Welsh Government

The new branding is in celebration of Aston Martin’s impending move to Wales and will be showcased globally as the V8 Vantage competes in races in Mexico, the USA, Japan, China and Bahrain in  the  season ahead. 

Last year Aston Martin announced it had selected St Athan from 20 potential global locations for its second manufacturing facility as part of a £200M investment in new products and facilities. 

Work is now underway to construct an Aston Martin manufacturing facility at St Athan which is expected to employ 750 workers by 2020, and support many more jobs in the local supply chain. 

Economy Secretary Ken Skates said: 

“Aston Martin’s decision to move to St Athan is a huge coup for Wales. It is testament to the can do attitude of Welsh Government, and to the reputation, dedication and skills of our work force. 

“We are very proud of our relationship with Aston Martin, and delighted that it will be visible for all to see on the V8 Vantage pro racing car this season. 

“I wish the team all the best as they embark on the season ahead and hope that the addition of the Wales brand only serves to add to the team’s success.” 

Simon Sproule Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Aston Martin said;;

“We’ve been proud to use Aston Martin Racing to promote our partnership with the Welsh Government and the St Athan project. It’s also been a great year for Aston Martin Racing with victory in Le Mans and most recently in Mexico.” 

It is estimated that Aston Martin’s move to St Athan will bring economic benefits worth around half a billion pounds to Wales. Earlier this year the Welsh Government advertised up to £60m of  Aston Martin contracts on its Sell2Wales procurement channel to ensure that Welsh SMEs could benefit from the construction of the manufacturing facility.

The Welsh Government is working hard to ensure that Wales maximises the economic benefits of  Aston Martin’s move to Wales and in April arranged a Business Briefing  event to bring representatives of Welsh based academic institutions and innovation focused organisations together with Aston Martin’s senior management team. 

As a result a  number of these institutions have visited Aston Martin HQ in Gayden to discuss the potential of academic and industrial collaboration and are in active dialogue with the company on a range of potential technology development projects.

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Arup will work with a range of key strategic partners on behalf of Welsh Government, working towards breaking ground early in 2018.The AMRI projects embraces and builds on the proposal by the Deeside Enterprise Zone Board for a dual site facility that delivers light engineering, training and research collaboration whilst the Broughton site, specifically will focus on high tech and innovative support to larger scale ‘advanced technology’ manufacturing. 

The underpinning principals for the dual centre AMRI will be to encourage collaboration between Anchor and Regionally Important Companies, SMEs and FE/HE partners, so they can develop new manufacturing innovation, systems, process and capability to enhance the quality and productivity of Welsh businesses across a wide range of sectors

Economy Secretary, Ken Skates, said:

“Today’s announcement follows on from my commitment, which I made back in November 2016, where I announced ambitious plans for development of advanced manufacturing research institute in Deeside and pledged £20m following advice from the Deeside Enterprise Zone Board.

“I look forward to seeing the final specification that Arup and partners, along with officials from the Welsh Government, will come up with.”

Paul Webber, Arup Wales leader:

“We are proud to be working with the Welsh Government to deliver this project. We are experienced in developing world-class research facilities and we will be drawing on expertise from across Arup. 

“This facility will give a real boost to Wales, helping to develop skills and capabilities and support growth in the advanced manufacturing sector.”   

Arup is providing multidisciplinary services including project management, design and engineering, planning and specialist expertise. The new institute will bring a thriving competitive industry base which in turn will act as a catalyst for growth and jobs across the supply chain in Deeside, North and Mid Wales, the Northern Powerhouse and further afield.

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The existing sea defences were constructed in 1984 and a recent inspection found the structure to be in a deteriorating condition and coming to the end of its viable life.  

The current defences protect several million pounds worth of homes and commercial properties along the Esplanade, including the Grand Pavilion. When complete, the strengthened defences will reduce the risk of flooding and erosion from the sea to 260 properties.

