News
Toilets ‘top of the pile’
PUBLIC toilet provider DANFO has received praise for the work it has carried out in Pembrokeshire in 2015.
The Council’s Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee met on Tuesday, (Mar 15), to hear a presentation from DANFO.
DANFO highlighted that charging systems were being installed in Narberth, Tenby South Beach, Pembroke Dock and Broad Haven to go with the other four that had already had charging systems put in place.
They also highlighted a number of cases of vandalism in toilets in Felindre and in Castle Lake, Haverfordwest, which was the subject of fire damage in January 2016.
Pictures were shown of the damage at both sites alongside what they looked like after DANFO had finished repairs.
Nine members of staff were also employed DANFO, of which none of them had been in previous employment.
Jon Mills, Operations Manager at DANFO, said: “By December 2015, DANFO had received £40,000 worth of contributions towards the running costs of public toilets in the county and this was through introducing charging mechanisms.
“We’ve had significant investment in refurbishing a number of facilities across the county and employed additional local people to our full time staff cleaning service. Through those people we have delivered an award winning service.
“We’ve also spent approximately £50,000 just through our trade and maintenance of all the toilets and over 1000 maintenance repairs were carried out in 2015.
“There was a provision within the tender contract to install charging mechanisms to generate income. The income generation goes to the operational costs of the service and invested back into local public toilet provision.
“You’ll notice that there are four more sites listed, two of them are being installed today (Mar 15) so Narberth and Tenby South Beach are being installed. Broad Haven and Pembroke Dock were installed last Tuesday so we will have eight sites now collecting income.
“All the efforts put in by the team over 2015 has led us to achieving something that we are very proud of which was the External Cleaning Contractor of the year for 2015 across Wales and the UK. That’s for the work we are doing here down in west Wales. All the toilets are inspected by an independent inspector from the Loo of the year organisation.
“Pembrokeshire’s toilets achieved the platinum award. Pembrokeshire’s toilets became top of the Premier League in 2015 as compiled by the Loo of the year Awards so we are top of the pile at the moment.”
Cllr David Howlett congratulated DANFO on their award and asked whether or not there had been any success in finding the people that had committed the acts of vandalism.
Jon stated that no one had been caught for the damage caused to the toilets in Felindre but that people had been caught for the damage caused the toilets in Haverfordwest.
Richard Brown, Head of Environment & Civil Contingencies at the council, told councillors of the jobs that the cleaners have to go through with some experiencing excrement in handdryers.
He added: “There’s a tender price so we pay DANFO every month so we’ve got a fixed price and when they submitted their price to us it was based upon the assumption that £45,000 would be generated so their price was x-minus £45,000 so anything above that then comes to the council.
“The charging has been well received and I think we have had 120,000 visits in two months. The income generation has exceeded expectations but we actually have a problem now where there is no incentive for DANFO to invest in any further charging. “We didn’t really know from the outset how many people would take to charging.” DANFO Operations Manager Andrew Mcilduff added that he was delighted with how things had turned out and also said that Keswick was watching what had been done in Pembrokeshire and added that they wanted exactly the same as what had been installed in Tenby. Cllr Jonathan Preston said that DANFO’s involvement was a success story and asked if they had considered alternative methods of payment such as a contactless card. It was agreed there may be some benefits to that but that there would be more costs involved.
News
Too many children in Wales living in poverty – Lib Dems want action
THIS week in the Senedd, the Welsh Liberal Democrats renewed their demands for the implementation of child poverty targets.
According to a report from the Bevan foundation, 29% of children living in Wales are currently experiencing poverty (an estimated 190,000 children).
The same report highlighted that the largest percentage of children living in poverty are from working households or in couple households.
The Welsh Lib Dems are now renewing calls for the Welsh Government to create a set of targets for reducing child poverty, which the party argues will allow for more accountability.
The party has previously called for the implementation of targets, citing recommendations from the Calling Time on Child Poverty Report published in November last year.
Commenting, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said: “The latest statistics on childhood poverty in Wales paints a very distressing image of families across the country struggling to make ends meet.
Over the course of the last six years, the proportion of children in poverty has skyrocketed. Fuelled by worsening economic conditions and a complete lack of action from both governments in Westminster and Cardiff Bay.
We cannot act complacent about these figures nor accept the clear lack of progress in fighting child poverty, behind each statistic is a child that the state has failed.
It remains painfully clear that the Welsh Government is failing to make any meaningful progress in this fight, which is why they must follow through with the implementation of clear set targets that will allow for further accountability.
We as a party have continuously called for the creation of these targets and we will not be silenced. For the sake of future generations we urge the Welsh Government to listen.”
Crime
Welsh constabulary areas record another increase in shoplifting
RETAIL trade union Usdaw is deeply concerned by today’s police recorded crime statistics showing that in 2023 there were significant increases in shoplifting across all constabulary areas in Wales. In the whole of England and Wales there has been a persistent upward trend since the pandemic, which continued with a 37% increase and has now risen to the highest level in 20 years.
