THE FELLING of more than 50 trees on Pembrokeshire’s Caldey Island following “recent extreme weather events” has recently been given an on-paper thumbs-up by the national park.

In an application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, made through agent HW Forestry Ltd, Tim Hartley of Caldey Island sought backing for the felling of approximately 55 trees, with crown reduction or pollarding of approximately 11 trees and deadwood removal from four linear groups of trees.

The application partly affects the Grade-II-registered historic park and garden at Caldey Priory.

Trees for removal – the majority of which are Monterey pines – include many Ash which “continue to decline across the Island,” as well as storm-damaged trees.

An officer report says: “The key tree removals noted in the [supporting] report relate to works for health and safety matters arising from recent extreme weather events, that has resulted in the loss of significant sections of the individual crowns, as well as some of the trees having been structurally compromised through root plate movement or structural damage to stems and unions.

“There are also some trees that have outgrown their context in terms of location and also their form with asymmetrical unbalanced crowns. This combined with scattered trees having been damaged within the groups has resulted in the need for intervention.

“Unfortunately, some of the trees and groups are of a form with high, lateral crowns that cannot be pruned in a way that would retain amenity.  There are also works required for the pruning of trees on the island to remove dead branches and failed branches which does not require a conservation area notification.”

It concludes: “Overall, the works will have an impact on the setting of the conservation area, and there will be an impact on the amenity of the conservation area to some extent; however [a site visit and report] considers the works to appropriate in relation to health and safety, and the imposition of a TPO would not be a reasonable approach at this time.”

The national park ‘approval’ took the form of no objection being raised.

SENEDD members criticised Westminster’s “short-sighted, immoral and unethical” plans to slash spending on welfare by £4.8bn a year by the end of the decade.

Sioned Williams said she was extremely disappointed it took a motion to call an urgent debate to “force” Labour ministers to discuss the issue in the Senedd.

Plaid Cymru’s shadow social justice secretary raised the Bevan Foundation’s warning that the cuts will have a “huge and concerning” impact on 275,000 people in Wales.

Ms Williams described the reforms as the biggest cuts to disability benefits on record, with hundreds of thousands of people at risk of being pushed into poverty.

Calling for unambiguous condemnation from ministers in Cardiff Bay, she said: “The impact of these unprecedented cuts to disability benefits on Wales will be devastating.”

Leading the urgent debate on April 2, Ms Williams criticised first minister Eluned Morgan for “reserving her position” on the welfare reforms.

Altaf Hussain, the Conservatives’ shadow social justice secretary, stressed that welfare is not devolved to Wales, suggesting the debate will have little-to-no impact.

“This is not a UK Government known for listening to the Labour cliques in the Welsh Government,” he said. “Why should they pay any attention to what we say here today?”

Dr Hussain added: “Doing nothing is not an option, the bill for health and related benefits for people of working age is set to rise to £71bn a year by the end of the decade – far more than we spend on defending our nation.

Labour’s Hefin David, whose autistic daughter is in receipt of disability living allowance, told the Senedd: “I want her to be able to work. At the moment, I don’t know if she can … but she’s very creative and I would hope that the system will find, one day, a job for her.

“That is the role, I think, of the benefit system. At the moment … it is trapping people with autism, learning disabilities and other disabilities out of work and in poverty.”

The Caerphilly Senedd member voiced concerns about people with mental health conditions being stigmatised by some of the language in the UK Government’s green paper.

Dr David said he was willing to take Liz Kendall, the UK work and pensions secretary, at her word that the green paper is the beginning of the conversation – not the end.

Criticising “political pointscoring”, his Labour colleague Alun Davies pointed out that the Welsh Government backed the motion to hold the urgent debate.

He said: “I would have preferred the UK Government to make a clear statement that its purpose is the eradication of poverty, that it actively seeks a reduction in inequality.”

He added: “My fear at the moment is that this current UK Government is in danger of repeating the same mistakes as the Liberal Democrats in 2010 by accepting a conservative economic analysis then becoming the over-enthusiastic supporters of Tory austerity.”

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth argued Labour ministers have proved themselves “terribly ineffective” at influencing their UK colleagues.

He told the Senedd: “That’s reflected in the fact that no assessment has been made of the impact of the welfare cuts on Wales – it’s astonishing.”

