Author: Rhys Gregory

A pilot recycling scheme launched in Swansea city centre in 2019 has led to a huge increase in recycling. Shoppers in the city centre helped Swansea Council recycle more than 145,000 recyclable items over the trial period including plastic & glass bottles, cans and coffee cups and reduce contamination rates by 30%. The increase in recycling is the result of a joint partnership between the council, environmental charity Hubbub and the Swansea Environment Centre. In September 2019, the partnership led to the launch of the #intheloop recycling initiative with the introduction of 119 revamped recycling points around the city centre,…

Intelligent automation is helping improve services for those in need in the Caerphilly county borough. In 2019 Caerphilly County Borough Council became the first local authority in Wales to introduce process automation for front line services.  Having seen its success in helping to free up staff time, the Caerphilly Supporting People team were keen to explore how the same approach could be applied to their roles in social care. The Supporting People team receives referrals for potential new cases from a range of sources, including GPs, schools, Police and a range of other third sector organisations.  The referrals are typically…

Cabinet has agreed an updated £4.5m funding package for the future 21st Century Schools investment at YGG Aberdâr – which will help meet demand for Welsh Medium pupil places and provide an on-site childcare setting. At their virtual meeting on Tuesday, November 17, Cabinet considered an Officer report outlining the updated total costs and funding package for the scheme. In September 2018, Cabinet approved a 50% Council contribution for an estimated £3.3m investment to provide four additional classrooms – raising the capacity of the school by 60 pupils to meet the local demand for places. However, Tuesday’s report to Cabinet…

Cardiff Council’s Planning Committee have today approved plans to build a new Fitzalan High School on land next to the Leckwith Stadium in the Canton area of the city. The developmentrepresents a £63.5m investment in the local community and will see the existing Fitzalan High School replaced with a new-build 10 form entry school, which will accommodate up to 1,500 students between the age of 11 and 16, plus a sixth form. The new school will offer comprehensive sports facilities including a multi-use games area, 3G pitches and a new indoor swimming pool, replacing the current pool which is already…

Self Assessment customers should be alert to criminals claiming to be from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). As the department issues thousands of SMS messages and emails as part of its annual Self Assessment tax return push, HMRC is warning customers completing their returns to take care to avoid being caught out by scammers. The annual tax return deadline is on 31 January 2021. The department knows that fraudsters use calls, emails or texts to contact customers. In the last 12 months, HMRC has responded to more than 846,000 referrals of suspicious HMRC contact from the public, and reported over…

When it comes to having satisfied customers, restaurant surveys are a great asset. Tools such as the EatApp provide a way for restaurants to get an idea of what their customers really think and how to address any concerns. How exactly can customer satisfaction surveys improve the restaurant? These are a few examples of how beneficial they can be.1. 1. Tools to Collect Honest Feedback When it comes to collecting feedback, many chefs at restaurants like to go around and check in with their customers. This can provide some benefits but do you think customers might feel uncomfortable sharing negative…

Despite the associated risks, the bookmaker business is one of the most profitable and future-proof. The average income from the bookmaker’s bets starts from 10%, and a bookmaker earns up to 40% of the profit. In this case, the main strategies are as follows: The higher the coefficient is, the more likely a bettor is to win, and the lower the profit is. The higher the odds are, the more people will come to place bets on your platform. When opening a bookmaker’s online office with the https://altenar.com/ site, you should plan the business strategy in advance. This business requires…

Welsh folks are known for having a rather impeccable gut feeling when it comes to making money. Expectedly, economics is the only reason why Wales is still putting up with all the British BS and lack of common sense – and sense of humour for that matter. Playing slots, like most casino games, relies a lot on the personal instinct of the player – how to pick the casino, which slots to hit, what is the best timing. On the UK casino playfield, Welsh people have great advantages – so why not kill some time during isolation and investigate slots…

Everyone living or working in Merthyr Tydfil will be offered COVID-19 testing, whether they have symptoms or not –  as part of the first mass testing of a whole area in Wales. All residents and workers will be offered repeat COVID-19 testing from this Saturday (21st November) even if asymptomatic, to help find more positive cases and break the chains of transmission. The move will be delivered through a partnership between the Welsh Government, UK Government, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board and the Ministry of Defence, with logistical support from Armed Forces personnel. The…

Helping give regional businesses as much of an opportunity as possible to benefit from major Swansea Bay City Deal projects, a series of procurement principles have now been approved. Signed-off by the City Deal’s Joint Committee, the procurement principles are aimed at helping ensure the £1.3 billion City Deal investment stays as local as possible by supporting local businesses and local jobs throughout Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Swansea. The City Deal team will work with each City Deal project and their appointed contractors to promote and deliver meet-the-buyer events and other activities. This will build on and support…