Tag: Welsh Government

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 30 December 2022.

Whether you’re looking to swap from the car to a healthier and more cost-effective commute, thinking of taking a weekend stroll, or simply planning a bike ride with friends and family, there’s likely to be an opportunity nearby with more than 2000km of high-quality local walking and cycling routes already available across Wales.

Following months of public consultation and working closely with the Welsh Government, local authorities have published their Active Travel Network Maps, which include a comprehensive list of fully approved and accessible active travel routes, which can be accessed on Data Map Wales.

The maps bring together both existing routes as well as plans to deliver new and improved routes over both the short and long term with funding from the Welsh Government’s Active Travel Fund.

The 2023-24 funding round is now open for applications and the Welsh Government is encouraging local authorities to apply for funding from the £55m pot to help them realise their ambitions for active travel in their community.

Deputy Minister for Climate Change, with a responsibility for Transport, Lee Waters said:

Getting people out of cars for short journeys and encouraging them to walk or cycle instead is a huge challenge for us, but one that has to be met if we are to reach our net zero carbon emission target by 2050.

We need to create the right infrastructure and have the right routes in place so that people have the choice of walking and cycling for their everyday journeys – we need to make the right thing to do, the easy thing to do.

There is still a long way to go, but I’m pleased to see we’re moving in the right direction.”

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 28 December 2022.

Community facilities across Wales are set to benefit from ‘crucial’ additional Welsh Government funding enabling them to complete refurbishment works.

The projects had struggled to stay within their original budgets due to rising costs of building supplies.

More than £303,000 will go towards additional funding for 5 larger projects.

In total 15 projects are receiving funding totalling £467,000 in this round of the Community Facilities Programme. This included £164,000 towards ten smaller projects, all receiving under £25,000 grants.

Small amounts of grant funding can provide a big change for community facilities.

The programme funds the purchase and improvement of facilities which provide opportunities for local people to improve their day to day lives.

The smaller projects include £13,000 towards making a woodland space at Bluegreen Cymru in Glanteifi Woods, Pembrokeshire more accessible all year round through new paths, a log burner and a covered area; £20,000 towards urgent repairs to the roof to prevent water ingress at St Thomas Church Hall in Clydach Vale, RCT; £11,000 towards upgrading the kitchen and the play space to create a warm hub during the winter months at Victory Church in Cwmbran; and £17,870 towards an extension to the workshop and energy saving improvements at Brighter Futures in Rhyl, Denbighshire.

The larger projects include £50,000 towards new windows to make the building more sustainable for energy costs at New Life Church in Cardigan, Ceredigion; £50,000 towards improving sound insulation and renovating an outbuilding into a flexible space for music, dance and arts workshops at Tabernacl Bethesda in Gwynedd; and £87,100 towards refurbishing a community hub and installing new windows to make it more energy efficient at Hirwaun YMCA in RCT.

Minister for Social Justice Jane Hutt said:

This additional funding is crucial to allow these larger projects to be completed so they can benefit communities across Wales.

Due to rising costs for materials they have seen their budgets squeezed as they neared completion. They wouldn’t have been able to carry out essential works like roof repairs, new windows and energy saving improvements if it wasn’t for our Community Facilities Programme.

I hope everyone gets to enjoy these community facilities once they are finished and look forward to hearing about their progress.

Stephen Johnson, sustainability co-ordinator at Brighter Futures in Rhyl, said the funding had made a massive difference to them.

Thanks to this funding we have been able to extend the workshop and can get more people into it,” he said.

We have been planning this for a long time, but now we are able to do it. It’s perfect timing as the numbers of people wanting to come are getting higher and higher.

He added:

The energy saving improvements have also saved us so much money with our bills. People don’t want to stay in their houses, so they are able to come here and keep warm. We have started staying open 6 days a week now.

Sue Lewis, the leading project officer on Aberporth Village Hall in Ceredigion, where work includes rebuilding 1 property and modernising and refurbishing an adjoining building, said they were hoping to be finished in time for Christmas next year.

This funding has basically made the difference between the project happening or not,” she said.

It’s going to completely transform our community. When it’s finished we will have this focal point in the village. It will be a warm and welcoming community hub that everyone can use.

Clyde Thomas, Lead Pastor at Victory Church in Cwmbran, said:

The funding provided will allow us to upgrade our front of house space, creating a great place to work, play and keep warm and fed.

With times becoming increasingly more challenging for many local families, the church seeks to be a valuable communal connection point offering hope and help to all.”

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 27 December 2022.

The Welsh Government’s creative agency, Creative Wales reports £14.2m of production funding has been successfully awarded to 22 projects since its inception in January 2020, and spend from brands such as Lucasfilm, Netflix and Bad Wolf has generated over £155.6m of production spend into the Welsh Economy.