Mr ap Iorwerth said: “We have been taken back to a time reminiscent of Conservative rule at Westminster, unleashing austerity … failing to consult with [the] Welsh Government and showing a carefree attitude to the impact of decisions on the people of Wales.”

Welsh Liberal Democrat Jane Dodds warned that disabled people face increased costs in their day-to-day lives as she criticised Labour for choosing not to tax the wealthiest.

Ms Dodds, the sole Lib Dem in the Senedd, said cutting benefits creates a false economy, raising concerns more people will be pushed into poverty and homelessness.

Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price accused Labour of choosing austerity over investment, warning: “The economic folly of these cuts is matched only by their moral bankruptcy.”

The former MP said the UK Government has unveiled a plan “so callous in its conception that it stands as nothing less than a betrayal of everything Labour once represented”.

Jane Hutt said the Welsh Government would carefully consider the impact of the proposed welfare cuts before responding to the UK Government’s consultation.

The social justice secretary pledged to ensure the voices of disabled people are heard in the Welsh Government’s response to the consultation which closes on June 13.

CARE HOME providers urged the Welsh Government to follow through on a key commitment to ensure care workers are paid the real living wage.

Giving evidence in the Senedd, Care Forum Wales, which represents more than 450 care homes, warned funding did not reach all parts of the sector in 2024/25.

The non-profit organisation said funding for the real living wage (RLW) was not ringfenced, so some councils chose to spend the money on libraries and teachers’ salaries instead.

Care Forum Wales raised concerns about “nobody taking responsibility”, with the Welsh Government claiming to have provided the money and councils saying it was insufficient.

Labour’s manifesto for the 2021 election contained a pledge to “ensure care workers are paid the real living wage during the next Senedd term”.

But Sanjiv Joshi, Care Forum Wales’ treasurer, warned the Welsh Government’s push for care workers to receive the real living wage has become an aspiration rather than a reality.

He told the local government committee: “The first year when it was announced … providers had to give an undertaking to commissioners that we were paying the real living wage.

“Since then, that’s now become aspirational as commissioners have not had the funds – or so we are told – to follow through and maintain those real living wages.”

Giving evidence on April 3, Melanie Minty, policy adviser at Care Forum Wales, said: “The real living wage, as Sanjiv said, isn’t reaching the sector necessarily.”

But, describing the RLW as a drop in the ocean, she warned care homes cannot compete with councils and the NHS which pay a higher rate than used in costing commissioned care.

Under the Welsh Government’s 2025/26 budget, funding for the real living wage is allocated to councils within the revenue support grant, meaning it can be spent on other areas.

Ms Minty also voiced concerns about an increasing number of councils receiving grants to build care homes that “will never recover their costs”.

She pointed to the example of Carmarthenshire Council building a £19.5m residential home despite free capacity in the county’s independent sector.

Cautioning that commissioning too often focuses on cost over outcomes, she said: “I’ve heard of commissioners going into homes and saying ‘you’re spending too much on food’.

“Things like holidays have been drastically cut back for younger people.”

Mr Joshi, who runs the Caron group of care homes in mid and south Wales – which includes Valley View Care Home in Hengoed – warned of a £9,000-a-year difference in nursing fees between neighbouring councils.

He said: “We’re talking about Cardiff and RCT … imagine the pressure that puts on and it’s not driven by the needs, the needs would not be that different.”

Pressed about the minimum level of profits required to make services feasible, Mr Joshi replied that he targets an 11% return which is unachievable in parts of Wales.

Warning of an “irrational” policy direction, he said: “We have the private sector delivering incredible value for money [yet] being eroded by underfunding. Then we have the public sector spending four or five times that amount, it doesn’t make sense.”

Mr Joshi told the committee families are increasingly having to make up a difference in costs that should be provided by councils and health boards.

Warning charity providers are exiting the market, Ms Minty said: “Most of our third-sector members have sold their care homes because they are not viable.”

Ms Minty called for a fee methodology that can be applied consistently across Wales, with some councils far more transparent and understanding of the costs than others.

“Cardiff, while giving a really good increase this year, has been very honest in admitting they know it’s not going to meet all the changes,” she said. “Whereas other local authorities … have been known to make an offer and say this will cover all sorts of things.”

She said the sector has stabilised since the pandemic and Brexit but increasing employer national insurance contributions have added to the pressure.

She told the committee: “I think we’ll see an unintended consequence will be that employers are forced to suppress pay increases … and some will be forced to make redundancies.”