Author Archives: News

Last week, the National Assembly for Wales approved the Unauthorised Deposit of Waste (Fixed Penalties) (Wales) Regulations 2017 (external link). It followed a public consultation, earlier this year, which revealed overwhelming support in favour of the new powers.

Local Authorities are now able to set a fixed penalty amount between £150 and £400, with a default of £200 where no amount is specified. A reduction for early payment can be made available and Local Authorities can retain the receipts to help contribute to the costs of dealing with fly-tipping. The Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) can be applied on both publicly and privately owned land.

The Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths said:

“Fly-tipping blights our communities and it damages our environment.  

“These powers will provide Local Authorities with an additional enforcement tool for small-scale fly-tipping offences where a prosecution is considered disproportionate. 

“I am sure Local Authorities and communities will welcome these new powers.  However, I feel it is important Local Authorities accompany these new powers with the  appropriate level of public engagement, awareness raising and wider education programmes. I believe this is essential to ensure a positive response from the public and a sustainable reduction in offending behaviour”.

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INCOPRO is expanding into offices at Britannia House in Caerphilly, supported by a £500,000 investment from the Welsh Government. 

The company specialises in brand protection by tracking and removing counterfeit products from the internet. Its clients range from luxury goods companies to consumer product businesses and include the BBC and world-renowned fashion house Ted Baker.

With 2.5% of world trade counterfeited and predictions suggesting the global economic value of counterfeiting could reach $2.3 trillion by 2022, there is a critical need to deliver innovative solutions to prevent piracy, brand infringement, copyright and intellectual property (IP) theft.

INCOPRO combines the latest technology with multi-lingual staff enabling them to investigate suspect websites, track fraud and detect counterfeiters. 

The company was founded in 2012 by CEO and IP protection lawyer, Simon Baggs, and Chief Technical Officer and Systems Architect Bret Boivin, both passionate about IP and united in their belief that technology has a huge role to play in helping IP businesses to succeed online.

Talisman, the company’s carefully developed counterfeit detection technology, was launched in 2015 to unprecedented acclaim. The company has now outgrown its offices in London and needs approximately 80 new staff, mainly analysts and developers, based in Caerphilly.

INCOPRO has also announced collaboration with WR Investigations, a company based in Wales that supports investigation into the offline networks that perpetrate counterfeiting in the UK and globally.

Announcing INCOPRO’s expansion plans at a Wales Centre for Public Policy ‘The Future of Work in Wales’ report launch at Cardiff University later today, First Minister Carwyn Jones will say: 

“As we conduct more of our everyday lives online, it is vital we have the systems to protect us from a new wave of criminals. The services companies like INCOPRO provide are invaluable, both to the World economy and to the interests of the individual.

“I am delighted we could support their expansion, and welcome them to Wales, where I am confident they will enjoy a successful future.”

CEO Simon Baggs said: 

“We are committed to making the Internet a better place for businesses to prosper.  A key element in achieving this is to cut out the sale of unlawful products and content.  We are delighted to have secured Welsh Government support to further our mission and to deliver jobs and innovation in Wales.”

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The amount of tax paid on flights (APD) for Welsh customers is currently set by the UK Government, while Scotland and Northern Ireland are able to cut the cost of longer haul flights by reducing APD.

The Welsh Government has long called for the devolution of APD, supported by the findings of the Holtham and Silk Commissions. However, the UK Government has resisted calls, saying any reduction in APD in Wales would negatively impact on Bristol Airport.

The peer reviewed independent evidence published today reveals that despite well publicised commentary suggesting that such a move would cause Bristol Airport serious detriment, the impact would in fact be negligible.

More importantly, devolving and then reducing APD in Wales would directly result in a significant positive benefit for the economies of both south Wales and the south west of England and would result in more choice for passengers throughout both regions. These joint benefits for the south west of the UK offer the Westminster Government an important opportunity to begin to rebalance the UK economy.

