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Ynysddu Primary School wins Climate Challenge Cymru award
Ynysddu Primary School wins Climate Challenge Cymru award

South Wales Argus

time4 days ago

  • Science
  • South Wales Argus

Ynysddu Primary School wins Climate Challenge Cymru award

Ynysddu Primary School picked up the award in the Clean Our Air category at Keep Wales Tidy's innovation challenge, an initiative inspired by the Earthshot Prize. The competition was part of Climate Challenge Cymru and asked primary and secondary schools across Wales to tackle one of five global challenges or 'Earthshots'. These were to Build a Waste-Free World, Clean Our Air, Fix Our Climate, Protect and Restore Nature, and Revive Our Oceans. Ynysddu Primary School won the Clean Our Air category thanks to their creative research into using lichen to monitor air quality, and their efforts to reduce carbon emissions in their local area. They were presented with their award by Dr Jennifer Rudd, a climate expert from Swansea University, at a special ceremony in Cardiff. First Minister Eluned Morgan said: "When I founded the Earthshot Climate Challenge Cymru project in 2021, I wanted to create something different - a platform that would unleash the creativity and passion of young people in Wales to tackle climate change. "What makes this project special is that it connects local action with global thinking. 'Across Wales, we've seen incredible partnerships between schools and environmental organisations, where students aren't just learning about climate change - they're taking real everyday climate action.' The competition, now managed nationally by Keep Wales Tidy's Eco-Schools team in partnership with the Welsh Government, aims to inspire young people to take action against climate change. Speaking at the Climate Challenge Cymru awards ceremony, Owen Derbyshire, chief executive of Keep Wales Tidy, said: "It's been so inspiring to see the energy, creativity and enthusiasm of young people from across Wales on display at Climate Challenge Cymru. "Not only has it been a celebration of the incredible projects they're already leading and the impact they're having but also signals a real momentum moving forward. "The passion on display gives us real hope for the future. "It's clear that with young people leading the way, we have every reason to be optimistic."

Welsh government should sell Cathays Park complex, insider says
Welsh government should sell Cathays Park complex, insider says

BBC News

time4 days ago

  • Politics
  • BBC News

Welsh government should sell Cathays Park complex, insider says

The Welsh government should sell its Cardiff headquarters, according to a former senior civil Clifford, former head of the first minister's office in Cathays Park, said a smaller office should be set up in Cardiff Bay near the Senedd comments come after new figures show that on average just 19% of staff based in Cathays Park worked in the office each day in Minister Eluned Morgan has previously said the government won't be able to "justify" keeping its offices open if staff continue to stay away. Before Covid struck, around 2,500 people worked at Cathays Park every since the pandemic most have continued to work from most recent attendance figures, for March, show that on average the number of people attending the Cathays Park office each day was 576 (19%).The highest daily attendance was 799 (26%).Speaking to BBC-produced Newyddion S4C, Des Clifford said the days of staff working in the office five days a week were over and the time had come to sell Cathays Park."It's an ugly and unfriendly building," he said."I would close it down and perhaps sell it to the university or somebody else and set up a new office in the Bay so that the government and the Senedd are side by side."This would provide "a greater opportunity for mixing between civil servants and government and the Senedd, which might, in certain ways, create a certain kind of coherence," he added. What is Cathays Park used for? The Cathays Park complex consists of two buildings joined by a older building, dating from the 1930s and Grade II listed, originally housed the UK government's Welsh Board of the position of secretary of state for Wales was created in the 1960s, it became home to the Welsh newer building, completed in 1979, provided additional office space for a Welsh Office that had acquired an increasing range of two-building complex became the home of Wales' fledgling devolved government 20 years later, in 1999. 'Awkward questions' The Welsh government has a total of 20 sites across Wales including 15 so-called "core offices".The costs of running these offices in 2023-24 was £ the Welsh government's estate in March the average daily attendance was 16%.Asked what should happen to those offices, Mr Clifford said there were "all sorts of awkward questions that arise if you have an office in Llandudno Junction and you have another one in Caernarfon"."Are the two justifiable in the circumstances that we're describing when you've got two buildings 30 miles (48km) apart?"The same set of questions arise between Penllergaer in Swansea and Carmarthen, which I think again, is about 30 miles distance between the two."The Welsh government expects its staff to spend 40% of the week - the equivalent of two days - in the week First Minister Eluned Morgan told the Senedd: "Clearly, there will come a point where you have to say 'if you don't turn up, we cannot justify keeping this particular office open'."A review of the government's Powys offices - in Llandrindod Wells and Newtown - is already underway.

