Welsh Government

More than €3m of EU funds is being invested in the Ecostructure project, which will develop and trial new methods to enhance the quality of coastal structures, including sea-walls and tidal lagoons, through more ecologically-sensitive design.

The project has been funded through the Ireland-Wales co-operation programme, which is helping to strengthen economic links and collaboration between the two countries.

Welsh Government Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford said: 

“Cross-border projects between Wales and Ireland are important because they bring together expertise from both nations to meet shared challenges and opportunities from our Irish Sea border.

“Aberystwyth University and its partners will benefit from more €3m of EU funds to deliver this project. It’s another example of the advantages to Wales of continued access to EU co-operation programmes after the UK leaves the EU.”

The investment in Ecostructure will help to modernise future coastal development, create new business opportunities for local companies and improve the protection of wildlife and local ecosystems.

The project will be led by Aberystwyth University, in collaboration with University College Dublin, Bangor University, University College Cork and Swansea University.

Dr Joe Ironside, from Aberystwyth University’s Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, said: 

“In response to increased storminess and rising sea levels, as well as the need for sustainable renewable energy generation, hard coastal infrastructure is likely to increase along Irish Sea coastlines.

“In Wales and Ireland, we currently rely on man-made sea defences to protect many of our most important cities, towns and transport links from floods and storms.

“These artificial structures tend to provide poor habitats for wildlife, but the eco-engineering we’ll be trialling through this project has huge potential for improving coastal infrastructure and better protecting ecosystems and marine life.”

By the age of 11, more than 40% of Welsh children are either obese or overweight. Research shows that the vast majority of obese children tend to grow up to become obese adults.

Obesity has a significant impact on the economy. In 2011, obesity alone was estimated to cost the NHS in Wales £73 million, with between £1.40 million and £1.65 million spent each week treating diseases resulting from obesity.

Companies are being invited to submit solutions which focus on reducing levels of salt, sugar and saturated fat as well as increasing the levels of vitamins, minerals and fibre provided in food and drink for children.

Schools have a key role to play in providing children with access to nutritious and healthy food and Welsh Government is also inviting applications which further improve the nutritional value of school means, while reducing the cost to ensure families are able to afford this option.

The competition was launched at Wales’ first major food event, Blas Cymru/Taste Wales. The Welsh Government organised event brought together representatives from across Wales’ food and drink industry with influential buyers from all over the world.

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

“This programme is a call to our food innovators in Wales to help us improve the health of our children by providing good quality and nourishing food, whilst keeping costs down.  The Welsh food and drink industry can be proud of its record in innovation, in launching new products and driving up standards, and I’m now appealing to you to use your skills, talents and creativity, to tackle one of the greatest challenges of all – improving the diets of our children today, to enable them to become the healthy young adults of tomorrow.”

In addition to improving the diet of children it’s expected that the programme will have wider benefits, including, providing financial savings for schools, boosting the food industry in Wales and further enhancing its reputation for research and innovation.

The funding is provided through the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), from the Welsh Government and Innovative UK. 

The event will take place from 7-12 August and is the country’s largest multi-sports event for athletes with intellectual disabilities. The funding will help towards the costs of sending a team from Wales to compete at the Games.
The Special Olympics National Games are held every four years and enable children and adults to compete at a national level.  Around 2,600 athletes will come together from across the country to compete in 19 sports. 

Minister for Social Services and Public Health, Rebecca Evans said:

“I am pleased to be able to provide this funding, which will enable around 200 Welsh athletes to compete at the Special Olympics National Games.  Training for, and participating in, events such as this one, can offer  enormous benefits – not only in terms of improving people’s health and wellbeing, but also in building self-confidence.”

Economy Secretary Ken Skates said:

“It’s vital that Wales is represented at National Games such as these, building on our rich sporting history and recent success stories. I’m delighted that Welsh Government funding has helped ensure a strong Welsh presence and look forward to us playing a big part in a successful Games.”

Richard Ives has been appointed as Chair of the Panel for an interim period of three months, running from 1st March 2017 to 31st May 2017. Meanwhile, Professor Simon Moore has been re-appointed to the Panel, from 24th March 2017 to 23rd March 2020.

