Author: Rhys Gregory

Building new council homes at a time of unprecedented demand for housing and homelessness services remains paramount for Cardiff Council over the coming year. In its Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan for 2024/25, the authority sets out the key priorities for its wide range of Housing services, helping to deliver the strategic commitments set out in the Council’s ‘Stronger Fairer Greener’ vision. Following an extremely challenging year in which the Council declared a housing emergency due toexceptional pressures and unabating demand for homelessness services,delivering more affordable housing at scale and pace is at the top of the list to…

Cardiff Council has proposed making changes to its school’s admissions policy following a public consultation process carried out at the turn of the year. The authority has to review its admissions policy annually and has sought views from headteachers, governing bodies, church representatives and neighbouring education authorities. The consultation which concluded in January, drew out a number of responses which have now been addressed in a new report to be discussed by the Council’s Cabinet on Thursday 21st  March. Cllr Sarah Merry, the Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education, said: “It’s very important that we review our admissions…

Plans for a £25m investment in two blocks of flats in the city are in the pipeline as part of the council’s high-rise recladding scheme. Nelson House and Loudoun House in Butetown are the next of the Council’s blocks to undergo recladding and improvement works in phase two of the programme. Cladding was removed from five Council high rise blocks in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. While the retro-fitted, external cladding on the Council’s high rise blocks was not the same as the highly flammable ACM-type that was used at Grenfell, it did not meet current fire safety…

Haverfordwest Town Museum are excited to announce the opening date for a new pop-up museum and exhibition space, funded by UK government’s Shared Prosperity Fund as part of the Levelling Up agenda. The pop-up museum opens its doors on 25th March in Riverside Shopping Centre, Haverfordwest, just in time for the Easter break! The museum temporally closed in 2023 in preparation for construction works at Haverfordwest Castle, to make way for the creation of a new flagship heritage attraction on the site. While the museum eagerly awaits its new home, curator Simon Hancock and the museum’s volunteers are delighted with…

Staff and pupils in Pontyclun have welcomed the Council’s Cabinet Member for Education on a recent visit – to celebrate the progress being made towards constructing their brand new primary school building by 2025. Councillor Rhys Lewis visited Pontyclun Primary School on Friday, March 1, where the brand new facilities are being constructed on the existing school site. The investment is being jointly funded by the Council and Welsh Government through the Mutual Investment Model, which is the revenue funding stream of the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme. Pontyclun Primary School will receive a new two-storey building with capacity for…

School meals served to Powys learners will now use more Welsh produce thanks to a new partnership between the council and Wales’ leading independent food service wholesaler. Powys County Council has teamed up with Cross-Hands based Castell Howell, who will now be the main supplier of fresh and frozen foods that will be used by the council’s Catering Team to make healthy and nutritious school meals. Cllr Jake Berriman, Cabinet Member for a Connected Powys, said: “This is an exciting partnership and I’m delighted that the council will be working with Castell Howell to continue to provide healthy, nutritionally balanced…

Creative Wales and Welsh Government support will see some of Wales’ leading games development and software companies heading to the games industry’s largest annual gathering in San Francisco. Ten Welsh firms including Copa, Good Gate Media and Sugar Creative are set to connect with 28,000 gaming industry professionals from around the world at the Game Developers Conference from 18 March to network, share ideas, make new business links, and shape the future of the industry. The games industry in the UK was worth £7.6bn in 2023. Creative Wales and the Welsh Government are committed to helping Welsh companies in the…

An innovative animation on public spending, co-produced by young people for young people has been published by the Welsh Government. The animation and accompanying leaflet were created by a group of 11 to 25 year-olds from across Wales and aims to describe what the Welsh Government is doing to improve funding choices and the way it raises and spends money, in a youth-friendly way. Over the past 18 months, members of the Young Wales’ Young People’s Project Board (YPPB) have collaborated with the Welsh Government and the Welsh Treasury, volunteering their own time to take part in online evening sessions…

Following on from the highly successful and engaging launch of the Business Education Together Partnership in January, the opportunities of engaging businesses and employers with schools continues to increase with two incredibly successful events held over the last couple of weeks. Firstly, Afon Taf High School worked in partnership with the BETP to hold a ‘Hidden Jobs Day’ on February 26th. Ten employers took the time to expose Year 8 pupils to a wide range of career options in different sectors. One of the pupils commented that the day had made him want to go to college. The council wishes…

Rob Ford has joined Hodge’s senior management team as its head of mortgage origination. Rob has extensive experience in underwriting, having held senior leadership positions overseeing lending operations at organisations including Bank of Ireland and Principality Building Society. He will be leading and developing the Underwriting department at Hodge, ensuring it consistently makes responsible, efficient and flexible lending decisions to grow the mortgage book in accordance with the Bank’s risk appetite. Rob said of his appointment: “I’m absolutely delighted to be joining Hodge, a specialist lender supporting borrowers with complex needs and one which takes a reassuringly human approach in…