Local Authorities with projects ready for investment attended the conference as an opportunity to showcase their projects to a range of potential investors.

Conference delegates also heard the experiences of high profile investors in Wales including Celtic Manor & International Conference Centre; Aston Martin
and Surf Snowdonia, with Scott Quinnell as the key note speaker for the day.

The Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport, Lord Elis-Thomas attended the conference and said:

“Wales is undergoing a transformation in terms of the quality of its tourism offer, and whilst the Welsh Government is able to provide support where there is market failure it is also imperative that we attract investor confidence in Wales’ tourism sector, in order to ensure that we deliver on long term growth of the sector – so that Wales is able to compete in a global market place.

Collaboration is key to economic growth and I hope that today has provided some exciting opportunities for future partnerships.”

Andrew Renouf Director of GVA, addressed delegates and gave an overview of the market in Wales. He said:

“It is great to see a buoyant and growing tourism sector in Wales, but there is work still to do to raise the profile of the offer, attract more overseas visitors and mitigate seasonality and geographical disparity.

Today was an important step in showcasing some major development opportunities to investors, and GVA were delighted to have a role to play. The future for Welsh tourism looks bright and the interest shown today from developers and investors is very encouraging.”

Taking the opportunity to showcase the developments ready for investment in Cardiff was Cardiff Council. Jonathan Day, Cardiff Council Economic Policy Manager, said:

“Wales is a unique destination and has distinct offer for visitors, from its spectacular countryside, a thriving cultural scene, ancient heritage and progressive cities. Cardiff, as a gateway to much of Wales, and the fastest growing major UK city is the Capital at the centre of that story. 

With a focus on regenerating the city centre as international hub for commerce and industry and the bay as a leading UK urban recreation and cultural destination.

We are confident the market for business and leisure visitors will continue to expand in coming years, building on the £1.3bn already spent annually by tourists in the city by the 22 million visitors.”

The document sets out action the Welsh Government is taking on five sites on the Welsh Government Managed Road Network and in two Welsh local authority areas. The actions are designed to achieve legal limits for NO2 within the shortest possible time and, most importantly, protect public health.

Temporary 50 mph speed limits were introduced in June at the five sections of the Motorway and Trunk Road Network which exceed legal limits. The plan proposes to make these speed limits permanent, along with the introduction of variable diversion routes in Newport. The speed limits and diversion will be subject to review periodically.

The Welsh Government has placed a Direction on Cardiff and Caerphilly Councils to undertake an assessment by 30 June 2019 to identify the best option to achieve statutory NO2 limit values within the shortest possible time. The Welsh Government has also allocated £20 million towards supporting the two local authorities to achieve compliance.

The Welsh Government will be publishing a Clean Air Plan for Wales next year which will identify key pollutants, their effects on public health and the natural environment in Wales and what actions needs to be taken to improve air quality.

Environment Minister, Hannah Blythyn, said:

“Everyone in Wales has the right to clean air. We are working actively, alongside the other UK nations, to transform our most polluted towns and cities into clean and healthy urban spaces.

“While the focus of this plan is to reduce concentrations of NO2 around roads where exceedances have been identified, we are developing a range of other measures to improve air quality. We are committed to making improvements to air quality in Wales through planning, infrastructure, regulation and health communication measures.”

Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport, Ken Skates, said:

“To deliver immediate improvements to air quality, temporary 50 mph speed limits were introduced at the five sections of the Motorway and Trunk Road Network until the outcome of the further work was known.

“It’s important to remember an estimated 23,500 deaths are caused in the UK each year by long-term nitrogen dioxide exposure. We must therefore ensure action is taken to not only meet our legal obligations but, most importantly, provide the right conditions for better health and well-being.”

Minister for Children, Huw Irranca-Davies is today launching new guidance to help childcare settings support young children to eat well and learn about the food they eat. This builds on current good practice across the sector. 

Childcare practitioners and settings are in an ideal position to help develop  children’s eating habits  – since children attending childcare settings from a young age may be receiving up to 90% of their food and nutritional intake there, if they attend full day care. They may also be receiving snacks and drinks in a range of settings that contribute to their nutritional intakes, which can impact on their overall diet. 

Encouraging good eating habits and trying a variety of nutritious foods can help to establish lifelong eating habits. Children will often try new foods when in a social setting with their peers.

The guidance forms part of range of Welsh Government initiatives that will contribute to supporting positive dietary change through the early years and ensuring children reach and maintain a healthy weight as they grow and develop. 

The Child Measurement Programme for 2017 shows that around a quarter of children (27.4%) aged 4-5years old are classified as overweight / obese in Wales

The new standards and guidance includes accompanying menus and recipes for settings. It aims to support settings to meet the childcare regulations for food and drink, but to also help parents in being more aware of what settings offer their children and taking messages home on the healthy choices they have made.

