WALES’ four Police and Crime Commissioners are to be questioned by MPs next week as major changes to the way policing is governed move closer.

The Welsh Affairs Committee will take evidence on Wednesday, July 8, as part of its inquiry into the future of policing in Wales.

The session will examine the UK Government’s proposed reforms, including plans to abolish Police and Crime Commissioners at the end of their current electoral term in 2028.

In England, PCC responsibilities are expected to pass to elected regional mayors or council leaders. However, there is still uncertainty over who would take on those functions in Wales, where policing remains reserved to Westminster but local government and many related public services are devolved.

MPs are also expected to question the commissioners on the wider implications of the UK Government’s Police Reform Bill, including proposals that could lead to the merger of some of the 43 territorial police forces across England and Wales.

The committee is likely to explore how any changes would affect accountability, local policing priorities, rural crime, funding, and the relationship between Welsh police forces, the Home Office and the Welsh Government.

Topical policing issues are also expected to be raised, including violence against women and girls, the use of live facial recognition technology, and the continuing debate over whether policing should be devolved to Wales.

The witnesses will be Dafydd Llywelyn, Police and Crime Commissioner for Dyfed-Powys Police; Jane Mudd, Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent Police; Andy Dunbobbin, Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales Police; and Emma Wools, Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales Police.

The public session is due to begin at 2.30pm in Committee Room 16 at the Palace of Westminster and can be watched live on Parliamentlive.tv.

Ruth Jones MP chairs the Welsh Affairs Committee, which scrutinises the work of the Wales Office and UK Government policy affecting Wales.

Immersive Sue Dewhurst show at Oriel Cardi Bach brings 1970s working-class memories vividly back to life

A UNIQUE exhibition at Oriel Cardi Bach in Cardigan is bringing back memories, laughter and unexpected emotion, as visitors are invited to step inside the aftermath of a typical 1970s working-class party.

Narrative artist and storyteller Sue Dewhurst has transformed part of the gallery into an immersive experience where people are encouraged to do far more than simply look at paintings.

Visitors can scan QR codes to hear playlists inspired by each character, smell the perfumes and aftershaves of the era, browse shopping lists and handwritten notes, discover favourite recipes, and even add their own memories to Menna’s Teapot.

Sue said: “It’s lovely watching people realise they’re allowed to interact. Once they start exploring the boxes and reading the stories, conversations begin.

“Suddenly they’re telling me about their auntie, their neighbour, or someone they’d completely forgotten until that moment.”

The exhibition celebrates the humour, resilience and quiet dignity of ordinary working-class lives, drawing inspiration from people and memories from Northern Britain and rural West Wales.

What begins as a smile at the characters often becomes something deeper, as visitors recognise fragments of their own families, streets and childhoods in the stories.

One visitor described the exhibition as so moving that she joked she “needed therapy” afterwards. Many others have already left their own memories in Menna’s Teapot, creating a growing collection of local stories alongside the artwork.

From the Outside Looking In brings together several connected bodies of work.

A Bit of a Do revisits the colourful characters Sue observed at family weddings and parties as a child, complete with a ceramic buffet featuring sad sausage rolls and a half-eaten cheese and pineapple hedgehog.

The Chapel Girls explores how modern rituals have replaced traditional worship, as glamorous women hurry past chapels on their way to bottomless brunches, bingo, shopping trips and pamper sessions.

Ghost Town reflects on the bittersweet experience of returning to your hometown, only to discover that it has moved on without you.

The exhibition is completed by Sue’s new Cardigan Bay series, in which she explores the area’s rich maritime heritage through the eyes of an affectionate outsider.

Sue hopes visitors will leave having laughed first, then remembered someone they thought had been forgotten.

From the Outside Looking In continues at Oriel Cardi Bach on Cardigan High Street, next to The Hive Ice Cream Parlour, until July 30.

Visitors are invited to slow down, explore the stories and perhaps leave one of their own.

More than 9,000 people in Wales are waiting for specialist psychological therapies, with almost half waiting longer than six months

MORE than 9,000 people with moderate to severe mental health conditions are waiting to access specialist psychological therapies in Wales, according to new figures obtained by Mind Cymru.

The charity says the number of people waiting for treatment is now at its highest level since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Freedom of Information data gathered from all seven local health boards shows that, as of December 2025, almost half of those waiting, around 47%, had been on the list for longer than 26 weeks.

Mind Cymru said more than 4,300 people had been waiting more than six and a half months for specialist psychological therapies by December 2025.

That figure has almost doubled since March 2024, when 2,305 people were waiting more than 26 weeks.

The charity is now calling on the Welsh Government to make mental health a priority during the next Senedd term, with a focus on reducing waiting times and improving early access to support.

Aled Edwards, from Bangor, said he was told he faced a two-year wait to see a psychologist as an outpatient at a mental health hospital near his home, despite experiencing depression and suicidal thoughts.

The father-of-two was instead placed on a list to see a psychiatrist in the hope he could access support more quickly, but said it still took another 18 months before he finally received the help he needed.

Aled, who was later diagnosed with a male form of post-natal depression, said: “This was at a point in my life where I had already tried to take my own life and I was considering trying again, so this time I went to ask for help instead.

“I was experiencing some really dark thoughts and I was desperate for support.

“When I did get to see a psychiatrist, they left their job after three sessions and I went back into the system to wait for a further six months before starting trauma therapy with another doctor.

“Finding the skills to cope with the kind of intrusive thoughts I was having in the meantime was really hard, and I feel fortunate that I had the means to access private counselling support to keep me going during that period, where so many others might not.”

Mind Cymru has requested the same waiting list data from local health boards three times since 2020, as part of its campaign for improved access to specialist psychological therapies in Wales.

Its original Too Long To Wait report called for more investment in specialist psychological therapies, stronger governance around how local health boards collect and submit waiting time data, and for the figures to be made publicly available.

The charity says those recommendations remain relevant, but that urgent action is now also needed to transform the mental health system so people can access support earlier.

Simon Jones, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Mind Cymru, said the findings showed that mental health must be a central priority for the Welsh Government.

He said: “There’s clearly a very real and growing need for increasing numbers of people to receive specialist psychological support for their mental health in Wales.

“These are people living with moderate, severe and enduring mental health conditions, and those most in need of support.

“That so many are waiting too long to access therapies is placing further demand on a system already under pressure, and there’s a need for significant investment to be made at all levels to help people access the support they need, when they need it.

“With plans already in place to transform Wales’ mental health system and help deliver open access care, we need now to ensure these plans are prioritised and invested in so that we can start to see that positive impact as soon as possible.

“No one should be waiting longer than six months for support with a serious mental health issue. With this in mind, Mind Cymru is calling on the new Welsh Government to make mental health a priority across the next Senedd term.”

Specialist psychological therapies are structured, evidence-based treatments delivered by trained clinicians for specific mental health conditions or complex psychological needs.

They include therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, Cognitive Analytic Therapy and Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy.