THE OLDER People’s Commissioner for Wales has urged the Welsh Government to create a dedicated support scheme for households in financial hardship, warning that older people are being left behind by existing initiatives.

Responding to the announcement of a new Crisis and Resilience Fund in England worth £1bn a year from April, Commissioner Rhian Bowen-Davies said Wales should use any consequential funding to establish a similar scheme here.

She said: “With the announcement that a new Crisis and Resilience fund worth £1bn a year is set to be launched in England from April to provide financial support to households that are struggling, there is an opportunity to use consequential funding to establish a similar scheme here in Wales.

“This is something I have been calling for, including in my recently published Priorities for the Next Welsh Government paper, as the criteria used by existing initiatives often leaves older people who are struggling financially excluded from being able to access vital support.”

The Commissioner said financial hardship carries a heavy cost, not only for individuals but also for public services.

“We know that financial hardship has a significant cost – both in terms of the impact on people’s health and well-being, and the subsequent increased pressures on public services,” she said.

“Investing in tackling these issues would help to prevent people from reaching crisis point, reducing costs and pressures while also – importantly – improving people’s quality of life and supporting them to age well.

“That’s why establishing a Resilience fund must be a priority here in Wales.”

NEW figures have highlighted the physical toll faced by firefighters in Wales as emergency services continue to respond to rising demand and increasing operational pressure.

Data obtained by Accident Claims Advice shows that more than 100 firefighters employed by Mid and West Wales Fire & Rescue Service sustained injuries while on duty over the past three years.

Firefighting remains one of the most hazardous public sector roles in the UK. Crews are routinely deployed to building fires, serious road traffic collisions and hazardous incidents, often working in extreme heat, unstable environments and emotionally challenging situations while handling heavy equipment.

National data underlines the wider picture. In England, official figures for the year ending March 2024 recorded 2,408 on-duty firefighter injuries, with around 40% occurring during frontline operational incidents such as fires, rescues and emergency callouts.

Within Mid and West Wales, the number of injuries recorded peaked in 2023/24, when 41 firefighters were hurt while working. The most recent year saw a modest reduction, with 38 injuries reported.

Since 2022, firefighters have made seven claims against the service in connection with workplace injuries, resulting in total compensation payments of £56,469.

Common injuries reported include burns, smoke inhalation, musculoskeletal injuries, slips and falls, and impact injuries caused by falling debris or collapsing structures. National reviews have repeatedly pointed to factors such as reduced staffing, rising incident complexity and ageing infrastructure as contributors to increased workplace risk across fire and rescue services.

Further figures obtained by Accident Claims Advice show that slips, trips and falls were the most frequent cause of injury within Mid and West Wales Fire & Rescue Service over the past three years, accounting for 30 incidents. This was followed by sprains and strains, which led to 20 injuries.

Speaking about the need for increased investment, Adam Taylor, Fire Brigades Union national officer, said: “Too often firefighters are not being provided with the basic equipment and training they need to keep themselves and the public safe.

“Without proper PPE, firefighters face an impossible choice between heat stroke and exposing themselves to burns, either from flames or the sun.

“We urgently need investment to sort out this problem. We also need national standards on equipment and training, as well as response times and crewing levels.”

Mid and West Wales Fire & Rescue Service operates 58 fire stations, serving communities across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, Powys, and the City and County of Swansea.

Injury data shows that the service’s internal departments recorded the highest number of staff injuries, with 37 incidents. Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire each logged 29 injuries over the same three-year period.

Accident Claims Advice offers support to people injured at work and can advise on whether they may have grounds to make a claim. The organisation operates a 24-hour helpline and also provides an online claim form via its website.

AMENDMENTS to a 52-home scheme in Pembrokeshire, which will provide just four affordable homes due to financial viability concerns, are critical for its delivery in a “stagnant housing market,” councillors heard.

In an application recommended for approval at the January meeting of Pembrokeshire County council’s planning committee, Wakefield Developments Pembrokeshire Ltd sought permission for amendments to a previously-granted scheme for a development of 52 homes on land east of Pilgrims Way, Roch.

The £10m mixed units scheme, granted back in 2024, had drawn concerns that only four affordable units would be provided against a 20 per cent requirement, the developer citing viability reasons for the low number.

Amendments proposed to that scheme included a change in some of the house types, including from apartment arrangement to semidetached town houses, changes to some of the sizing, repositioning of some units, an embankment being replaced by a footpath, and a substation being introduced to serve the new housing estate’s electricity supply.

A report for members accompanying the application said: “As previously accepted and again assessed by virtue of [a valuation] the proposed development is not fully policy compliant, insofar as it cannot deliver the indicative 20 per cent affordable housing sought [by policy].

“However, a substantial positive social impact will arise through the provision of housing, including four one-bed affordable housing units, in meeting identified needs for both market and affordable housing.

“Furthermore, financial obligations as agreed and secured by the extant parent application towards the mitigation of adverse impacts in relation to education and highways, remain as being essential to ensuring that the development is acceptable in planning terms and remain unchanged by this S73 application.”

18 objections to the original scheme were received, raising concerns including an “inadequate” affordable housing level, it being a high-density development for a rural area, a loss of green space, the size of some of the homes, and pressures on existing services and facilities, and fears it may lead to an increase in second homes.

Nolton & Roch Community Land Trust had raised its concerns about a lack of affordable homes at the development, calling for a 20 per cent affordable homes element, as recommended by policy.

Speaking at the January 2026 meeting, agent Gethin Beynon welcomed the recommendation of approval, saying the amendments were critical for the delivery of the development, improving its saleability “in what is a stagnant housing market”.

He said the developers were still building 52 units, in what was “one of the very few new housing developments of this scale in Pembrokeshire” due to limitations placed by the ongoing nitrates issue.

Local member Cllr Nick Neumann said the local community council was supportive of the scheme, with the new housing helping the viability of the local school; Cllr Brian Hall later moving approval of the amendments.

The latest application was backed by 11 votes to one.