLG)
Mark Isherwood: Thank you for that. Well, the 2016 Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association’s anti-illicit trade survey found that 62 per cent of Welsh smokers purchased non-duty-paid tobacco products. The financial rewards of this illicit trade are high; the penalties are low. This is threatening one in eight corner shops in Wales and across the UK, and most worryingly, people don’t understand the added...
Mark Isherwood: 4. Will the First Minister make a statement on access to tobacco products in Wales? OAQ(5)0695(FM)
Mark Isherwood: Last week, I hosted and spoke at the launch of the cross-party group on fuel poverty and energy efficiency. I was a member of the energy watch cross-party group during the second Assembly and chaired the cross-party group on fuel poverty during the third and fourth Assembly terms. We worked together to establish the Fuel Poverty Coalition and to launch the fuel poverty charter in 2009, and to...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. The 2016 UK annual fatherhood survey found that 25 per cent of dads said there wasn’t enough support to help them play a positive role in family life. In Wales, the Welsh dads survey, which has only just been published, found that although most fathers and father figures do not have problems with their care giving, two thirds still felt their role wasn’t valued equally with the...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. Well, building on the theme of the last few questions, the routes out of poverty you identify I completely share, but unless you get to the root causes of the problems that people face, often the routes out of poverty won’t be accessed. Last week, your colleague, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government told the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee that the...
Mark Isherwood: Well, six years after you chose not to be advised by the Wales Council for Voluntary Action report, ‘Communities First—A Way Forward’, which said the missing ingredient was community ownership, and after £0.5 billion having gone into the programme, you told the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee last week that the programme would not be replaced, that the record of...
Mark Isherwood: Finally then, in the context of helping local authorities and other public sector bodies understand how this can improve lives, it’s about early intervention and prevention and saving money for the statutory services that they provide, so it’s actually a part of that agenda. You might be aware, and if not, hopefully you will be now, that in Flintshire, as has happened elsewhere in Wales,...
