I was pleased to join Flintshire’s ‘DO-IT’ (Developing Opportunities & Interests Together) meeting, co-producing alternative community solutions together.
- warning several years ago that large areas of North Wales could lose their traditional GP provision, the North Wales Local Medical Committee stated in August that this seems to be coming to pass, and I attended a public meeting in Penmaenmawr where the latest planned closure has been announced.
Responding to the Statement by the Public Services Secretary, ‘Working Together for Safer Communities’, I referred to action by Wrexham County Council to tackle the drug-related problems in Wrexham Town Centre, to the key role played by the third sector, and to the need for Welsh Government action to enable Welsh Police Forces to access the £2 million they've paid for the Apprenticeship Levy. It is concerning that the Cabinet Secretary’s statement excluded any timescales or review dates, and his call for the devolution of policing defies operational reality in North Wales.
I called for a Welsh Government Statement on the impact of winter weather on transport after my fellow passengers and I spent seven and a half hours, with multiple train changes, travelling from Wrexham to Cardiff the previous day.
I also called again for a Welsh Government Statement on mesh implants, where Australia is removing these products from their Register of Therapeutic Goods and serious safety concerns have been raised in the UK by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
Speaking in the Debate on the ‘The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Annual Review 2016-2017’, I called for better support for both female and male victims of domestic abuse and violence, and referred to the need for accredited perpetrator programmes, and to the increase in reported hate crime.
As Wales Species Champion for the Curlew, I stated in the Assembly that this special bird species is in serious trouble across large parts of Britain, with its population declining by 68% in Wales between 1994 and 2016, and emphasised the need for predator control, and for more and better monitoring of breeding curlews, electric fences to protect nests and agri-environment support for farmers on whose land curlews are nesting.
During the Debate on the Committee report on Woodland Policies, I highlighted the call by Confor (the Confederation of Forest Industries) for a national campaign for Welsh forestry and timber, their statement that, in addition to producing timber, forests must be designed to mitigate flooding and conserve important species and habitat, and the RSPB’s call for appropriately located and well-designed woodland expansion.
Assembly engagements included Chairing meetings of the Cross Party Groups on Violence Against Women and Children and on Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency, Assembly Carol Service and Ports Industry Reception.
If you need my help, please email mark.isherwood@assembly.wales or ring 0300 200 7217.