Wales

Twelve communities from across the UK are today celebrating after winning up to £500,000 each to help install new green technologies such as solar panels, hydro turbines and energy saving insulation.

Issued on behalf of the Selection Panel for the Independently Funded News Consortia pilots

What do you think of your regional television news? Is there enough information about what’s happening where you live? Would you like more local stories online or on the radio? These are all questions that will be put to members of the public who come along to a meeting in Cardiff on Wednesday 3 February about the future of national and regional news in Wales.

Slip, trip and fall incidents in the workplace resulted in 2,520 workers in Wales suffering major injuries or injuries requiring more than three days off work, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) warned today as it launched a hard-hitting campaign.

People who try to avoid paying court fines across England & Wales will be targeted in a month-long campaign launched by Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS) today.

Cardiff is the final stop for the Women in Focus road show, a series of events looking at how to best support vulnerable women offenders.

Today’s businesses are facing tough times and the most successful know what help is available and make use of it.  That help is at hand for businesses during February when HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) brings its programme of free workshops to towns and cities across south and west Wales.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw has today announced details of the new National Victims’ Service as the next stage of reforms aimed at ensuring the justice system is firmly on the side of the law abiding citizen - providing clear universal entitlements to all victims of crime and one-to-one tailored support to the most vulnerable.

Farmers across Wales are being encouraged to make their New Year's resolution a promise to come home safe from the field.

After a spate of breakdowns and engine failures, Bev Haigh of Swansea Coastguard is reminding boat owners to check carefully their vessel’s engine and electrical systems before putting out to sea.

At a meeting in London today, the Regional Economic Council (REC) picked up the challenge of taking forward the Government's growth agenda, as set out in its ‘Going for Growth’ strategy.

Thomas Crapper Day (27 January 2010) marks the 100^th anniversary of Thomas Crapper’s¹ death, and the Consumer Council for Water is calling for consumers to take a minute to reflect on where we might be without today’s modern sewerage system, and consider our responsibility in helping it continue to work properly.

At 1.40pm today Holyhead Coastguard were alerted to an incident unfolding near the Menai Bridge where a small rigid inflatable boat (RIB) had been seen to capsize and that three people were in the water. A further RIB was also nearby.

Milford Haven Coastguard have been able to get urgently needed help this afternoon to an elderly couple in their 70’s cut off by the snow in Mynydd, Castle Blythe near Letterston.

Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson will be among the British delegation meeting the Indian Minister for Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal, this week for discussions about the broad range of UK-India cooperation.

Consumer minister Kevin Brennan has today announced that he has accepted the Competition Commission’s recommendation for a body to enforce the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP).

After the recent heavy snow, icy conditions and severe frosts, strengthening easterly winds will make it feel bitterly cold as we head through the weekend.

The heavy snow that affected parts of the country overnight as forecast will slowly die out, with severe frost and ice becoming the main hazards for most areas.

Coastguard stations all around the coast have been inundated by requests for help by other emergency services as snowy conditions cause chaos across the UK.

Heavy snowfall is expected across southern areas of England that have not seen snow so far during this cold spell, as freezing conditions persist across the country.

The Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Wales (the Commission) has announced a review of the boundaries of the parliamentary constituencies of Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney CC and Brecon and Radnorshire CC.

The Consumer Council for Water has some words of warning about the dangers turkey fat could pose to your pipes this Christmas.

Minerva Corporate Development Limited

With Christmas fast approaching, Britain’s safety watchdog has moved to quell the expected avalanche of ridiculous health and safety myths.

A man who pleaded guilty to giving false information under The Communications Act was sentenced to a 12 week sentence suspended for 12 months, 200 hours of community service and £2,500 costs.  He organised an elaborate hoax that tied up the resources of Newquay and Aberystwyth Coastguard Rescue Teams, RNLI lifeboats from Newquay, Aberystwyth and Cardigan, a rescue helicopter and police units from Dyfed Powys Constabulary for two and a half hours.

A combination of man-made global warming and a moderate warming of the  tropical Pacific Ocean, a phenomenon known as El Nino, means it is very likely that 2010 will be a warmer year globally than 2009.

The courts and court offices across HMCS Wales have achieved the new government Customer Service Excellence standard for delivering high levels of service to court users.

On behalf of the UK Science Community, the Met Office today (Thursday) announces the response of this community to the ongoing questioning of core climate science and methods.

The Met Office has co-ordinated this united statement, gathering over 1,700 signatures in just four days. The list includes responses from over 100 institutes across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This tremendous response affirms our confidence in the science, and reinforces the immediacy of the challenge and the critical nature of the discussions at Copenhagen.

John Hirst, Chief Executive Met Office
Julia Slingo, Chief Scientist Met Office

Businesses across Wales are to benefit from access to the latest computing technology, expert advice and training, through a new £44m High-Performance Computing Institute (HPC) announced today.

Today, the Chancellor announces a package of measures that will continue to support vulnerable families and businesses through the downturn and prepare for recovery; strengthen the credibility and transparency of its plans to halve the deficit over the next four years; and prioritise investment to create a strong platform for future growth.

A company has been fined for failing to carry out proper risk assessments for the presence of asbestos before a major office refurbishment in Merthyr Tydfil.

The first decade of this century has been by far the warmest decade on the instrumental record according to the Met Office. New figures released today in Copenhagen show that, despite 1998 being the warmest individual year, the last ten years have clearly been the warmest period in the 160-year record of global surface temperature maintained jointly by the Met Office Hadley Centre and the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia.

The Met Office has today released station temperature records for over one and a half thousand of the stations that make up the global land surface temperature record.

VAT-registered businesses in Wales are being urged to get ready now for major changes to VAT return filing and payment coming in next April.

As world leaders gather in Copenhagen for the UN Climate Change Conference, a new map has been launched that highlights the importance of limiting mean global temperature rise to no more than 2 °C above those prior to the industrial revolution. 

The UK is at the forefront of tackling dangerous climate change, underpinned by world-class scientific expertise and advice. Crucial decisions will be taken soon in Copenhagen about limiting and reducing the impacts of climate change, now and in the future. Climate scientists from the UK and across the world are in overwhelming agreement about the evidence of climate change, driven by the human input of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The Met Office has announced plans to release, early next week, station temperature records for over one thousand of the stations that make up the global land surface temperature record.

* Review of service

* Alternative facilities

* More cost effective estate

Five people in Wales died as a result of work-related incidents in 2008/09, and more than 1600 suffered major injuries at work.

Two sisters from North Wales have been charged following an investigation by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) into an attempted £161m VAT fraud.

For the first time, Welsh local authorities will have their own national priorities for wide ranging activity affecting the quality of life of their citizens - everything from food safety and safer communities to healthier workplaces and fairer trading.