News
Public warning system will send alert to all UK smartphones on Sunday
ON SUNDAY, April 23, a test alert will be sent to smartphones across the UK as a part of a new public warning system. The alert will contain a message with a siren, to be sent at 3 pm BST, and will instruct recipients to follow the instructions in the alert to keep themselves and others safe during a real emergency. The alert will include a sound and vibration for 10 seconds, even for phones on silent, and users will have to acknowledge the alert before they can continue using their devices.
The emergency alert system is designed to warn the public of extreme weather events, such as flash floods or wildfires, and could also be used in the case of terror incidents or civil defense emergencies if the UK was under attack. The message will read: “This is a test of Emergency Alerts, a new UK government service that will warn you if there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby. In a real emergency, follow the instructions in the alert to keep yourself and others safe. Visit gov.uk/alerts for more information. This is a test. You do not need to take any action.” The alert system will be used to send the message to 4G and 5G mobile phones.
According to an instructional video issued by the government, the alerts will only ever be sent by the emergency services or the government, and the same message will go to all compatible phones within an area of risk. They do not use phone numbers, collect data or track movements. All 4G and 5G Android and Apple phones are already fitted with emergency alert capability, as similar systems are in use in countries including the US, Canada, and Japan.
Drivers are being advised not to look at or touch their phone until it is safe to do so, just as when receiving calls or messages. “Getting this system operational means we have a vital tool to keep the public safe in life-threatening emergencies,” said Oliver Dowden, the minister in charge of the system. “It could be the sound that saves your life,” he said.
The government has launched a publicity campaign regarding the alert, and Alex Woodman, from the National Fire Chiefs’ Council, called on the general public to “play their part” in helping to keep people safe. Domestic abuse campaigners, including the charity Refuge, have warned that the test could put some vulnerable people in danger by alerting an abuser to the location of a secret phone. The government said it had been engaging with such organizations to ensure those at risk were not adversely affected by the introduction of emergency alerts.
Officials also said it was possible to opt-out of the system if people needed their phone to stay concealed, either by turning off emergency alerts in their settings or simply having the phone switched off during the test. The test had originally been planned for the early evening but was moved to avoid clashing with the FA Cup semi-final between Manchester United and Brighton.
Health
Calls for Welsh Govt to improve both maternity and neonatal safety
LEADING pregnancy charities have urged the Welsh Government to take stronger measures to enhance maternity and neonatal services, in order to realise the substantial changes necessary to reduce infant mortality. The Sands and Tommy’s Joint Policy Unit released a revealing report today, stating that initiatives in Wales are inadequate to instigate the vital transformation required to prevent baby deaths.
The report, titled “Saving Babies’ Lives 2024: Progress Report,” notes that strides toward diminishing stillbirths and neonatal deaths have halted in Wales, mirroring a stagnant situation across the UK. The findings suggest that with improved care, as many as 800 infant lives could have been saved throughout the UK last year. The document emphasises the urgent need for meaningful action to tackle the severe and enduring disparities in baby loss and pregnancy complications across different demographic groups.
Particularly alarming is the continuing disparity in outcomes for infants from varied ethnic backgrounds and socio-economic statuses. The report underscores that the stillbirth rate in Wales has exceeded that of any other UK nation since 2014, with minimal improvement in neonatal mortality rates over the past decade. Unlike England, which aims to halve the rates of stillbirth, neonatal death, preterm birth, maternal death, and brain injury by 2025 relative to 2010, Wales has set no similar goals.
Moreover, the report criticises the Welsh Government for the insufficient number of reviews conducted following infant deaths, which are crucial for understanding potential lessons and providing grieving parents with needed explanations.
Robert Wilson, head of the Sands and Tommy’s Joint Policy Unit, commented, “Our report unequivocally shows that the Welsh Government must establish clear targets for reducing pregnancy loss and baby deaths, and for eliminating inequalities. These targets should catalyse a thorough suite of policy measures, adequately supported by necessary funding and resources.”
The report provides specific recommendations to enhance maternity safety in Wales, including the consistent involvement of staff and patients, especially bereaved parents, in assessing the quality of maternity and neonatal services. It also calls for transparent and independently overseen reviews of individual services, and improvements in the completion rate of reviews following a baby’s death.
The Joint Policy Unit is advocating for a unified commitment across all four UK nations to eradicate inequalities in pregnancy and baby loss. Disturbingly, the 2021 data revealed that the rate of stillbirths and neonatal deaths among Black babies was almost double that of White babies, and significantly higher than the overall UK rate. This disparity was similarly stark between the most and least deprived areas in the UK.