Over 50 million free school meals served across Wales
Over 50 million free school meals served across Wales

South Wales Argus

time18-07-2025

  • Health
  • South Wales Argus

Over 50 million free school meals served across Wales

The milestone comes as part of the Universal Primary Free School Meals programme, which began in 2022 and now offers every child in every Welsh primary school a free meal each day. First minister Eluned Morgan said: "Serving up school dinners to all our primary pupils for free provides vital support. "A year on from introducing the scheme to everyone, Wales is still the only UK nation to provide a free healthy meal for every primary learner. "It makes sure that no child feels hungry during the school day. "It helps their concentration and wellbeing and enabling them to achieve their full potential." The Welsh Government says the programme helps reduce health inequalities, encourages healthy eating, and supports children's learning and behaviour. The initiative also aims to source food locally where possible. Cabinet secretary for education, Lynne Neagle, said: "More than 50 million meals have been served since the introduction of Universal Primary Free School Meals, it is a remarkable milestone. "It is also a significant step in supporting Welsh families and tackling child poverty across our communities." Work is underway to review school food regulations, with a public consultation open until the end of July.

Holyhead Port to reopen fully after Storm Darragh damage
Holyhead Port to reopen fully after Storm Darragh damage

BBC News

time18-07-2025

  • Business
  • BBC News

Holyhead Port to reopen fully after Storm Darragh damage

One of UK's busiest ports will fully reopen on Friday, seven months after a berth was shut due to damage caused by a car ferry docking during a berths at Holyhead, the UK's second busiest passenger port, were damaged in two separate incidents hours before the height of a rare red weather wind warning that battered Wales in port was closed for five weeks, including at Christmas and new year, as engineers fixed one of the damaged berths before Holyhead partially reopened in January and services resumed to a revised other berth has taken seven months to repair and reopened on Friday with the economic impact of the closures an estimated £500m in lost trade. "It's the busiest time of year and is really important and timely," said Wales' First Minister Eluned comes as schoolchildren in Wales will finish their term within the next few days while most Republic of Ireland schools have already closed for the than 1.5m people pass through Holyhead every year making it the most popular sea route between the UK mainland and the Republic of Ireland. Why did Holyhead Port close? Holyhead's operators have said its closure was after successive ferries made "contact" with berthing terminals at the port just before the height of Storm Darragh in December incidents shut both of Holyhead's terminals because of the "interconnecting nature" of the support structures as the terminals run parallel to each blocked the busiest and shortest route between the UK mainland and Republic and Ireland over the busy Christmas and new year 40-day closure, before one berth reopened on 16 January, caused chaos for passengers and truck drivers using the four daily services of both Stena Line and Irish Ferries as people and freight had to find alternative routes over the Irish Sea. A boss of Stena Line, which runs the port, gave evidence to a Welsh Parliament committee and said berths were designed to "take contact but very slow-speed contact"."These contacts, maybe of a different magnitude, happen all the time," Stena's head of UK Ports Ian Davies told the Senedd's Economy and Trade port or ferry companies say they would not elaborate on how these specific contacts closed the port despite both the Welsh and UK governments asking."Those incidents are now subject to an insurance claim and I can give no further details without prejudicing that insurance claims at this time I'm afraid," Mr Davies told the UK Parliament's Welsh Affairs Committee earlier this chair Ruth Jones MP replied: "That is very frustrating for us but, obviously, we understand where you are coming from." When Mr Davies was before the Welsh Parliament's economy committee, he was asked by chair Andrew RT Davies was it "not necessarily the storm caused the damage, but the actual seamanship?"Mr Davies replied to the Senedd committee: "All we can say is there's an ongoing investigation into the actual cause, and part of that is a claim going on." Ferries that use Holyhead include the 50,000-tonnes Ulysses, which was the world's largest car ferry when it launched in terminal five reopened on 16 January and the port has been able to operate its normal daily number of sailings - eight arrivals and eight to accommodate that, both Irish Ferries and Stena Line had to adjust their timetables to synchronise arrivals and departures at the only operational told the Senedd the damage had happened to part of terminal three, which is "predominantly" used by Irish the port operators or the ferry companies would confirm who was taking action against whom. Both Stena Line and Irish Ferries have both declined to berthing incidents happened during Storm Darragh - but before the red weather warning for wind kicked in at 03:00 GMT on 7 to Met Office data, three of the UK's five strongest gusts during Storm Darragh were in north included wind speeds of 79mph (127km/h) at Valley - about eight miles (13km) inland from Holyhead - which is the highest recorded gust on Anglesey for 27 years. The Health and Safety Executive did not investigate the incidents, while the Marine Accident Investigation Branch made some "preliminary enquiries" into the "maritime aspects" of the added in a statement: "The information gathered does not indicate any significant safety issues that would necessitate further investigation at this time."Mr Davies said there was a "onward-going investigation" about the incidents and the port and ferry operators would review what happened once Holyhead was fully reopened. Why has it taken so long to fully reopen Holyhead? Seven months may seem like a long time without half of its berthing capacity but port bosses explained replacing Holyhead's damaged infrastructure was complex."The berths are a series of very large steel pile structures... roughly 2m (6ft 7in) in diameter and 50m (164 ft 1in) in total length and driven into the seabed," Mr Davies of Stena explained in his Senedd evidence. He said the affected structure on terminal three "partially collapsed and had fallen at an angle" so engineers needed to charter specialist barges to get to the site and remove the fallen 120-tonne needed to design, order, check and fit their new pile and its associated mechanisms."It was hoped we could replace the pile in the same pile socket, like replacing a false tooth, but that was not possible," added Mr have had to drive the new pile into the sea bed and test before declaring the berth ready for passenger ferries."To be frank, seven months is a short amount of time," said maritime expert Dr Stavros Karamperidis. "The analogy is having a car accident, insurance companies investigate and might offer money, the other company might dispute that and it goes back and forth."I'm sure the authorities have all the information but you can't give that publicly," added Dr Karamperidis, head of Plymouth University's maritime transport research group. How important is Holyhead Port? At just over 100 miles (161km) between Holyhead and Dublin, the three-hour and 15 minute crossing from north Wales is the quickest route between the UK mainland and the Republic of more than 400,000 lorries and 400,000 cars a year using it every year, Holyhead is the second busiest passenger ferry port to is Wales' biggest international transport hub with almost double the amount of annual passengers of Wales' only major airport in Cardiff. "It is one of the large corridors that connects Wales and the UK to Ireland because of the shortness and frequency of the crossing," Mr Davies told Parliament."It adds a dynamic, especially to the just-in-time logistics industry, which perhaps other corridors do not have. I cannot overemphasise how important it is. It is critical."He added night ferries could create freight lorry convoys of up to three miles (5km) long, such is the strategic importance to both the UK and Republic of Ireland."Holyhead is a huge economic driver for us here in Ireland because so much of our exports by sea go through Holyhead into the UK," said Irish government Minister Sean Canney. He said more than a third of roll-on, roll-off traffic traffic to the Republic of Ireland came through Holyhead, emphasising the importance part of another country is to his nation."Both countries rely on Holyhead for stuff coming in and out between the UK and Ireland, it's a huge vein across the Irish Sea," added estimate the economic impact of Holyhead Port and its supply chain in north Wales is more than £100m a year with 1,000 jobs locally relying on it. Bangor University's senior economics lecturer Edward Jones also told Parliament an "additional 1,600 to 1,700 jobs at a national level is dependent" on Holyhead.A Senedd Committee heard in April the value of trade going through Holyhead during the complete closure was almost £500m less than the year the Welsh and Irish government also hoped everyone involved could "learn lessons" on how they react to incidents like this.

