(Title Image: ITV Wales)
More than £200,000 spent renaming Second Severn Crossing
A freed of information request by the Western Mail revealed that the Wales Office spent just over £216,500 to rename the Second Severn Crossing the “Prince of Wales Bridge”. The costs almost entirely relate to new signage and traffic management.
The Severn Crossings are managed by Highways England. In April 2018, a majority of AMs voted against a motion criticising the lack of consultation on the name change.
Extra £15million to improve critical care services
£15million will be spent on ten projects across Wales to improve critical care services following the report and recommendations of an expert group.
Health Minister, Vaughan Gething (Lab, Cardiff S. & Penarth) said: “As well as providing additional critical care beds, the funding will deliver improvements in related services such as post-anaesthesia care units, long term ventilation and critical care outreach teams. It will also help address existing workforce issues to meet both the current and expanding capacity.”
Moves to cut the number of children taken into care
The Welsh Government have announced measures to cut the number of children taken into care after an increase of 34% over the last fifteen years. 25% of looked-after children were placed outside their home county and 5% placed outside Wales.
Deputy Minister for Health & Social Services, Julie Morgan (Lab, Cardiff North) told AMs during an oral statement in the chamber that local authorities will be expected to develop plans to reduce the number of children taken into care by around 4% a year for three years.
Shutting M4 junctions “would make life worse for Newport”
Jayne Bryant AM (Lab, Newport West) warned that any moves to close junctions on the M4 as part of alternative measures to the cancelled Newport bypass could make life more difficult for Newport residents, leading to more traffic queues and increases in air pollution.
She told BBC Wales: “There’s traffic coming down from other parts of Wales, whether that’s junction 26 which caters for the Cwmbran end, or whether that’s junction 27 which is getting a lot of traffic from Risca.”
Plaid Cymru and Mike Hedges AM (Lab, Swansea East) have both expressed support for targeted junction closures.
