The Welsh economy is lagging behind the rest of Britain after 27 years of Labour, propped up by Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats. Employment in Wales remains the lowest in the UK, the number of people on Universal Credit has increased in Wales, the unemployment rate in Wales stands at 4.5 per cent, and…
As Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council prepares to set its latest budget, it is useful to look at how council tax has changed over time. Recent discussions about the cost to households prompted a closer look at the figures, and while earlier estimates were close, the actual increase over the past 15 years is…
Wales’ four corporate joint committees (CJC) – regional bodies comprising local authorities – should assist large scale infrastructure projects on legal services, ecology, landscape and transport and explore the potential for standardised section 106 agreements. Those recommendations have come in a report by the Royal Town Planning Institute Cymru (RTPIC) on the parlous state of the planning…
As Wales’s education watchdog warns that too many pupils are failing to master reading and mathematics, the Welsh Language Commissioner is calling for compulsory Welsh-language training for every teacher in the country. Critics argue that the priorities are dangerously back to front. Wales is facing a collision between two urgent but potentially competing demands on…
Save school transport. We have received an email from the Welsh Government. A new consultation regarding attendance codes. They are asking for parents, students, teachers, schools and Local Authorities to take part. We have 6 weeks https://www.facebook.com/groups/1211655150190004 Consultation description The Welsh Government are consulting on updating the codes to: We expect this consultation to be…
The Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Darren Millar MS, has tabled an emergency question in the Senedd following revelations that a former Welsh Government special advisor has been arrested in connection with allegations relating to Chinese espionage. The question to the First Minister reads as follows: “Will the First Minister make an urgent statement following…
The Welsh Conservatives have reiterated their criticism for Labour and Plaid Cymru’s active travel agenda as a waste of money. A Review of the Active Travel Act in Wales has once again revealed that “there has not been a significant increase in levels of active travel” this follows a previous report from Audit Wales that also showed…
The Welsh Affairs Committee has this month launched an inquiry into the challenges faced by people accessing cross-border healthcare. The committee said: “NHS patients from all across Wales and parts of England often access healthcare across the border to use services closer to home, to receive treatment not available locally or to access specialist care….
Almost 600,000 (580,000) people are currently waiting for treatment in Wales, with overall patient pathways equal to almost 1 in 4 of the Welsh population. Over 5,200 pathways in Wales have been waiting more than two years to start treatment, yet that same number is only 223 in England – despite the population of England being around…
A million-pound project to create an anti-racist virtual world has been branded a “complete and utter waste of taxpayer cash” by Natasha Asghar MS. The Welsh Government has spent £1.2m devising a metaverse with the aim of it being used in colleges across the country as a way of teaching about anti-racism. However, the materials…
