Mark Isherwood: Thank you to all contributors. In 1999, when Labour first came to power, there was no housing supply crisis in Wales, but they slashed the housing budgets and in their first three terms cut the supply of new affordable housing by 71 per cent. That is why we have a housing supply crisis. As David Melding said, for a generation successive Welsh Governments have failed to tackle the housing...
Mark Isherwood: My wife’s 13-year career as a Flintshire councillor was too often characterised by misogynistic bullying. In her first week there, she had a private meeting with the monitoring officer, asking him to ask officers to stop referring to women councillors as ‘Mrs’, when they referred to all male councillors as ‘Councillor’. The next day, she was on the front page of the local paper:...
Mark Isherwood: Can I call for a single statement on the protection of fisheries in Wales, after issues regarding the failure to protect fisheries in Wales, in consequence of Welsh Government policy, were covered in the national angling paper ‘The Angler’s Mail’? This highlighted a serious decline in fishing in Wales. It said that the Welsh equivalent of the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales,...
Mark Isherwood: You referred to the third Menai crossing, and clearly, congestion on the existing Menai and Britannia bridges has been a problem for many years. It’s a decade since a Welsh Government-commissioned report identified eight options, including a new bridge, but that didn’t go forward to delivery. You said last May that you’d promise to make the third crossing your priority for north Wales...
Mark Isherwood: Yes, I campaigned against that 13-lane monstrosity in support of local people, which your colleagues actually did when they realised there was an election just a couple of months ahead. I gave evidence to that consultation. I hope that what comes out this time is more in keeping with the sustainability needs of the local community. You talked about enhanced rail capacity in north-east Wales....
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. Thank you everybody who’s spoken in this debate. Thank you to Russell George for opening this by welcoming the economic boost to the Welsh economy being delivered by the UK Government’s abolition of the Severn crossing tolls, showing that Wales is open for business. And also for emphasising the need for north and mid Wales growth deals, where people and businesses in north and mid...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. In January 2011, obligations to meet the need for Gypsy and Traveller accommodation sites led to the granting of temporary planning permission for identified individuals for five years for a site in Flintshire, because of assurances made to the planning inspector by the council that, within such period, the need would be met by Flintshire. Because it wasn’t, Flintshire granted...
Mark Isherwood: [Inaudible.]—your predecessor worked with the UK Government on its UK anti-slavery legislation and the introduction of an officer there who does work with the anti-slavery co-ordinator in Wales. But sticking with the theme of children for my final question, given the three inequalities in particular identified in the Children’s Commissioner for Wales’ ‘Hidden Ambitions’ report—....
Mark Isherwood: Well, again, I would be interested to know whether you’re envisaging, as the First Minister appears to, only police and crime commissioner powers, or something more. But broadening the topic, we saw coverage last week from the anti-slavery co-ordinator for Wales, who had raised concerns about a number of entry points into Wales not having checks in terms of anti-slavery and people...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. Of course, we must applaud the innovation coming from transfer housing associations. Two weeks ago here you spoke in support of police devolution on a motion that also believed that specialist policing matters such as counter-terrorism are best co-ordinated at a UK level. If this were to happen, how would that work, given that the First Minister has called for powers equivalent to...
Mark Isherwood: 4. How is the Welsh Government meeting the accommodation needs for the Gypsy and Traveller community? OAQ(5)0142(CC)
Mark Isherwood: Will the Cabinet Secretary outline how the Welsh Government is supporting people in fuel poverty?
Mark Isherwood: Social prescribing is a core element of the co-production revolution, and the fact that the Welsh Government has tabled this debate shows that we’ve come a long way since I first led an Assembly debate on co-production to a lukewarm response. This is about moving from the medical model, which sees illness or disability as the problem, to the social model of disability and the right to...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. At the CBI north Wales dinner a week ago last Thursday, which, of course, your colleague, Ken Skates, also attended, alongside some other Members, we heard that the north Wales growth deal bid was nearing completion and then ready to go to UK Government and, obviously, Welsh Government. When the UK Government first made the growth bid offer, it said it would be looking to work with...
Mark Isherwood: 2. What support is the Welsh Government giving to the North Wales economy? OAQ(5)0611(FM)
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. We support this motion’s call for the development of a medical school in Bangor as part of an all-Wales approach to increasing training, recruitment and retention of doctors in Wales. As the Royal College of Physicians states, Recruitment problems are threatening the existence of many hospitals and general practices in Wales. We need to train more doctors and nurses in Wales with...
Mark Isherwood: Continuing gaps in north Wales in dual diagnostic treatment for people with mental health problems and substance misuse mean that the revolving door is tragically still alive and well. It’s a decade since a Welsh Government-commissioned report into tier 4 inpatient detoxification and rehabilitation services was leaked to me, having being buried, identifying people deliberately reoffending...
Mark Isherwood: Coincidental, but thank you for your comments. In the context of the Pontcysyllte aqueduct world heritage site, it’s now, I think, eight years since that was awarded, and I think eight years since the then Welsh Government first established a regional partnership body to drive forward the regional industrial heritage offer, incorporating potentially Llangollen railway, the canals, the...
Mark Isherwood: [Continues.]—to ensure that people are able to be cared for and die well in the place of their choice?
Mark Isherwood: It is my final question, so thank you for allowing this. Hospices Cymru support the ‘Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care: A national framework for local action 2015-2020’ document, drawn up by the palliative and end-of-life care partnership in England across all the sectors, and this has ambitions for each person to be seen as an individual, to have fair access to care, the...
