Mark Isherwood: This week is Dying Matters Awareness Week 2017, placing the importance of talking about dying, death and bereavement firmly on the Welsh and UK agendas—something I very much welcome, as chair of both the cross-party group on hospices and palliative care and the cross-party group on funerals and bereavement. With an estimated 32,000 people dying in Wales each year, that’s affecting...
Mark Isherwood: Could I call for two statements: firstly, on an issue I and others first raised with you 14 years ago, and possibly earlier in the First Assembly when I wasn’t here, and that’s deaf school pupils in Wales? In this UK Deaf Awareness Week 2017, the latest Welsh Government-published figures have shown that deaf school pupils in Wales are underachieving at every key stage with the National...
Mark Isherwood: Thank you. My further question is more about the wider armed forces community. Earlier this year, at their request, I, with Andrew R.T. Davies, met a group of women veterans, all of whom have suffered injuries on service and all of whom told us they were also dealing with mental health issues as a consequence of their service. How do you respond to the concern they expressed to us—and I’m...
Mark Isherwood: 7. How is the Welsh Government supporting armed forces personnel in Wales? OAQ(5)0593(FM)
Mark Isherwood: On leaving the UK Government in 2010, Labour bequeathed an economy on the brink of collapse, with the highest budget deficit in Europe, excepting only Ireland. But Conservatives delivered the fastest-growing G7 economy in 2016. In contrast, those countries that rejected austerity got it in full measure. In championing Keynesian economics as an alternative, Labour fails to acknowledge—and...
Mark Isherwood: Do you share my concern that the percentage figures you’re quoting include things like community hospices, Marie Curie, Macmillan—these sorts of bodies? The NHS, which we support, taxpayer funded, free at the point of delivery, should be asking how they could help them deliver more for the patients for the resource available.
Mark Isherwood: Are you therefore giving a categorical statement that the current Welsh Government would not propose a police merger if it had powers devolved to it?
Mark Isherwood: I will confirm that the comment that you’re referring to did not come from a chief constable. I do, however, have private meetings with members of the force, at various levels, which I cannot share publicly without their consent. But I can tell you absolutely categorically that every quote I gave, past and present, came directly from their mouths, and I was simply representing those. Could...
Mark Isherwood: Although Labour’s general election campaign in Wales has stated that Labour’s 2017 manifesto—
Mark Isherwood: It depends whether you’d allow me enough time at the end or not, if I give another intervention.
Mark Isherwood: I will not identify individuals because those individuals could be held to account by Ministers. The information I receive is accurate. It comes directly from the relevant persons, but I am not going to identify who those persons are. What they say in private is very different to what they’re prepared to say in public to the likes of you. Although Labour’s general election campaign...
Mark Isherwood: I’m quoting. In their January briefing to north Wales AMs and MPs, North Wales Police told us that their operational collaboration with the Merseyside and Cheshire forces was increasing in areas, including firearms, intelligence, custody, property and forensics. When the Assembly’s Social Justice and Regeneration Committee reviewed the structure of policing in 2005, our report noted that...
Mark Isherwood: Unfortunately, Welsh Government since 1999 has had a record of building rather than removing barriers cross border. Most people in Wales live along the M4 and A55 corridors, separated by a vast rural area, and have very different policing requirements. Policing interdependence between north-east Wales and north-west England is illustrated by the fact that this is the only part of the UK with...
Mark Isherwood: No time. They expressed concern to me this week that Welsh Government control of policing budgets would see funding filtered south, and stated they would like to know whether there is a desire in Welsh Government to merge the police forces in Wales—a proposal that was killed several years ago. As they stated, the geography and current calibrations with various English forces makes the...
Mark Isherwood: Adding, to force such a move to satisfy the egos of certain Politicians should be carefully monitored’.
Mark Isherwood: As this motion states, specialist policing matters such as counter-terrorism are best co-ordinated at a UK level.’ However, its call for the devolution of policing for Wales defies reality. Policing is a devolved matter in Scotland and Northern Ireland. For reasons of geography and history, the situation in Northern Ireland is entirely different. Prior to the introduction of direct rule in...
Mark Isherwood: How do you respond to concern expressed by Diabetes UK and their partners that the guidance, although welcome, doesn’t go far enough in clarifying the situation, that although there are several references or statements that will result in long-term medical conditions being under the additional learning needs framework, the Welsh Government still doesn’t support the amendment of the...
Mark Isherwood: 8. How is the Welsh Government supporting learners with healthcare needs? OAQ(5)0115(EDU)
Mark Isherwood: Although Jeremy Corbyn has joined the Conservatives in saying he wants Brexit to deliver a fairer society and an upgraded economy, we recognise there are tough negotiations ahead. How, therefore, do you respond to his statement that the issue of Brexit is settled?
Mark Isherwood: The health board website states that: ‘The Board was made aware by families of serious concerns about the care of patients in December 2013. ‘Immediate action was taken to close the ward and patients…transferred to alternative care.’ However, I wrote to the chief executive of the then north Wales NHS trust in April 2009 on behalf of a constituent, stating that the treatment received...