First Minister Carwyn Jones said:

“This new evidence dispels many myths and presents an economic case for giving Wales control over Air Passenger Duty which is overwhelmingly compelling. As we prepare for a future outside the EU, it is essential we are able to take action to promote Wales to the world and support growth in our aviation sector and wider economy. 

“Once devolved, the Welsh Government would reduce or even scrap the tax paid on flights – not only benefitting passengers, but providing a huge confidence boost for Cardiff Airport and Wales’ aviation industry, while also complementing Bristol Airport and providing a more competitive service. Devolving APD would also improve connectivity across Wales, boost investment and help business.

“I look forward to working with the UK Government to make this a reality. Continuing to blankly refuse to devolve APD in the face of such strong evidence would show a discriminatory disdain for Wales, constrain our ability to promote Wales oversea and undermine our economic interests.” 

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The hard-hitting advertisement shows an individual’s choice to donate his organs being over-ridden by family members, because he didn’t talk to them about his decision or his registration on the organ donor register to become a donor.

In 2016-17 data published by NHS Blood and Transplant showed there were 21 cases in Wales where families either overrode their relatives’ decisions to donate organs, or didn’t support the deemed consent.

With an average of 3.1 organs retrieved per donor in Wales in 2016-17, this could have resulted in as many as 65 additional transplants. 

On 1 December 2015, Wales was the first country in the UK to move to a soft opt-out system of consent to organ donation. This means that if a person has not registered a decision to become an organ donor (opted in) or a decision not to become an organ donor (opted out), they will be considered as having no objection to being an organ donor – this is known as deemed consent. However, if individuals don’t tell their family of their decision to donate, the family may not honour that decision and over-ride the organ donor registration or not support deemed consent. 

Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said: 

“We want to encourage everyone across Wales to talk with their loved ones about their organ donation decision.  We know awareness and understanding is increasing, but it is really important we reach the Welsh public on this issue.

“We have  seen huge improvements in our consent rates, in March 2013 they were just 50% but in March 2017 they increased to 64%, however while there are people dying waiting for their transplant we must work harder to further increase the consent rate to have a significant impact on reducing transplant waiting lists.

“Your family will be involved in any discussions about organ donation if, when you die, you are in a position to donate your organs. This could make an already difficult time more stressful if families have never discussed organ donation. 

“I encourage everyone across Wales to talk to their loved ones about their organ donation decision to ensure they will honour it.”

Simply having a chat can help benefit the people of Wales and the UK by reducing the number of people dying whilst waiting for a suitable organ to become available, and transforming the lives of others. read more

The Bathing Waters in Wales results for 2017 show 80 of Wales’ 104 bathing areas were excellent.  This includes popular bathing waters in Porthcawl, Tenby, Prestatyn and Barry.

In total, 103 of 104 bathing waters in Wales were compliant with the European standards making Welsh bathing water some of the best in Europe.

Welcoming the results Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths said:

“Wales has some of the most beautiful coastline which attracts thousands of visitors every year. Maintaining our bathing waters to these high standards is essential if we are to continue selling Wales as a holiday destination.

“But this is not just about those visiting Wales. A healthy environment helps to sustain our economy and improves our quality of life. With clean bathing waters, our coast and natural environment will continue to provide huge benefits to people across Wales – from rural West Wales to more urban South Wales.

“It is disappointing that despite a lot of hard work and some improvement one area still has not met the European standards but work will continue to address the issues in that area.”

Kevin Ingram, Interim Chief Executive for Natural Resources Wales, said:

“Welsh bathing waters are considered to be some of the best in Europe and once again our beaches have maintained their position with 80 out of 104 beaches achieving excellent status and 99 per cent rated as sufficient or higher.

“This is especially pleasing as the wet summer had a direct impact on water quality across the UK.

“We understand how precious our beaches are to those living or visiting the Welsh coast and we will continue to work with communities, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water and local authorities to maintain and improve the results at all our bathing waters.”

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