Author: Rhys Gregory

wansea Council’s Cabinet has agreed to go out to consultation on a programme of investment that will see an average £1.9m a day spent on key services like schools, care and community services next year. Despite services facing huge national energy and inflation pressures totalling £44m and a real-terms cut in Government funding, the council is aiming to spend millions of pounds more in services like education, care and community services the council deliver every day. A Cabinet meeting today (December 22) agreed proposals for the budget for 2023/24 that will go out for consultation from January 3. After that…

A £400,000 refurbishment at Maesteg Sports Centre is now underway, in a move that will improve accessibility as well as benefiting both the physical and mental health of residents right across the community. The project is made possible thanks to investment from Bridgend County Borough Council, Halo Leisure and Sport Wales, who are all working in partnership to make sure residents receive the best service possible. The upgrade will include a larger gym area with brand-new cardio machines, a strength and conditioning space, a wellness zone, and various other new pieces of equipment. Improvements are also being made to the…

Aberavon MP Stephen Kinnock has paid a visit to the Neath hub which is collecting and distributing donations such as clothes, mobile phone sim cards, clean bedding and other items to Ukrainian refugees located in Neath Port Talbot. The hub, run by NPT Safe and Well, has been working closely with local businessman Chris O’Callaghan, the former Aberavon RFC coach and player and ex-Cambridge Blue who has links with the business Goods for Good ( https://goodsforgood.org.uk/ ) which has also been helping to donate new clothes and other essential items to the hub. Mr Kinnock, who praised the work going…

A call for donations from Pembrokeshire County Council’s chairman saw multiple bags collected for PATCH (Pembrokeshire Action to Combat Hardship) before Christmas. Cllr Pat Davies asked council staff and members to bring in donations for PATCH, a local charity supporting hundreds of people struggling in food poverty. PATCH acting project manager Dave Golding collected the donations from County Hall and said people’s generosity across the county was “overwhelming.” Cllr Pat Davies, Council Chairman, said: “I’m delighted that council staff have supported PATCH with donations, and this collection adds to those already made by other service areas in the local authority.…

Caerphilly County Borough Council and Newport City Council Trading Standards lead prosecution to bring rogue trader to justice. On Friday 9th December 2022, after pleading guilty to two offences relating to victims in Caerphilly and four similar charges relating to a victim in Newport, James Mochan was sentenced to two years imprisonment and ordered to pay £2,820 in compensation under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Mochan was originally charged with offences relating to two separate victims in CCBC, whereby he would introduce himself using the name James Morgan and offer to complete building/gardening works at their properties.…

The children of Caedraw Primary School have been selflessly working on an innovative and unique project, with the aim of helping the homeless in Merthyr Tydfil. The project works by taking empty crisp packets and sheets of plastic and transforming them into blankets. Miss Fleet, Year 3 teacher and Mrs Geake, Year 5 teacher are the Humanities Leads/Eco-coordinators at Caedraw Primary School. They initially saw the ‘Crisp Packet Project’ online and when they shared it with the Eco-Committee and Eco-Club, made up of Year 2-Year 6 learners, the children couldn’t wait to get involved. Miss Fleet said: “As soon as…

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…

The Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles has announced the appointments of Professor Dame Julie Lydon as the Chair of the Board for the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research (CTER) and Professor David Sweeney as Chair of the Research and Innovation Committee and Deputy Chair for the CTER Board. The Commission will be the first ever national steward for the whole tertiary education and research sector, bringing responsibility for overseeing Wales’ higher and further education, school sixth forms, apprenticeships and research and innovation together in one place. Through the reforms provided for in the Tertiary Education and Research…

Privacy is a right that is essential for every respectful member of society. Scanning the other person’s personal property, belongings, and everyday activities should be no one’s business without probable cause for illegal or harmful activities. While these rules are somewhat respected in the physical world, the internet, while bound by law in most countries, is still a no man’s land in many different ways. With the most powerful tech businesses and clever cybercriminals abusing the power of godlike technology, even government agencies and assigned representatives are often powerless in their efforts to stop spying and illegal activities online. Either…

The UK is currently facing a cost of living crisis, with energy bills sky rocketing and inflation also increasing sharply, creating a squeeze on household budgets. One way that a homeowner may consider bringing in some extra income is to rent out a room, annex, driveway or part of their property. Before an advert is placed seeking for lodgers, plenty of thought should be put into the impact of such a decision including; financial considerations and tax implications, the checks that should be undertaken before committing as well as the practical realities of cohabiting with lodgers. We will be discussing…