The guidance sets out the up to date, evidenced based food standards and how to implement them in practice, so that childcare settings can:

• serve snacks that are nutritious, with little or no sugar and salt;
• provide only healthy and safe drinks that are protective to teeth, milk and water; 
• serve a range of tasty, nutritious meals to help develop good eating habits;
• ensure portion sizes are appropriate for the age of children. 

Launching the new guidance, Minister for Children, Huw Irranca-Davies said:

“We want all children from all backgrounds to have the best start in life. Ensuring children develop good eating habits early in their lives is absolutely crucial if they are to grow up to be a healthy weight. 

“The early years can have a positive influence on food preferences as a toddler begins to have a decisive say in the foods they choose to eat. The evidence shows that eating habits adopted in early years will be taken forward into later childhood and adult life. 

“So the food they are offered in childcare settings is so important. That’s why we’re launching the new guidance today – which will help those who work in childcare to ensure the children they care for eat healthy, nutritious food.”

Health Secretary, Vaughan Gething said:

“Eating nutritious food is essential for children in their early years. This helps promote healthy growth and development, to attain and maintain a healthy weight, protect teeth from decay and sets the foundations for their future health and wellbeing. 

“Nutrition guidelines are only one element of this Government’s work to prevent and reduce levels of obesity. Through the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017, we are developing a 10 year Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales strategy to put in place the building blocks that will help us halt and ultimately reduce levels of obesity and increase the proportion of people who are a healthy weight.”

The consultation is seeking views on draft statutory guidance that would see a more consistent approach when school governing bodies set school uniform and appearance policy.

Under the new guidance, governing bodies would be expected to consider ways of keeping down the costs of school uniform. These could include stipulating basic items and colours but not styles; this would mean that items could be bought from multiple retail chains at reasonable prices and not just from one supplier.

Schools would also be encouraged to consider whether school logos are strictly necessary and, if so, whether they should be restricted to just one item of uniform or provided free of charge and sewed, ironed or stuck onto items of clothing.

Governing bodies will also be asked to consider whether there is a need for different uniforms for summer and winter.

Equality forms a key part of the guidance, with governing bodies required to think about issues such as discrimination on grounds of race or religious belief, disability and sex and gender identity – with the latter taking into account gender-neutral school uniform items and how governing bodies can meet the needs of pupils undergoing gender reassignment.

The Education Secretary launched the draft guidance for consultation today at Ysgol Glan Morfa in Splott, Cardiff. The school has a scheme to help reduce the cost of school uniforms for parents, with both new and second-hand uniform items that are either given free to parents or for a nominal charge.

Kirsty Williams said:

“Families face many different costs when it comes to school uniform and I want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to make uniform more affordable and more available.

“In the summer, I launched our PDG-Access scheme which is already helping parents with the cost of not just school uniform, but equipment, sports kits and kit for activities outside of school.

“By putting in place statutory guidance, my expectation is that governing bodies will have a much more consistent approach to issues such as cost and also show a much greater degree of flexibility when it comes to very hot or very cold weather.

“But this also goes much further than just practical considerations; this is about equality and pupils’ wellbeing. I don’t want our learners, for whatever reason, to feel uncomfortable about wearing their uniform. That’s why it’s so important that as many young people as possible take part in this consultation and tell us their views”

The consultation can be completed here: https://beta.gov.wales/guidance-school-governing-bodies-school-uniform-and-appearance-policies

This is £7m more than in 2018/19 and the fifth consecutive year funding to support health professional education and training has increased.  

Health and social care services rely on more than 300 professions and job roles which combine to support patient care. The funding will be used for education and training places to support a range of roles including:

• Medical doctors in Emergency medicine, trauma and orthopaedics and radiology; 
• Nurses, midwives and health visitors;
• Paramedics, physiotherapists, radiographers, speech and language therapists and occupational health therapists;
• Physician Associates; 

Following the publication of A Healthier Wales, the Welsh Government’s long-term plan for health and social care in Wales, funding will be also be invested to ensure the workforce of the future is able to deal with the challenges set out in the plan.

Increased funding will be available to support the advanced practice / extended skills and health care support worker development, and funding will be directed to areas where the health system is able to derive maximum benefit.

Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said: 

“The NHS has more people working in it than at any time in its history, all aimed at prevention and care for members of society across every community in Wales. 

“I am proud of our record on investing in education and training to support and sustain the health workforce across Wales. This record level of funding will support the highest ever number of training opportunities in Wales for health professionals.

“The establishment of Health Education and Improvement Wales provides greater opportunities to consider both current and future workforce challenges and how education and training can support the changes required to address these challenges. Working with key partners HEIW will provide leadership in this area.”