With shooting for big-budget films like Havoc which recently wrapped and Wales-made series like Willow, His Dark Materials 3 and the fourth season of Sex Education poised to hit screens, the local creative economy is growing proportionally year-on-year.

In the last two years alone, Wales Screen, Creative Wales’ location service, has received over 900 production enquiries from film and TV crews wanting to take advantage of the country’s world-class facilities.

In 2021, the Welsh screen sector saw a turnover of £575 million, a 36% increase from the year before. The 2021 British Film Institute’s Screen Report showed that investment in filmmaking from organisations like Creative Wales has resulted in a nine-fold increase in the country’s economic output.

Wales is being tipped to compete on the world stage by international production and film houses due to its vast choice of filming locations, a combined 822,705 sq feet of shooting space split across the country’s seven studios, and a skilled workforce.

A memorandum of understanding with BBC Wales and S4C is seeing an increased partnership working in Wales to tell uniquely Welsh stories and supporting independent production companies.  The partnerships have resulted in many positive developments in content development and actions on the skills agenda which all aim to build on contribution of the creative sector to economic growth.

Hitting our screens next year will be Wolf (Hartswood / BBC) a prime-time thriller rooted in Wales and Steeltown Murders (Severn Screen) which centres on the hunt to catch the killer of three young women in the Port Talbot area.

Following the announcement of the Ffilm Cymru Fund earlier this year, a collaboration between Creative Wales and Ffilm Cymru Wales – five independent film productions have been recently approved – with work on the first project ‘Timestalker’ underway.

A funding boost of £180,000 has also been made available to support the development of Welsh Language film and provide financial support to develop talent and ideas. The commitment is part of the Co-operation Agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.

Looking to the wider creative economy, Creative Wales also offers support through development, skills and music funds. Figures from 2019 show an annual turnover of more than £2.2 billion, employing more than 56,000 Welsh citizens, growing and supporting the creative economy is a top priority of the Welsh Government.

In 2022 Creative Wales relaunched production funding, and for the first time included support for the games industry. This will allow us to compete internationally for a larger share of this high growth sector, offering financial support for companies choosing to produce games in Wales or for indigenous businesses to develop new Intellectual Property. This new funding stream was launched at Games  Development Conference in March as part of our annual mission to the San Francisco event at the heart of the industry.

A highlight for the Music sector was hosting the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival – with Creative Wales managing the fringe festival which showcased 150 artists at 29 events in 12 venues around the city of Cardiff.

Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden, said:

We’ve seen unprecedented growth in the creative sectors over recent years and it’s been wonderful to see Wales’ unique locations on screen – and also to demonstrate the excellence of our world-class talent, crews and facilities. Our focus on skills will continue in the new year – to ensure that we can deliver the demand for skills and talent for this growing sector.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 23 December 2022.

Dr Irvine is currently the UK Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer and policy Deputy Director for Global Animal Health in Defra. He will join the Welsh Government in March.

Richard is a highly experienced veterinarian with a background in animal health and welfare, trade policy, as well as science and state veterinary medicine.

He has held different roles leading animal health surveillance and science programmes at the Animal and Plant Health Agency, as well as time spent in a clinical mixed veterinary practice in South Wales.

Dr Irvine said:

I’m truly delighted to have been appointed as Wales’ Chief Veterinary Officer.

I look forward to supporting Welsh farming in this role, by leading the collective work to safeguard the health and welfare of animals in Wales.

I’m very much looking forward to working as part of the team in the Welsh Government, as well as with all the partners and agencies who work tirelessly to tackle the animal health and welfare challenges we face.

It is a real opportunity to make a difference and build on what has already been achieved. I’m pleased to be able to come back to Wales, after spending some time here working as a vet in practice.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to play my part and look forward to starting my new role.

Welcoming the appointment Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths said:

Congratulations to Richard on his appointment as Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales. He joins us as we strive to reach our long-term vision for the eradication of bovine TB in Wales, and we face the largest incursion of Avian Influenza the UK has ever seen.

I look forward to working with him to deliver our ambitious Animal Health and Welfare goals and Programme for Government commitments.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 22 December 2022.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said:

October saw the first decrease in the number of patient pathways waiting to start treatment since April 2020. Although record levels of demand on the ambulance service were reported in November there was also some improvement in emergency department performance.

More than 376,000 consultations+ were carried out in October in hospital alone and over 106,000 patient pathways were closed, an increase of 12.8% from the previous month.

