Tag: Welsh Government

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 20 January 2023.

A project to help Welsh mothers in prison maintain positive relationships with their children has had further funding confirmed.

Mick Antoniw, Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution, and Jane Hutt, Minister for Social Justice, visited HMP Eastwood Park in Gloucestershire to speak to frontline staff and people involved in the ‘Visiting Mum’ service.

‘Visiting Mum’, delivered by Pact (the Prison Advice & Care Trust), runs from HMP Styal in Cheshire as well as HMP Eastwood Park in Gloucestershire – the two most common locations for women in Wales being sent to prison. The service is designed to provide benefits for both mothers and their children.

As there are no prisons for women in Wales women serve custodial sentences in England, often at a considerable distance from their homes and families. ‘Visiting Mum’ helps strengthen family ties by facilitating closer contact between mothers and children.

Around half of women in prison are mothers, and the service identifies women who are at risk of losing contact with their children and offers specialist support. It then arranges visits, offers parenting and relationship programmes, offers transport to children, and provides ‘wraparound care’ for children after their visit.

An evaluation of the project found it was improving wellbeing among mothers and reducing the risk of self-harm, while also improving long-term outcomes for their children.

Between June 2021 and August 2022 ‘Visiting Mum’ supported 68 families. The project is joint funded by the Welsh Government and HM Prison and Probation Service, who are both contributing £90,000 in 2023-24 to ensure the scheme can continue.

Nadia Emblin, Pact Head of Service Delivery and Development – Wales and Western England, commented:

While we believe that custodial sentences for women should only ever be used as a last resort, Visiting Mum ensures better outcomes for both mothers in custody and their children in the community.

Our evaluation shows the positive impact of this kind of holistic support on the mental health and wellbeing of the whole family. It is also vital in reducing reoffending, as we know that prisoners who receive visits are 39% less likely to return to prison.

We are hugely grateful to our partners at Change Grow Live, and to the Welsh Government and HMPPS for ensuring the scheme can continue. One mum recently told us that it offered, “a light in the dark” for her during her sentence, and we hope that we can provide this hope for many more women in the future.

Jane Hutt, Minister for Social Justice, said:

Our approach to women’s justice stresses the importance of working with women in contact with the justice system in a holistic and rehabilitative way.

We continue to believe prison sentences should be a last resort, and are supportive of the proposed Residential Women’s Centre in Swansea which will provide an alternative to a prison sentence.

But for women who are in prison, often with long distances between themselves and their family, Visiting Mum can be an invaluable service that keeps them in contact with the people they love.

Mick Antoniw, Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution, said:

We believe one of the key elements of the justice system should be rehabilitation. Justice is about more than courts and punishment; it is about people and families. Supporting people in prison to lead fulfilling lives when they are out of prison is an important responsibility of any effective approach to justice.

The ‘Visiting Mum’ project is a positive example of this in action, with a rehabilitative approach leading to real benefits for both mothers and children.

UK government Minister for Prisons and Probation Damian Hinds said:

Keeping in touch with family is a vital lifeline for women in custody – supporting their wellbeing and reducing re-offending.

By funding services like Visiting Mum this government is helping to deliver better outcomes for women in prison, which in turn makes our communities safer.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 19 January 2023.

The Welsh Government will increase student maintenance support by 9.4% for the 2023 to 2024 academic year, subject to regulations being made.

The average full-time Welsh student can claim £10,710 in maintenance grants and loans, which will rise to £11,720 thanks to this increase.

This will apply to full-time and part-time higher education students from Wales, who began a course on or after 1 August 2018.

Living costs support is rising in line with the National Living Wage, which is unique to Wales. In contrast, the UK Government has announced a 2.8% increase for students ordinarily resident in England.

The Welsh Government continues to provide the most progressive student finance system in the UK. Welsh undergraduate students have less to repay on average than their English peers as they can access our generous living costs package of grants and loans.

The highest level of grant support is given to those students most in need. A substantial part-time student support package is available, giving students from all backgrounds the chance to study part-time.

The Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles said:

Living costs should never be a barrier to studying at university. This increase in support will ensure that students from all backgrounds are able to access higher education.

Despite continuing budget pressures, I have ensured that the value of support is increased accordingly at this time of exceptional cost-of-living pressures.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 18 January 2023.

Almost 400 more nurse training places will be created in Wales thanks to an 8% increase in the NHS Wales training budget, Health Minister Eluned Morgan today announced.

The Welsh Government has approved Health Education and Improvement Wales’ (HEIW)’s ambitious Education and Training Plan 2023-24 for NHS Wales, backed by a record £281m investment package.

This is the ninth consecutive year that health professional education and training budgets will have increased in Wales.

The plan will support 527 extra training places for a wide range of NHS professionals, from scientists and pharmacists to occupational therapists and physiotherapists, as well as nurses.

The increase in training places include the following professions (full list below):

• Adult nurse training places increase from 1,651 to 1,892 – a 14.6% increase.
• Child nurse training places increase from 175 to 192 – a 9.7% increase.
• Mental health nurses training places increase from 410 to 530 – a 29% increase.
• Midwives training places increase from 185 to 190 – up 2.7%.
• Physiotherapist training places increase from 174 to 180 – up 3.4%.
• Occupational therapist training places increase from 179 to 197 – up 10%.
• Paramedics training places increase from 116 to 120 – a 3.4% increase.
• Pharmacy technician training places increase from 30 to 50 – up 66.7%.

Health Minister Eluned Morgan said:

Despite the inflationary pressures on our budget we are committed to investing in the NHS workforce in Wales.

I am delighted to increase training places once again for nurses and the many other health professions, which are the backbone of our health service.

A well-trained NHS workforce with the right skills is essential to providing a sustainable high-quality care to people across Wales and improving standards in our health service.

These additional training places will deliver a workforce which can respond to the challenges of the future.

The Welsh NHS currently has more people working in it than at any time in its history, focusing on prevention and care across every community.

Lisa Llewelyn, Director of Nurse and Health Professional Education at HEIW, said:

This plan has been developed in collaboration with key stakeholders from the NHS in Wales and will support current and future workforce numbers.

Building on growth from previous years, the additional education and training places will mean increased numbers of a range of qualified healthcare professionals being available to deliver quality care to our population and work in Wales in a range of roles and locations.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 17 January 2023.

The Deputy Minister for Social Partnership, Hannah Blythyn, has today announced a group of experts will work together to advise Welsh Government on actions to ban conversion practices in Wales for all LGBTQ+ people.

It fulfils a commitment from the Minister to form a working group which brings together representatives from faith communities; the health and social care sector; and children and young people’s representatives, alongside LGBTQ+ people to advise on key elements of the work.

Members include Jayne Ozanne, who underwent nearly 20 years of conversion practices, which resulted in her being hospitalised twice.

Now she works to ensure full inclusion of all LGBTQ+ people, particularly LGBTQ+ people of faith, and is the Founder and Chair of the UK’s Ban Conversion Therapy Coalition which is campaigning for a full ban on the practice.

On being invited to join the working group, Jayne said:

We know this happens in many churches and religious groups across the world. Wales is no exception.

It is abhorrent, harmful and abusive, Sadly, it is a trauma that stays with you for life as it gets at the absolute core of who you are and how you love.

Including trans and non-binary people in a ban is critical as the level of physical abuse and verbal abuse against the trans and non-binary community is so severe. It is particularly crucial we work to protect young people from across the LGBTQ+ community because the mental outcomes are so horrific.

If you’re traumatised at a relatively young age over something as fundamental as your core identity, then that can go on to impact your education prospects, your career prospects, your sense of confidence and your ability to love and be loved, which means lifelong affirming relationships are often badly compromised.

With a firm ambition to make Wales the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation in Europe the Welsh Government and NHS Wales signed up to a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ with the Coalition Against Conversion Therapy in 2022.

Organisations who sign the Memorandum and work in the provision of mental or psychological health delivery or commissioning, such as the NHS, will commit to ensure they do not commission or provide conversion therapy in Wales.

Another member of the new expert group is Ian Green who has more than 25 years’ experience of high-profile leadership roles. The current Chief Executive of Terrence Higgins Trust said:

As someone who as a young man experienced LGBT conversion therapy, I know how important it is that this abhorrent practice is banned. Being lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans is not something that needs to be changed or cured.

I’m looking forward to being part of the Welsh Government’s working group on conversion practices and playing an active role in helping to see a ban implemented in Wales.

The Welsh Government has commissioned legal advice to establish exactly what powers already exist in Wales in order to seek the devolution of any additional powers needed to ban conversion therapy in its entirety.

