Mark Isherwood: 4. Will the Minister make a statement on economic prosperity levels in Wales? OAQ(5)0043(EI)
Mark Isherwood: I would like to raise two points. First, to endorse Bethan Jenkins’s call regarding the Kris Wade case, particularly given that the murder and conviction followed reports by people with learning difficulties when in care that they had been sexually abused. I would argue, and I hope you would agree, that any inquiry needs to go beyond the health board, beyond the local authority, and raise...
Mark Isherwood: Well, clearly, this isn’t about a great power grab. As you yourself have said, you want to be involved and engaged alongside the other devolved Assemblies and Parliaments, and the UK Government, whilst not having, as you also acknowledged in September, an ultimate veto. But, given that the great reform or great repeal Bill, as announced and as we understand it, will convert the body of...
Mark Isherwood: You’ll recall that, when we debated Stages 3 and 4 of the legislation last year—the violence against women Act—the then Minister, although not accepting the need to include reference to perpetrator programmes, committed the Welsh Government then to gather further evidence on taking forward pre-custodial perpetrator programmes. What action is your Government doing to facilitate that?
Mark Isherwood: Will you accept that the comments I made reflected the comments made to me by the charities I named, who say that the three funds are interdependent, in order to achieve the goals that we share?
Mark Isherwood: I hope you heard me say that I acknowledge that budgets had been contracting. I’m asking precisely why, therefore, the Welsh Government doesn’t look to maximise the opportunity to do things differently in order to compensate for that, because this will help you manage reduced budgets. It’s not a cost; it’s an investment.
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. We agree with the original motion calling on the Welsh Government to ensure that the Supporting People programme is protected from any financial cuts, and have included this in our amendment to replace this accordingly. However, our amendment goes further, addressing calls by Supporting People providers to ensure that the key preventative services provided alongside the Supporting...
Mark Isherwood: Last week—. I will on this one.
Mark Isherwood: Again, unfortunately you weren’t able to attend the meeting last week, but the BVA representative explained the problems with testing as well, which need to be taken forward. So, when I hosted their Assembly briefing on bovine TB last week, I referred to their historic comments, but we heard at that meeting that the randomised badger culling trial report 2007 established that badgers...
Mark Isherwood: As NFU Cymru state in their briefing to us, bovine TB is one of the biggest threats facing the Welsh cattle industry. They add that the historic failure of the Welsh Government to effectively tackle the disease in wildlife means that it continues to not only impact cattle keepers and their families, but also those further down the supply chain. They state that bovine TB ‘is a complex...
Mark Isherwood: I think it’s 13 years since I first attended a Stonewall Cymru—we used to call it homophobic bullying then, without the additional relevant terms now used. I think you were probably present at it too, 13 years ago. I was recently, however, contacted by the parents of a young man who was suffering homophobic bullying—I won’t name the local authority—but although the local authority...
Mark Isherwood: It’s now a number of years since the Health and Safety Executive produced a statement, stating that school trips have clear benefits for pupils, but misunderstandings may discourage schools and teachers from organising such trips, and they want to make sure that mistaken and unfounded health and safety concerns don’t create obstacles that prevent these from happening. What engagement have...
Mark Isherwood: How do you respond—maybe you’re going to get to this, but you haven’t mentioned it yet—to the central tenet of the north Wales growth vision document, which is the call for responsibility for some economic and growth levers to be internally devolved to the board?
Mark Isherwood: Following publication by the North Wales Economic Ambition Board of a growth vision for the economy of north Wales and its submission to the UK and Welsh Governments, this motion is unashamedly about north Wales. The vision is supported by the leaders and chief executives of all six unitary authorities within the region, the North Wales Business Club, Bangor University, Glyndŵr University,...
Mark Isherwood: Our motion calls on the Welsh Government to publish a detailed business plan for the development of the north Wales metro, while the Welsh Government’s proposals remain vague and disconnected from the collaborative approach sought in the growth vision, which doesn’t even mention a north Wales metro. As the ‘Growth Vision’ document concludes, north Wales is well placed to receive a...
Mark Isherwood: I move amendment 1, noting the importance of access to the EU single market for the Welsh economy; calling for clarity on the Welsh Government’s position on the free movement of people between the UK and EU after the UK leaves the EU; welcoming the interest in establishing new trade agreements between the UK and other countries around the world; and calling on the Welsh Government to work...
Mark Isherwood: Of course, other primary care professionals that are included in your statement include specialist nurses working in the community and the home. In November 2011, I hosted an event in the Assembly on specialist nurses. At that time, for example, there was only one multiple sclerosis specialist nurse in Wales. I noted that we couldn’t afford to make knee-jerk reactions and cuts because...
Mark Isherwood: Given that wage levels in Wales remain below the levels in Scotland and England, that child poverty levels in Wales remain above the UK average, that working-age worklessness levels in Wales remain above the UK average, and that prosperity per head in Wales, measured by the value of goods and services produced, remains the lowest amongst the 12 UK nations and regions—and the gap has...
Mark Isherwood: Diolch. Could I call for two statements, please, firstly on the application of local housing allowance to social rents for supported housing providers? Last Thursday, the UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced that the UK Government was deferring application of the local housing allowance rates on social rents for supported housing until 2019-20 and would then be bringing in a...
Mark Isherwood: Given that they’ve said that they were making a statement on this before the autumn statement, is it not therefore vital that Wales is engaged in close dialogue with them regarding that?