The Advisory Panel on Substance Misuse is an independent expert advisory Welsh Government Sponsored Body established under general executive powers of the Welsh Ministers and supported by the Welsh Government.  

The remit of the Panel is to advise on measures to prevent or reduce substance misuse, the associated health and social harms and review implementation of the Welsh Government’s Substance Misuse Strategy.

The Panel will consist of not less than eight and not more than 12 Panel Members, all of whom are independent of the Welsh Government.

Members of the Advisory Panel on Substance Misuse (APoSM), including the Chair, are not paid, but are reimbursed for reasonable travel and subsistence costs.  They have a time commitment of up to 10 days per annum.

Rebecca Evans said:

“We are committed to tackling and reducing the harms associated with substance misuse in Wales.  I am pleased that Richard Ives has agreed to the offer of appointment as Chair of the Advisory Panel on Substance Misuse for this interim period and that Professor Simon Moore has agreed to the offer of re-appointment.. I am confident their  continued expertise will be invaluable.”

A video of the happy event was seen by an estimated 13,000 people after being published on Facebook. It brought much welcome publicity for the Cefn Cae’r Ferch farm in Pencaenewydd, near Pwllheli, which specialises in pedigree Texel sheep and also has a holiday cottage.

Dafydd Jones, his wife Dona and children Tomos and Carla, have been benefitting from very fast broadband speeds– up to 200 Mbps – since fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) arrived at the farm.

The video of the birth of the lamb is just one of the ways that Dafydd has used superfast broadband to promote the holiday cottage and showcase his Texel sheep to a wider audience using social media platforms, such as Facebook. The uploading of photos of videos is now much easier.

Visitors to the holiday home have been very impressed with the superfast speed of the broadband, with some commenting it is faster than at home. They are also able to access TV on demand services such as Netflix, Amazon and YouTube and, as they can access their work remotely, visitors can also extend their break to spend more time in rural Gwynedd.

Dafydd is also able to carry out much of the farming business online. This includes managing the farm’s finances online and using the BCMS animal movement services quickly and with no delays. He also registers his pedigree Texel lambs online on the Basco sheep service and uses Rural Payments Wales’ online service.

Dafydd said:

“We never expected to see fibre optic cable come all the way down to our farm, and it has definitely been worth the wait.

“It has made a huge difference to what we can do on the farm, and to our holiday let. Superfast broadband has brought with it new technology and capabilities for us to exploit.

“It’s also helped with the mobile phone signal, which has been poor before now. With wi-fi calling available on modern handsets we can now make and receive mobile calls, and our visitors can too. It’s reassuring as people know they can be reached or make calls in an emergency. It also means we make savings on outbound business and family calls to mobiles.

“People like to get away from it all when they’re on holiday, but they do want to stay connected too. The superfast broadband is allowing them to do just that when they’re staying with us.”

Minister for Skills and Science, Julie James, said:

“It’s great to see how a rural farm business such as Cefn Cae’r Ferch Farm has benefited from the Superfast Cymru programme.

This is what the programme is all about. Bringing faster internet speeds to areas which would otherwise not receive it. It’s good to see how the farm is making the most of the fast speeds they now have so it benefits the farm and the visitors they welcome here.

“Superfast Cymru is making an impact, with over 8 out of 10 premises in Wales now able to access superfast broadband compared with just over half 2 years ago. Wales also has the best superfast broadband coverage among the devolved nations.

“We know there is more to do, and work is continuing to reach more premises every day.”

“Having grown up on a farm I understand how important good connectivity is for our rural farms.

“Throughout society, we’re doing more and more online and farming is no different. Cefn Cae’r Ferch Farm in Gwynedd is just one example of how access to superfast broadband is making a difference and our Openreach engineers continue to work hard to roll-out coverage even further and faster across the country.”

Superfast Cymru is the partnership between the Welsh Government, BT, UK government and European Regional Development Fund, bringing faster broadband to areas which would otherwise not receive it.

The Welsh Government also runs the Access Broadband Cymru scheme, which can offer assistance to those not able to access superfast broadband by providing grant aid to help them receive it through other technologies. Further details are available on gov.wales/broadband.