The Office for National Statistics released figures showing a 39% increase in shoplifting incidents across Wales and by constabulary area as follows:
- Dyfed-Powys +11%
- Gwent +47%
- North Wales +23%
- South Wales +51%
Usdaw’s 2023 annual survey of over 5,500 shopworkers found that 60% had suffered incidents of violence, threats and abuse that were triggered by shoplifting and armed robbery.
Paddy Lillis, Usdaw General Secretary says: “Shoplifting is not a victimless crime, theft from shops has long been a major flashpoint for violence and abuse against shopworkers. Having to deal with repeated and persistent shoplifters can cause issues beyond the theft itself like anxiety, fear and in some cases physical harm to retail workers. This 39% increase in shoplifting across Wales is further evidence that we are facing an epidemic of retail crime, which is hugely concerning.
“Our members have reported that they are often faced with hardened career criminals in the stores and we know that retail workers are much more likely to be abused by those who are stealing to sell goods on. Our latest survey results show that 7 in 10 retail workers suffered abuse from customers, with far too many experiencing threats and violence. 60% of respondents said theft from shops and armed robbery were triggers for these incidents.
“The scale of assaults, abuse and threats towards shopworkers and extent of the retail crime epidemic has been a disgrace for many years. This has been made worse by police cuts and a failure to legislate to protect retail staff. Usdaw has long called for action that includes a standalone offence for assaulting a shopworker and that has been vehemently opposed by this Government and their Conservative MPs on many occasions.
“Recently the Government performed a long overdue U-turn after many years of sustained campaigning by Usdaw and others. Our members have had to wait too long for their voices to be heard and common sense to prevail. We will have to see the detail of what Ministers are proposing and we are clear that it must be at least what we won in Scotland three years ago. It also cannot fall short of Labour’s commitments to 13,000 more uniformed officers, patrols on high streets, banning repeat offenders and ending the perverse £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters.
“The dither and delay by this Government on this issue over many years, has led to thousands of shopworkers needlessly suffering physical and mental injury. Today’s stats should ensure that their promise to legislate is done speedily. We hope that whatever the Government is proposing will be substantial and effective in giving shopworkers, key workers in every community, the respect that they have long deserved and regrettably too often do not receive.”
Business
Paramount’s key role in transformation of McArthurGlen Designer Outlet
FAST-growing Welsh company Paramount is relishing the challenge of creating an “irresistible dining destination” after winning the contract to play a key role in the multi-million transformation of the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Bridgend.
The Cardiff-based design, build, fit-out and refurbishment specialist will spearhead the re-development project of the shopping centre after being handed responsibility for revamping its popular food court over the summer.
In the coming months, the development will see the Food Court transformed into three modern, and bright restaurants, welcoming new food and beverage brands to the centre and creating more than 100 new job opportunities for the local community.
Paramount’s Construction Director, Paul Thomas, said: “The team behind the scenes at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Bridgend have fantastic plans for the future and we’re delighted to have been entrusted with the mission to help turn their exciting vision into a reality.
“Paramount prides itself on creating places where people want to be, and my team are relishing the opportunity to help create what will be an irresistible dining destination. It’s certain to be a complex project, but we have the expertise and local knowledge to deliver outstanding results in close collaboration with our project partners.”
The owners of the shopping centre, which has been attracting local people and visitors for more than 25 years, have promised a “substantial investment to redevelop the Food Court area and replace it with new and exciting restaurants”.
Now the Paramount team is ready to lay the groundwork by removing some existing structures around the Food Court and will then introduce a series of new features as part of the overall facelift. These include new glazed entrance doors within glazed curtain walling shopfront, render and a new entrance lobby with new stairs and lifts.
The work to completely develop the Food Court in the shopping centre starts this week, and is expected to be completed in late autumn. As a result, customer favourites including Nando’s, McDonald’s and Chopsticks will be closed while work is under way.
Patrick Finney, Head of European Construction, McArthurGlen Group, said: “After celebrating our 25th anniversary last year, we’re extremely pleased to welcome Paramount on board in this important step of revitalising the Food Court area.
“These are exciting times for everyone at one of South Wales’ best-loved retail complexes and we know Paramount will work closely with us to create a truly special place for diners and shoppers of all ages.”
Paramount, whose turnover reached £45 million in 2023, employs 60 people who own a majority shareholding of the business – 51 per cent – following completion of an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) scheme in 2021, a deal which marked a major milestone for Paramount after a period of sustained growth.
The company is well known across Wales and England where it has created high-quality inspirational space for a number of leading companies. These include the multi-million-pound redevelopment of Hodge House and Fusion Point One in central Cardiff, and the fit out of Par 59 bars in South Wales and South West.
Over the next few months, Paramount’s construction team will also be completing on a multi-million-pound social housing development in Porthcawl, Mid-Glamorgan with Valleys to Coast.
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