News

Ministers ‘dodging accountability’ in new child poverty strategy, Senedd hears

Published

2 years ago

February 5, 2024

WELSH ministers are dodging accountability by refusing to include concrete targets and milestones in the new child poverty strategy, the Senedd heard.

MSs quizzed Jane Hutt as the social justice minister gave a statement about this week’s publication of the Welsh Government’s child poverty strategy.

Ms Hutt described the strategy as a cross-cutting, whole-of-government policy document that sets out priorities for meaningful action to tackle child poverty.

“Ending child poverty must be an absolute priority for governments at all levels,” she said.

The minister announced that the Welsh Government will be producing a monitoring and impact framework, which will be reviewed by Rod Hick, from Cardiff University.

Mark Isherwood pointed out that 28% of children were living in relative income poverty in 2022, arguing little progress has been made in reducing child poverty in the past decade.

The Conservative shadow minister said the strategy does not include measurable targets, instead using generic national milestones from the Future Generations Act.

Mr Isherwood highlighted calls from Barnardo’s Cymru and the children’s commissioner to ensure progress against the strategy can be transparently and regularly monitored.

He said: “It is the case, is it not, that the Welsh Government has a number of levers to tackle child poverty under its control, so why hasn’t it established real targets and milestones within the strategy, or is this just another case of Welsh Government dodging accountability?”

Highlighting Monday’s launch of a Welsh benefits charter, Ms Hutt raised the importance of maximising people’s incomes to addressing child poverty.

She said a compassionate, person-centred and streamlined benefits system is at the heart of the charter, which all 22 councils have signed up to.

She said: “We saw, in 10 years of Labour government, child poverty going down because of the ways in which we used tax and benefits.

“In thirteen years of austerity, it’s gone up.”

Sioned Williams, for Plaid Cymru, welcomed publication of a new child poverty strategy “at last” after years of pleading with the Welsh Government.

But she also raised concerns about Welsh ministers’ aversion to setting targets, describing a previous progress report as a “cut-and-paste job” which listed actions, not outcomes.

She said: “The Welsh Government is committed to tackling child poverty as an absolute priority, but the strategy doesn’t actually evidence that….

“I have no doubt, minister, that you want to see child poverty eradicated, as do we all here, but we need a clearer road map and signposts to know that we are nearing that goal.”

Jane Dodds, the Welsh Lib Dem leader, told the meeting on Tuesday January 23: “My plea to you is: if the things that you say are going to work, we have to do it urgently.

“And if you say they are going to work, then my question is: why not have targets?”

Ms Hutt said targets risk being overly simplistic, detracting from good government and the evidence of lived-experience poverty.

She said Prof Hick is a globally recognised expert on measuring poverty.

She added that a targets-based approach would not take into account all those who have responsibility for addressing child poverty, principally the UK Government.

Jayne Bryant, who chair’s the children’s committee, focused on care-experienced children as well as disabled children and young people who are more likely to be affected by poverty.

Jenny Rathbone welcomed the new strategy’s focus on children’s rights.

The Labour backbencher, who represents Cardiff Central, called for monitoring of the new benefits charter to show councils’ progress on increasing the uptake of eligible benefits.

Plaid Cymru’s Mabon ap Gwynfor called for an increase in the housing support grant in the Welsh Government’s 2024-25 draft budget.

The Dwyfor Meirionnydd MS said: “A third of the people in temporary accommodation currently are children, and they don’t get the same chances in life because of that.

“So, if we’re serious about tackling child poverty, we absolutely need to tackle housing.

Ms Hutt reiterated that the Welsh Government’s budget is worth £1.3bn less in real-terms than when it was set in the 2021 UK spending review.

Labour backbencher John Griffiths highlighted that the equality committee he chaired during the previous Senedd term recommended devolving the administration of benefits to Wales.

Ms Hutt said developing a coherent, streamlined Welsh benefits system is central to delivering the child poverty strategy.

She pointed out that the UK Government has rejected calls to assess the merits of devolving the administration of the same benefits to Wales as have been devolved to Scotland.

News

BBC apologises to Herald’s editor for inaccurate story

Published

13 minutes ago

December 4, 2025

Staff Writer

THE BBC has issued a formal apology and amended a six-year-old article written by BBC Wales Business Correspondent Huw Thomas after its Executive Complaints Unit ruled that the original headline and wording gave an “incorrect impression” that Herald editor Tom Sinclair was personally liable for tens of thousands of pounds in debt.