First Minister accused of ‘not giving a hoot' about food security
First Minister accused of ‘not giving a hoot' about food security

ITV News

time15-07-2025

  • Business
  • ITV News

First Minister accused of ‘not giving a hoot' about food security

The First Minister has been accused of 'not giving a hoot' about food security as the Welsh Government announces its new Sustainable Farming Scheme. Plans for the scheme, which is designed to replace the funding for Welsh farmers previously given by the European Union, first began after Brexit. Eluned Morgan was tackled about changes to the controversial scheme following 18 months of consultation with the farming sector. During First Minister's Questions in the Senedd, Opposition leader, Darren Millar, criticised what he said was a lack of an economic impact assessment. He asked Eluned Morgan: 'So can you tell us how many job losses this new scheme will cause? What will be the financial hit to the rural economy, and why are you waiting until September to publish a full economic impact assessment of the scheme?' The First Minister said, 'We have listened to the agricultural community, we recognise the valuable contribution they make to our nation, not just in terms of the economy, but in terms of those wider issues like the environment, like the contribution to our tourism economy. 'When it comes to the impact assessment, there will be a ready reckoner tool available so that prior to the Royal Welsh, people will be able to punch in their particular circumstances, and they will be able to assess how it affects them.' The Conservative leader said that, 'The problem is that in my constituency and the constituencies represented in this chamber don't want a ready reckoner. They want to know if their jobs are on the line and whether they have still got the opportunity to make a decent living.' He went on to criticise the Sustainable Farming Scheme for prioritising environmental measures over food security and added that, 'it doesn't even mention the term 'food security' throughout the whole document. It's not mentioned one single time, because you do not give a hoot about food security. First Minister. In contrast, the word 'environment' is mentioned almost 80 times. 'Can you tell us why is there no mention of the term food security in your new schemes document? Why are you still prepared to sacrifice an area of 17,000 acres, half the size of the Vale of Glamorgan' for planting trees?' In response, the First Minister said 'We know that farmers are very serious about the environment. We know that they are hyper-aware of the very dry patch that we've been through recently, and how that's affecting them, how they need to make these long term investments, and they know more than anyone the impact of climate change. 'We're asking them to help us to make a contribution to addressing the issue of climate change. And I think planting trees has an important contribution. Farmers will choose the right tree in the right place, and we'll be providing incentives for early planting, the budget and the advice and give guidance to farming with that. 'We're not going to apologise for the fact that we do want to see some tree planting, but it will be more flexible than what was initially suggested.'

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