Deputy Minister for Social Partnership, Hannah Blythyn said:

Recent Census data revealed there are LGBTQ+ people living and participating in every part of Wales, which further emphasises our commitment to ensure every corner of our country is a safe place to live openly and authentically.

Conversion practices are abhorrent, and we are committed to banning it to help protect everyone in our LGBTQ+ communities.

Members of our working group bring a wealth of experience, and, in some cases, first-hand experience of the sheer upset and utter harm conversion practices can cause. The combined knowledge of the members will be invaluable as we work to ban this frankly evil practice.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 17 January 2023.

The UK Government must urgently provide a stable, long term strategy to tackle the urgent economic challenges facing Wales and the UK, Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething will say today.

The Minister made the call ahead of the first UK Interministerial Group for Business and Industry meeting of 2023, which will bring together ministers and senior officials from the Welsh Government, UK Government, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive. Following the meeting, the Minister will update the Senedd later this afternoon.

The Welsh Government is working constantly to prioritise the long term action needed to create better jobs in stronger businesses, narrow the skills divide and tackle poverty. The Minister for the Economy will call for a strong focus on sustainable growth that unlocks opportunities for Wales and ends an era of damaging economic centralism.

In the coming months, the Economy Minister will launch several initiatives to continue supporting the Welsh economy, including:

• a new net zero skills action plan, setting out how Welsh Government will work with businesses and workers to embrace the skills that will drive a low carbon economy
• a new innovation strategy, with clear missions, from better health outcomes to stronger business, designed to win more investment in a more innovative Wales
• a new green business loan scheme, providing low-cost loans with consultancy support to help businesses lower their energy costs for good
• a refreshed manufacturing action plan, setting out our ambitions for a Welsh manufacturing sector with a truly global reach that supports good jobs in local communities.

The Minister will also highlight the progress made in engaging in partnership with the UK Government on freeports and the future of borders policy.

However, there are significant challenges and concerns in urgent areas which require action from the UK Government such as carbon emissions trading, the semiconductor cluster and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said:

The UK economy is now in a worse position than any other G7 nation and economic centralism is part of the problem. Forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility and the Bank of England indicate unemployment in Wales increasing between 20,000 and 40,000 over the next 18 months. Inflation is expected to remain at around 10% over the first half of this year, and productivity is weak.

The impact of soaring energy bills and inflation was intensified by the UK Government’s disastrous early autumn mini-budget which baked in preventable harm at the worst conceivable time.

Last week’s announcement by Liberty Steel demonstrates UK government action is now essential, not optional.

Wales and the rest of the UK needs the UK Government to develop a responsible and coherent strategy for sustainable economic recovery and growth.

The lessons are clear – good engagement has the power to deliver stronger economic outcomes.  It is time for the UK Government to invest in partnership to develop a stronger Welsh economy in a fairer, more secure UK economy.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 16 January 2023.

Education Minister Jeremy Miles has announced funding for university mental health and well-being services.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 12 January 2023.

A new £5 million Innovation Fund is to be established to support Further Education (FE) colleges look at new ways to support learners, the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles has announced.

The fund will invest in projects which aim to support learners in key areas including skill development, wellbeing and resilience and adaptability while helping FE colleges work together.

Supporting creative solutions is at the heart of the fund; encouraging colleges to explore new ways of working and continuing to ensure Wales is a place where people of all ages receive a high-quality education. Colleges have already implemented successful initiatives like Junior Apprenticeships, Employment Bureaus and Accelerated Learning programmes, the fund will look to expand on these already successful programmes.

Alongside this, the Minister has also allocated further funding to FE colleges to help with rising costs. Over £2.5 million will be used to support learners undertaking vocational programmes by helping colleges to cover the increased costs of consumable materials like wood and steel, critical to vocational courses such as construction.

The Financial Contingency Fund will also receive a boost of £1.345 million. The fund supports learners who are experiencing financial hardship, enabling them to continue to access a college education. Learners who might be entitled to this support should get in touch with their college.

Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles, said:

The cost-of-living crisis represents significant challenge to colleges, so we need to look at new ways of working. The Innovation Fund will allow FE providers to consider creative new ways of working and collaborating with others in the sector to benefit learners.

I look forward to seeing new concepts and I know providers will rise to the challenge.

Money should never be a barrier to accessing education, which is why I am also pleased to increase funding to the Financial Contingency Fund, which will now be able to assist more learners. This can help with costs like meals, childcare and travel to make sure learners facing low income can keep learning.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 11 January 2023.