The £2,299,146 announced today will enable works to be carried to improve the defences, which will include:

• the partial demolition of the existing structure;
• replacement of the existing asphalt with a new terraced structure which will be surfaced  in a sand colour in line with the responses from the public consultation.

The Cabinet Secretary said:

“I am pleased to be able to provide this vital funding to strengthen sea defences in Porthcawl, which will provide reassurance to those who live and work in, or visit this popular tourist destination.

“We have invested unprecedented levels of funding in recent years and over the lifetime of this Government we will be investing over £144million capital funding in flood and coastal erosion risk management schemes around Wales.”

Councillor Richard Young, Cabinet Member for Communities, said: 

“This significant investment from the Welsh Assembly is excellent news for Porthcawl, and will enable Bridgend County Borough Council to continue to protect the town centre and seafront area from flooding while also offering a more visually pleasing ‘terraced’ design for the sea defences. 

“The contract for the work is currently being finalised, and I am looking forward to being able to reveal more details about the project very soon.”

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Developed in partnership with teachers across Wales, the new standards concentrate on the essential elements of every teacher’s work – pedagogy, collaboration, leadership, innovation and career-long professional learning.

The new standards will:

• Replace 55 standards with five standards and descriptors that allow teachers to use the standards in a way that’s appropriate to their role.
• Inspire, challenge and support every practitioner, from the trainee teacher to the experienced head teacher to focus on the skills, knowledge and behaviours required to meet the needs of their learners.
• Better support new entrants to the teaching profession by bringing greater continuity between initial teacher education, induction and continued development throughout a teacher’s career.
• Acknowledge the need for teachers to work together more effectively to make sure all learners benefit from excellent teaching and learning.
• Develop the leadership capacity within the education system by supporting all teachers to develop their leadership skills.

The standards will apply to all serving teachers and leaders by September 2018 and initial teacher training programmes from September 2019. This will provide time to build familiarity with the new standards before they become mandatory.

Kirsty Williams said:

“We value our professional teaching workforce in Wales, and want to support them to be the best they can be throughout their careers.

“Quite simply, no education system is better than the quality of its teachers. Alongside teachers and parents, I share the ambition for a profession committed to the highest standards, lifelong learning and high aspirations for all pupils.

“These new standards are about making sure teachers develop the right skills throughout their career. They empower all those teaching in our classrooms to work together to raise learner outcomes. This is a key part of a fundamental shift towards a system driven by career-long learning. My vision is to strengthen leadership and make sure that there is greater consistency across our schools.

“I am grateful to all those teachers, leaders, consortia and other partners who have been directly involved in developing these new standards – it is testament to what can be achieved through us working together.”

The Education Workforce Council has developed an enhanced Professional Learning Passport so that teachers can reflect on their practice and map their development against the 5 standards.

Hayden Llewellyn said:

“The standards are a welcome addition to the Passport. We encourage teachers to use them in planning their professional learning and development as they progress through their careers.”

The four regional education consortia will ensure that every newly qualified teacher has a mentor to support them in using and evidencing the standards throughout their induction period.

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

With an average of 3.3 organs retrieved per donor in the UK in 2016-17, this could have resulted in as many as 69 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 unless 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.

As a result of the change an increase in donations is expected over a period of time. Over the last year, there has been a decrease of 18.5% in patients who died whilst on the waiting list for their transplant. 

Health Secretary, Vaughan Gething said:

“While there are people dying waiting for their transplant we must work harder to increase the consent rate to have a significant impact on reducing transplant waiting lists.

“I want to encourage everyone across Wales to talk to their loved ones about their organ donation decision. While we know awareness and understanding is increasing, it’s really important the Welsh public share their decision with their family.

“Simply having a chat about your decision with family and friends ensures they can honour your wishes, when you die.” 

One conversation 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.

You can register a decision at any time by calling 0300 123 23 23 or visiting www.organdonationwales.org or by telling your family (and friends).

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