Plans include same-day mental health support, a National Care Service for Wales and action on women’s health

PLANS to improve access to social care, provide same-day mental health support and strengthen women’s health services have been outlined by the Welsh Government.

Deputy Minister for Social Care, Mental Health and Women’s Health Delyth Jewell said she wanted to give greater prominence to areas which she believes have not received the attention they deserve.

Her priorities include progressing plans for a National Care Service for Wales, with the ambition of delivering social care that is free at the point of need.

The Deputy Minister also said safeguarding arrangements would be strengthened to better protect children and adults at risk.

Mental health services are set to move towards a model of open-access, same-day support, with 21 demonstrator sites already underway and further rollout planned.

The Welsh Government said future action on dementia will also be set out in a new Dementia Strategy for Wales, focusing on brain health, earlier diagnosis and improved support.

A Women’s Health Summit will also be held later this month, bringing together women with lived experience and clinicians.

The summit will focus on tackling the normalisation of pain, with work already underway to improve endometriosis and abortion services, as well as maternity safety and support for families who experience the loss of a baby.

Delyth Jewell said: “I want to help shine a light onto areas that haven’t had the focus they are due.

“On mental health, women’s health, and yes, the social care system that for too long has been undervalued.

“These areas deserve more attention and prominence. They deserve a voice in the heart of government, and I promise I will give that to them.”

THE WELSH GOVERNMENT is facing pressure to explain when its proposed new national development agency will be launched, what powers it will have, and how much public money it will control.

Andrew RT Davies MS, the Welsh Conservative Shadow Environment Minister, said ministers had produced “fine words” but too little detail on one of the new Plaid Cymru administration’s flagship economic pledges.

The row follows a Senedd statement by Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy Adam Price, who set out plans for a new development agency for Wales.

The proposed body is intended to improve productivity, attract investment, support Welsh-owned firms and help close the economic gap between Wales and the rest of the UK.

But Mr Davies said the Government had failed to provide basic answers on the agency’s timetable, budget and remit.

Speaking in the Senedd, he said he supported the principle of moving economic development out of direct government control and into a more agile body.

But he added: “I genuinely can’t get a sense that much work has been done on this particular project.

“We can’t afford to stand still. We need this up and running as quickly as possible.”

Mr Davies asked whether the agency would be created within 12 months, two years, three years, or by the end of the Senedd term.

He also asked whether it would have a broad role similar to the old Welsh Development Agency, which was involved in industrial sites, planning, business support and foreign direct investment, or whether it would focus more narrowly on promoting Wales to investors.

He said: “From this side of the table, we do support the principle and we want to offer that support, but based on the answers so far, there’s too much blank space.”

Responding, Mr Price confirmed that ministers believe the new agency should be a statutory body, meaning legislation will be required.

But he admitted he could not give a firm launch date.

He told the Senedd: “I can’t give you a specific date, to be frank with the Member, but we want it to be operational as soon as possible, so not the third or fourth year.

“There will be an evolution over the course of this term. But we want to get to an operational agency as soon as we can during this term.”

Mr Price said the Welsh Government had looked at development agencies around the world and had already done “substantial work” on possible budgets.

He said indicative figures would be shared with an expert advisory group, which will help test the Government’s plans before further details are published.

The minister said he wanted the process to be open and collaborative, with further information shared through written statements and meetings with Members.

The debate has revived questions about the legacy of the old Welsh Development Agency, which was abolished in 2006 and brought into the Welsh Government.

Supporters of a new agency argue that Wales needs a clearer national economic brand and a dedicated body to attract investment, grow exports and help Welsh firms scale up.

Critics say the Government must avoid creating another layer of bureaucracy unless it can show exactly how the new agency will improve on existing support delivered through Business Wales, the Development Bank of Wales, local authorities and regional growth deals.

Mr Davies said the lack of a launch date showed a wider problem with the new administration’s programme.

He said: “The first weeks of the new Plaid Cymru administration have been marred by broken promises.

“Instead of getting on with implementing change, the separatists are launching endless reviews.

“Plaid’s inability to provide a date for implementing a new Welsh Development Agency is a symptom of a manifesto that included lots of pledges, but no plan.”

The Welsh Government says the agency will help drive long-term economic growth and support its aim of halving Wales’ productivity gap with the UK within ten years.

But the key questions remain unanswered.

Businesses still do not know when the agency will open, what budget it will have, how it will work with existing bodies, or whether it will have the same broad powers once held by the old WDA.

For firms across Wales, the test will be simple: whether the new body delivers faster, clearer support for business growth, or becomes another institution in an already crowded economic landscape.

Fourteen intricate aircraft models chart RAF flying boat history from the First World War to the late 1930s

A REMARKABLE timeline of RAF flying boat history can now be seen at Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre, following the donation of an exquisite collection of aircraft models.

Fourteen models, showing flying boat types from the First World War through to the late 1930s, have been gifted by expert modelmaker Fred Martin, of Bristol, who made a special visit to Pembrokeshire to hand over the collection.

The models include the Supermarine Southampton, which in 1931 became the first flying boat to be stationed at the newly opened RAF Pembroke Dock, and the Short Singapore, the last of the biplane flying boats, which was still in operational use at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.

Fred, who has been making models for more than 60 years, estimates that many of the aircraft took between 80 and 100 hours each to complete.

He said: “The Heritage Centre team have done a quite outstanding job and the exhibits are so professionally presented and varied. I am so pleased that I have been able to contribute to the story.”

Trevor Clark, of the Heritage Centre’s Collections Team, said the models were an important addition to the centre’s aviation displays.

He said: “Many of the models are from vacform kits, which are very intricate and challenging to make. Every type of biplane flying boat used by the RAF in the 1920s and 1930s is represented. All were seen on the Haven Waterway at various times.”

Volunteer Paul Emens, himself a highly skilled modelmaker and member of the Penfro Model Club, added: “It is a remarkable collection and the quality of each one is superb, right down to the myriad of rigging wires.”

The Heritage Centre already displays several models of Sunderland and Catalina aircraft from the Second World War era, but Fred noted that one flying boat is still missing from the collection.

“This is the Saro Lerwick, which looks like a two-engined Sunderland,” he said. “I am only aware of two kits that have been produced in 1/72 scale. Both are no longer in production and are very rare. It does, however, occasionally appear, so I will keep a lookout.”

Pembroke Dock was Wales’ only Royal Dockyard, a major garrison town and, during the Second World War, home to the largest flying boat station in the world.

The Heritage Centre’s displays interpret the maritime, aviation and military heritage of the town, as well as the social and community history of Pembroke Dock.

The centre is currently open Monday to Friday, from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

Cover image:

Fred Martin, left, hands over a model of a London flying boat to Paul Emens and Trevor Clark, right, of the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre team.
Pic: Martin Cavaney