Progress continues to be made on the longest waits. Two year waits for treatment have fallen for the seventh month in a row and are down by 23% since the peak in March. The proportion of pathways waiting less than 26 weeks increased this month with the number waiting more than 36 weeks falling.

The number of pathways waiting longer than one year for their first outpatient appointment dropped for the second month in a row. An all-time record 14,412 people were seen and told they don’t have cancer; this is 4% higher than the previous month. Whilst performance decreased slightly against the 62-day target, more people started their first definitive cancer treatment in October 2022 compared to September 2022.

The proportion of pathways waiting longer than the target times for diagnostics and therapies fell by 4.9% and 4.1% respectively compared to the previous month.

Our ambulance service and emergency department staff remain under increased pressure. November saw the highest number and proportion of ‘red’/ immediately life threatening calls on record and an increase in the total number of attendances across facilities similar to pre-pandemic levels.  However, performance improved against the four hour and twelve hour targets, and there was a reduction in the average wait for an assessment by a doctor.

Whilst we acknowledge ambulance performance is not where we expect it to be, we are driving system improvements, including extending same-day emergency care services to open seven-days a week, improving management of 999 patients on the phone, and recruiting more staff. Without all this the pressure on the system would be even greater.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 21 December 2022.

A statement by Jane Hutt, Minister for Social Justice.

As we approach Christmas, I want to update Members about recent issues relating to our ongoing humanitarian Ukraine response. After months of asking for certainty about the future funding of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the UK Government has provided some clarity about a number of issues we have discussed in the Siambr.

The UK Government’s announcement about future Homes for Ukraine funding includes an extension to the host ‘thank you’ payments to the end of the second year after a Ukrainian’s arrival in the UK – something we had repeatedly asked for. It will also be uplifted to £500 a month where the hosted Ukrainian has already been in the UK for 12 months.

We had asked for this uplift to be available this winter, to help people cope with high energy bills and to help prevent homelessness presentations. Unfortunately, it will only be available from the end of Spring 2023.

The funding announcement also includes disappointing news – there will be no year two funding tariff for Homes for Ukraine visa holders. This is out-of-step with other UK Government resettlement routes and will put immense pressure on local authorities and the Welsh Government.

We would have expected to see a year two tariff of around £6,000 per person. Instead, the UK Government will make available a proportionate share of a new £150m housing support fund. We expect this to bring between £7m and £9m to Wales – compared with around £37m if the year two tariff was available.

Furthermore, the UK Government has said it intends to cut the year one tariff for new arrivals (after 1 January 2023) from £10,500 to £5,900. There are approximately 2,400 visas granted to individuals who are yet to travel to Wales. If all were to arrive after 1 January, Welsh local authorities would receive £14.16m compared with the £25.2m which would have been available when the visa applications were initially made and supported.

There is still no clarity about any year three tariff or alternative fund to continue to support people from Ukraine while they are in the UK. Under other resettlement schemes a year three tariff of £4,020 has been used. If no funding is made available, then a further £24.92m in potential support will not be available to those already here. If we include all those with visas who are yet to arrive, the total value of potential lost support could be as high as £34.57m.

The Welsh Government has already taken the decision to include £40m in our Draft Budget to continue our support people from Ukraine in Wales in 2023-24 and a further allocation of £20m in 2024-25. We will work closely with our local government partners to re-evaluate our strategy to ensure support can be provided to all those who need it over the coming year. These allocations underline our ongoing commitment as a Nation of Sanctuary to resettle those we have already welcomed and those who are still to arrive.

I am continuing to visit the initial accommodation we have set up across Wales and have today visited a welcome centre in South Wales. I had the opportunity to hear directly from our guests about the support available and how they are settling in Wales. We have this week sent Ukrainians living in Wales another newsletter to help them keep in touch and to wish them a peaceful Christmas in the circumstances.

It is vital that we maintain our focus on support in Ukraine as well as the support provided to people who have sought safety and sanctuary in Wales.

This statement is being issued during recess in order to keep members informed. Should members wish me to make a further statement or to answer questions on this when the Senedd returns I would be happy to do so.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 20 December 2022.

The Minister for Health and Social Services, Eluned Morgan, has urged people to take extra care and only call 999 for life-threatening or serious emergencies during the ambulance strikes.

Ambulance services are expected to be severely impacted by industrial action, as the first of two separate days of planned strike action by some ambulance staff begins tomorrow. The GMB union has announced its members in the ambulance services will go on strike on 21 and 28 December.

The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust (WAST) expects the number of emergency ambulances able to attend patients will be significantly affected on strike days.

Non-emergency patient transport, which helps people attend hospital appointments, will also be affected, as will non-clinical call handlers in WAST’s contact centres and some support services.

WAST has warned only life-threatening illnesses or injuries are likely to receive an emergency response on strike days. Patients are advised not to call 999 unless someone is very seriously ill or injured, or there is an immediate risk to life.

The very sickest patients will continue to be prioritised, while less seriously ill or injured patients will not receive an ambulance response. This might also mean patients being asked to make their own way to hospital, where their life is not in danger, provided they feel safe to do so.

People are advised to use the NHS 111 Wales website for health advice where there is no immediate threat to life, or speak to or visit a pharmacist, GP or minor injuries unit.

Health Minister Eluned Morgan said:

There’s no doubt the two days of industrial action, following hard on the heels of action by nurses which have caused a delay in treatment for thousands of patients in Wales, are going to cause huge pressure on ambulance services. Ambulances will only be able to respond to the most urgent calls on strike days.

Please don’t add extra pressure on services on these days and consider carefully what activities you take part in tomorrow and on the 28th.

It’s important to call 999 if you are in immediate danger, but we must all consider very carefully how we use ambulance services on these days.

It’s vital that all of us, as users of our NHS, do all we can to minimise pressure on our health service during the industrial action.

Everyone can help relieve the pressure by:

• stocking up on prescription medications and over the counter remedies for common ailments to reduce the risk of you falling ill on strike days
• ensuring you have adequate first aid kit supplies in the event you need to administer self-care for minor injuries at home
• taking extra care during the cold weather to avoid slips, trips and falls, and accidents on the road
• looking out for family, friends and neighbours who are especially vulnerable

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 20 December 2022.

The Minister for Climate Change, Julie James, has responded to the latest agreement that has been reached at COP15 in Montreal.

The Minister said:

I’ve just seen the news coming through that there has been an agreement at COP15.

It’s a bit early to talk about the detail, but it looks like a deal has been done – that there is protection for indigenous people, that the targets have been agreed and some of the finance too.

We’ll have to have a look at the detail, but it’s probably not strong enough on pesticide control and some of the other protections, but what will be really important now is how we get the implementation of it done. These targets need to be met by the end of the decade and Wales will certainly play its part in making sure that happens.

For us, going forward, we will be putting our 30×30 targets in place, we’ll be putting our environmental protections in place, we’ll be learning from people all over the world – in particular in Quebec – on forestry and nature restoration. We’ll be able to be a global leader, I think, in how we get from where we are now to good environmental status for 30% of our land by 2030.

What was really great, when we were there (at COP), was the pressure coming from the seventh summit of ICLEI – the alliance of sub-national governments, provinces, cities and regions from across the world – there was huge pressure upwards towards the UN member states to get something done. The real hope for the world is that those are the people, on the ground, who will be actually implementing the legislation and the protection.

I think it’s now all about making sure we keep those global alliances, get the implementation done as fast as possible and keep the pressure on the UK Government, and other UN member states, to put the finance in place – to put their money where their mouth is, frankly.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 20 December 2022.

The press release issued by the Welsh Government on 19 December 2022.

An additional 1.5 million free school meals have been served in primary schools across Wales since the rollout of Universal Primary Free School Meals began in September.

As part of the Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru, Universal Primary Free School Meals now allow an extra 45,000 primary school children to have the option of a free school meal. All primary school children and more than 6,000 nursery-age pupils attending a maintained school will be eligible for free school meals by 2024.

Its estimated nearly 66,000 extra pupils will be fed in the first year of roll-out.

£260m has been committed to implement the programme. This includes an additional £60m capital funding for local authorities to invest in improvements to school kitchen facilities, including purchasing equipment and updating digital systems.

Rollout started at the beginning of the autumn term, with reception children receiving the first free meals. Year one and two pupils are now also starting to benefit from the scheme.

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

Schools and local authorities across Wales have been working incredibly hard to deliver 1.5m additional Universal Primary Free School Meals in the first few months of the rollout.

I’m pleased that so many primary school children have benefited from the scheme already. Families across Wales are feeling the effects of the cost-of-living crisis, and Universal Primary Free School Meals are helping to ensure children have a nutritious meal.

The programme will continue to expand in the new year, as even more authorities start offering free meals to Years 1 and 2 by April 2023.

Designated Member Siân Gwenllian said:

Delivering 1.5 million additional free school meals in just over three months is a huge achievement and one that is needed now more than ever.  The roll-out of universal free school meals in all primary schools in Wales shows how co-operative working through the agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government is making a real difference to people’s lives. We are making sure no child goes hungry, while also providing help for families during this cost-of-living crisis.

The number of meals delivered will also increase as we work together to make sure all children attending primary schools will be eligible for free school meals by 2024. I want to thank our local authorities and schools helping us achieve this.