The Minister for Finance and Local Government has today (11 January) confirmed that Ruth Glazzard will become the next chair of the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA).

Ruth will succeed the current chair, Kathryn Bishop, who stepped down in October after serving for 5 years in post.

In recent years, Ruth has served in several other non-executive membership roles with organisations including the Centre for Digital Public Services for Wales and Digital Health and Care Wales.

The WRA currently manages 2 devolved taxes, Land Transaction Tax and Landfill Disposals Tax, on behalf of the Welsh Government.

Minister for Finance and Local Government, Rebecca Evans, commented:

It’s 5 years since the first WRA Board meeting was held and it became the first non-ministerial department established by the Welsh Government.

Under Kathryn’s insightful leadership, the WRA became the vehicle which allowed Wales to raise taxes for the first time in 800 years. To date, the WRA has raised more than £1bn in tax revenue to support public services across Wales.

I’m pleased to welcome Ruth to support the authority’s next chapter. Ruth’s credentials supporting other organisations, such as the Centre for Digital Public Services for Wales and Digital Health and Care Wales, will enable the WRA as a digital-first organisation to develop even better digital public services in Wales.

Incoming Chair, Ruth Glazzard, commented:

I’m delighted to become the next Chair of the WRA, and I’m excited to be continuing the successful journey Kathryn has had in supporting the organisation to this point.

I’m looking forward to working with other members of the Board to support the WRA’s leadership team to continue the organisation’s work, managing devolved taxes and supporting on the design and development of future taxes in Wales.

I recognise this is a difficult time in public services and I’m therefore proud to be working with a body that’s been set up to raise vital revenue to support communities across Wales.

Dyfed Alsop, CEO of the WRA, commented:

I’d like to thank Kathryn for all the support offered over the last 5 years – through many firsts for tax in Wales and the challenging times we found ourselves in during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Kathryn has made a major contribution in helping us become the modern tax authority we aspired to be 5 years ago.

I’d also like to welcome Ruth who I‘m looking forward to working with. I’m excited about the challenges and opportunities we have on the horizon, and welcome the wealth of experience and expertise Ruth will bring to the role as our next Board Chair.

The appointment of Ruth Glazzard as WRA Chair follows a fair and open recruitment exercise.

Ruth Glazzard

• Ruth is currently the Vice Chair of Digital Health and Care Wales, and holds non-executive roles with a housing association and a social enterprise.
• Ruth was a member of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales, and held an interim board role with the Centre for Digital Public Services Wales.
• Ruth has significant experience in corporate management, and a background in financial services regulation, with a particular focus on oversight, audit and risk.
• Ruth also has significant board experience as an independent Chair of the Audit Board and Chair of the Standards Advisory Committee for the London Borough of Newham.
• She previously held an international role as a Head of Governance for Standard Chartered Bank, and worked in both operational management and regulatory roles at the Financial Conduct Authority.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 11 January 2023.

An internationally recognised research chemist, Professor Jas Pal Badyal FRS, has been appointed as the Welsh Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser.

As the new Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales, Professor Badyal will provide science advice to the First Minister and Welsh Ministers.

He will also be responsible for developing the Welsh Government’s science capability and supporting the growth of a strong and dynamic science and research base in Wales.

Professor Badyal is currently Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Durham University. He is renowned for his pioneering research on the functionalisation of solid surfaces and deposition of functional nanolayers for technological and societal applications.

Professor Jas Pal Badyal said:

I am excited to be given this opportunity to contribute towards building a high-skill, high-tech economy, helping to bring positive impact and well-being for the people of Wales.

Wales has great potential to become a world leader for technological innovations targeting some of the biggest challenges facing humanity today—including climate change, environmental degradation, renewable energy, food security, healthcare, and rising social inequality.

Welcoming the appointment, Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething said:

I’m delighted to welcome Professor Jas Pal Badyal as Wales’ next Chief Scientific Adviser.

The Welsh Government is committed to ensuring Wales is a nation where science, research and innovation are supported and done well. I look forward to working with him to achieve that ambition.

Professor Badyal, who will take up the role in February 2023, replaces Professor Peter Halligan, who retired from the role in 2022.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 10 January 2023.

Major new plans to make Wales a global centre of excellence and the leading location for medical radioisotope production in the UK, which would help address a fast-approaching supply crisis for nuclear medicine around the world have been unveiled today by the Welsh Government.

• Welsh Government’s Project ARTHUR would see the creation of a public sector national laboratory for the supply of medical radioisotopes, needed for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer.
• Facility would be a global centre of excellence in nuclear medicine, making Wales the leading location for medical radioisotope production in the UK.
• Development will lead to the creation of highly skilled jobs over several decades.
• Economy Minister calls on the UK Government to help fund the project to avoid a “future health and economic crisis.”

In the UK, across Europe, and further afield, the equipment in facilities currently producing life-saving radioactive substances, known as medical radioisotopes, which are critical to cancer diagnosis and treatment, are coming to the end of their productive life and being closed. As a result, by 2030, the UK faces a reality of having no medical radioisotopes, or the “ethical nightmare” of having to ration them.

The consequences of supply interruptions are significant. The temporary loss of isotopes from the cyclotron at Cardiff University’s PET Imaging Centre impacted diagnostic scans for several diseases, especially cancers. A more general loss of supply would have a significant detrimental impact on patient outcomes and survival.

In response, the Welsh Government has developed plans to secure the supply of medical radioisotopes for Wales and the UK through the development of project ARTHUR (Advanced Radioisotope Technology for Health Utility Reactor).

Based in north west Wales, the Project ARTHUR facility will be a public sector ‘national laboratory’ with its own nuclear reactor. It would produce medical radioisotopes and supply them to NHS Wales and the other National Health Services in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Project ARTHUR will be a major Welsh and UK strategic initiative and is a multi-decade endeavour, a commitment of some 60 to 70 years. Once up and running, it will then be one of a few facilities in the world focusing primarily on medical radionuclide production.

As well as providing vital services for the NHS across the UK, it will also help stimulate the north Wales economy by attracting highly skilled jobs and industry, create a surrounding infrastructure, build local supply chains, and support local communities.

The jobs created, both direct and in the associated supply chain, will be long-term and sustainable for people of different socio-economic backgrounds and skillsets. They will include roles such as research scientists and engineers, drivers, operations, production, technical and office staff.

The facility would also help sustain and build strong, cohesive, and long-lasting communities. This will be especially important in those rural and Welsh-speaking communities across north Wales, which have been heavily reliant on jobs in the nuclear power industry.

The project is a major collaborative development between the Welsh Government’s Department of Health and Social Services and the Department of Economy. The potential developments resulting from the new medical school in Bangor, aligned with Project ARTHUR and other health technologies, presents the best regional solution to a sustainable and secure radio-diagnostic and radio-medicines capability in north Wales.

Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething said:

Today, I am pleased to set out a clear ambition for creating another major technological cluster here in Wales, while also tackling a fast-approaching crisis for medical treatment right around the world.

Our vision is the creation of project ARTHUR – a world-leading nuclear medicine facility, which will bring together a critical mass of nuclear science research, development, and innovation.

Through this development, not only can Wales become the leading place in the UK for medical radioisotope production – producing life-saving medical radioisotopes that are critical to cancer diagnosis and treatment – but we can also attract higher skilled jobs, create a surrounding infrastructure, support local communities, and build local supply chains.

This project will be vital in helping us deliver on our commitments to creating a healthier and more prosperous Wales, by creating the opportunities people need to make their futures here in Wales.

The project’s vision includes creating a ‘technology campus’ in north Wales, to parallel other UK campuses with a nuclear element, such as those at Harwell (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory) and Culham (UK Atomic Energy Authority) in Oxfordshire, and at Daresbury (STFC nuclear physics laboratory) in Cheshire.

However, to succeed, funding needs to be secured from different sources, including the UK Government, to create project ARTHUR.

The Minister added:

The scale of investment needed to bring Project ARTHUR to life is considerable. I am calling on the UK Government to co-operate in supporting our efforts, since this development benefits and supports future cancer diagnostics and treatment right across the UK. Now is the time for decisive action and commitment. The implications of not acting will be counted in human lives and in long-term economic pressure on health services, through unsustainable health treatments.

We are now experiencing unprecedented economic pressures – but that is not an excuse for failing to plan for this clear future need. We must prevent a future health and economic crisis. I have, therefore, approved funding for a technical feasibility study and for the development of an Outline Business Plan. This plan will build on technical work already undertaken and the earlier Strategic Outline Business Plan.

I’m confident our Project ARTHUR facility can become a global centre of excellence and a source of pride for Wales and the wider UK for many decades.