The 2019 report, originally headlined “Herald newspaper editor Tom Sinclair has £70,000 debts”, has now been changed.

The ECU found: “The wording of the article and its headline could have led readers to form the incorrect impression that the debt was Mr Sinclair’s personal responsibility… In that respect the article failed to meet the BBC’s standards of due accuracy.”

Mr Sinclair said: “I’m grateful to the ECU for the apology and for correcting the personal-liability impression that caused real harm for six years. However, the article still links the debts to ‘the group which publishes The Herald’ when in fact they related to printing companies that were dissolved two years before the Herald was founded in 2013. I have asked the BBC to add that final clarification so the record is completely accurate.”

A formal apology and correction of this kind from the BBC is extremely rare, especially for a story more than six years old.

Business

First wind turbine components arrive as LNG project moves ahead

Published

3 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

THE FIRST ship carrying major components for Dragon LNG’s new onshore wind turbines
docked at Pembroke Port yesterday afternoon last week, marking the start of physical
deliveries for the multi-million-pound renewable energy project.

The Maltese-registered general cargo vessel Peak Bergen berthed at Pembroke Dock on
shortly after 4pm on Wednesday 26th November, bringing tower sections and other heavy
components for the three Enercon turbines that will eventually stand on land adjacent to the
existing gas terminal at Waterston.

A second vessel, the Irish-flagged Wilson Flex IV, has arrived in Pembroke Port today is
due to arrive in the early hours of this morning (Thursday) carrying the giant rotor blades.
The deliveries follow a successful trial convoy on 25 November, when police-escorted low-
loader trailers carried dummy loads along the planned route from the port through
Pembroke, past Waterloo roundabout and up the A477 to the Dragon LNG site.

Dragon LNG’s Community and Social Performance Officer, Lynette Round, confirmed the
latest movements in emails to the Herald.

“The Peak Bergen arrived last week yesterday with the first components,” she said. “We are
expecting another delivery tomorrow (Thursday) onboard the Wilson Flex IV. This will be
blades and is currently showing an ETA of approximately 03:30.”

The £14.3 million project, approved by Welsh Ministers last year, will see three turbines with
a combined capacity of up to 13.5 MW erected on company-owned land next to the LNG
terminal. Once operational – expected in late 2026 – they will generate enough electricity to
power the entire site, significantly reducing its carbon footprint.

Port of Milford Haven shipping movements showed the Peak Bergen approaching the Haven
throughout Wednesday morning before finally tying up at the cargo berth in Pembroke Dock.

Cranes began unloading operations yesterday evening.

The Weather conditions are currently were favourable for this morning’s the arrival of
the Wilson Flex IV, which was tracking south of the Smalls at midnight.

The abnormal-load convoys carrying the components from the port to Waterston are
expected to begin early next year, subject to final police and highway approvals.

A community benefit fund linked to the project will provide training opportunities and energy-
bill support for residents in nearby Waterston, Llanstadwell and Neyland.
Further updates will be issued by Dragon LNG as the Port of Milford Haven as the delivery
programme continues.

Photo: Martin Cavaney

Crime

Banned for 40 months after driving with cocaine breakdown product in blood

Published

3 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Sarah-Jane Absalom

A MILFORD HAVEN woman has been handed a lengthy driving ban after admitting driving with a controlled drug in her system more than ten times over the legal limit.

SENTENCED AT HAVERFORDWEST

Sally Allen, 43, of Wentworth Close, Hubberston, appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (Dec 4) for sentencing, having pleaded guilty on November 25 to driving with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the prescribed limit.

The court heard that Allen was stopped on August 25 on the Old Hakin Road at Tiers Cross while driving an Audi A3. Blood analysis showed 509µg/l of Benzoylecgonine, a breakdown product of cocaine. The legal limit is 50µg/l.

COMMUNITY ORDER AND REHABILITATION

Magistrates imposed a 40-month driving ban, backdated to her interim disqualification which began on November 25.

Allen was also handed a 12-month community order, requiring her to complete 10 days of rehabilitation activities as directed by the Probation Service.

She was fined £120, ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £114 surcharge. Her financial penalties will be paid in £25 monthly instalments from January 1, 2026.

The bench—Mrs H Roberts, Mr M Shankland and Mrs J Morris—said her guilty plea had been taken into account when passing sentence.