The report also highlights that only about 2% of public and charity health research funding has been allocated to reproductive health and childbirth over the last two decades, signalling a need for increased investment in these crucial areas.
News
Manorbier school fire legal discussions ongoing
LEGAL discussions are ongoing about Pembrokeshire County Council potentially recouping a £200,000 insurance excess paid by it following the 2022 fire at Manorbier school.
Manorbier Church in Wales VC School and its adjoining schoolhouse was severely damaged by a fire on October 11 of 2022, which broke out in the school roof space.
Pupils and staff were successfully evacuated with no injuries, and a ‘school from school’ was set up in Jameston Village Hall, after a brief period of sanctuary at the nearby Buttyland caravan site.
Pembrokeshire County Council’s insurers have previously said the fire was accidentally started while ‘hot works’ were being carried out by contractors to renew an adjacent flat roof, but, as has previously been stressed, no liability has been accepted to date.
Councillors have previously heard the majority of costs were likely to be met from the council’s insurers, with the caveat of the unknown issue of liability and its effect on a £200,000 insurance excess.
A submitted question, by Councillor Aled Thomas, heard at the full council meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council on May 9, asked Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language Cllr Guy Woodham “to update the chamber on what progress the Cabinet have made in recouping the £200,000 insurance excess paid following the devastating non-fault fire at Manorbier school”.
Councillors have previously been told by Cllr Woodham: “The legal issues are not straightforward but will be robustly taken forward.
“At this stage it’s still subject to legal discussion. The excess will be covered by a fund the council holds for insurance excess.”
He said that, if liability was found or accepted, the council would “pursue for the full maximum claim of the costs associated with the fire”.
Responding to Cllr Thomas’s question at full council, Cllr Woodham said there was a limited amount of information he could make public due to ongoing active proceedings.
News
Stop funding Bute, Carmarthenshire residents tell County Council
CARMARTHENSHIRE Residents Action Group (CRAiG Sir Gâr) has challenged Carmarthenshire County Council leader Cllr Darren Price to stop funding Bute Energy through the council’s pension fund investment at today’s Cabinet meeting at County Hall.
Green Gen / Bute Energy is proposing to run at least two pylon chains through Carmarthenshire’s countryside’s decimating the historic landscape of the Tywi Valley and villages and along the A485. Councillors including Plaid Cymru Council Leader Darren Price have voiced their opposition. Yet Carmarthenshire is one of seven Welsh local authorities to invest its pension fund in Bute Energy. In contrast, neighbouring Powys County Council has declined to invest in the controversial firm.
Havard Hughes, local resident and spokesperson for the Carmarthenshire Residents’ Action Group commented: “We’ve challenged the County Council on their funding of Bute Energy because both Cllr Darren Price and Cllr Ann Davies have been vocal in their words about the firm’s pylon schemes. However it is utterly ludicrous that the Council they run as the Cabinet has not just been slow to act but is actively funding Bute Energy.
“Carmarthenshire County Council holds the key to killing off Bute Energy’s schemes as they are the consenting authority for the sub-stations which will connect them to the national grid. This is why residents are so concerned about a conflict of interest. Moreover, we believe that the withdrawal of Carmarthenshire’s investment would have a domino effect on Bute Energy’s funding.
“Cllr Price and Cllr Davies have the opportunity to demonstrate leadership on this issue by pulling Carmarthenshire’s funds out of Bute Energy. Instead we have the town hall farce whereby they claim, on the one hand there is nothing they can do; but state that their representative on the pension board, which Carmarthenshire itself runs, will have some “stern words”. If Carmarthenshire is serious about making Bute Energy listen to residents then they should immediately follow Powys’s lead and disinvest.
“The elephant in the room is that Powys County Council, which is also affected by Bute Energy, have managed exclude their pension fund investment. Darren Price and Ann Davies cannot claim ignorance as Carmarthenshire has one of the largest Wind-industrial zones designated in the whole of Wales in the Welsh Government’s Future Wales 2040 plan. If it was obvious to Powys this would be a problem then why not to Carmarthenshire’s representatives on the fund?
“This investment generates a direct conflict of interest between the interests of the Council in maximising its return and that of residents in minimising harm. Bute Energy is already arguing that burying cables will be more expensive. Lower profits might mean happier residents; but it will also mean lower investment returns to Dyfed Pension funds members many of whom are elected to or are employed by Carmarthenshire County Council.
It is time for Cllr Price and Cllr Ann Davies to end the excuses and take action that Bute Energy will understand. So far the most decisive action we’ve seen from Plaid Cymru on Bute has been to give Bute Energy’s Public Affairs Adviser a well-paid job for life in the House of Lords. Residents deserve deeds not empty words form our Plaid Cymru politicians in County Hall.”
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