Over seventy public sector organisations have agreed to join Wales’ new National Procurement Service, Finance Minister Jane Hutt has announced.

The National Procurement Service for Wales (NPS), which will launch in November, will set up and manage contracts for common and repetitive spend across the public sector in Wales. It will reduce expenditure, eliminating duplication, developing a sustainable procurement model and increasing efficiency. It will also develop local supply chains to maximise the opportunities for Welsh businesses to benefit from public sector spend.

Common and repetitive goods and services comprise about 20 – 30% of the total public sector procurement expenditure of £4.3 billion and include items such as stationery, office furniture, professional services, IT hardware and software and fleet.

Once fully operational, the NPS could generate savings of up to £25m per year – which will be re-invested in strengthening front-line public services.　　

The Welsh Labour Government, all Local Authorities, Health Boards, Universities, Colleges, Fire & Rescue and Police Authorities in Wales will join the new service.

The announcement that a leading clinical research organization is set to expand its business in Swansea by establishing a new multi-lingual Help Desk that will create 100 new graduate level jobs, has today been warmly welcomed by local Swansea AM Mike Hedges.  

Economy Minister Edwina Hart, who officially opened PRA’s new offices on SA1 Swansea Waterfront this week, said the expansion is being supported with £1.29million business finance from the Welsh Labour Government.

The planned expansion will double the size of the office and ultimately employ close to 200 people in the Swansea area. The expansion will also create a significant number of highly skilled jobs across a range of disciplines over the next three years and reaffirms PRA’s commitment to Wales.

The new national tests, which will be sat from 8^th to 22^nd May, will replace the commercially produced tests previously used by schools.

By tracking progress from the end of the Foundation Phase right the way through into secondary education, the tests are designed to give teachers a clearer insight into a learner’s development and progress. This will allow them to identify strengths and areas for improvement and to intervene at an earlier stage if learners are falling behind.

The tests have been designed to be as flexible and as learner-friendly as possible. Younger learners, for example, can sit the numeracy and reading tests in shorter sessions, rather than for a continuous full hour if the school feels this would help them perform to their best of their ability.

Learners in Welsh medium schools will take a reading test in Welsh only in years 2 and 3 but in both English and Welsh from year 4 onwards. Schools will have the option to use both tests in year 3. Learners will take the numeracy test in either English or Welsh.

The tests will generate reports to parents/carers which will provide a clearer picture of their child’s abilities, and also enable them to raise any potential issues with teachers at an early stage.

All dogs in Wales will be microchipped by March 2015, Welsh Labour’s Minister for Natural Resources and Food, Alun Davies has announced this week.

The decision follows a public consultation in 2012 in which the Welsh Government sought views on its plans to introduce compulsory microchipping for all dogs. The overwhelming majority of respondents were in favour of the move. Compulsory microchipping could:

• Improve animal welfare by making it easier to return a stray dog to its owners;
• Develop responsible dog ownership by ensuring greater traceability of owners;
• Help to establish liability and prove ownership;
• Assist in control measures in case of diseases that can be passed from dogs to humans;
• Deter dog theft.

In 2010/11 over 126,000 stray dogs were collected by UK Local Authorities and over half (52%) could not be returned to their owners because they were unidentifiable. Of the estimated 450,000 dogs on Wales, it is estimated that some 58% are already microchipped. This means that there are approximately 190,000 dogs that would need to be microchipped prior to March 2015.

The Welsh Government estimates that it is possible to have all dogs microchipped within a year of Regulations coming into effect. The Minister will therefore introduce Regulations in due course in order to allow dog owners 12 months in which to get their dog micro-chipped. In England, compulsory microchipping will not come into force until April 2016.

The Minister welcomed the support of Dogs Trust who have said they said will seek to offer free microchippoing to the majority of dog owners in Wales prior to the Regulations coming into force.

Swansea East AM has welcomed the news released this week by Health Minister Mark Drakeford that Morriston Hospital’s Combined Services Centre will benefit from funding and investment worth £4.805m, thanks to the Welsh Government.

The centre will be based in a partly refurbished building with a new extension at the north of the site. It will house facilities management services, non-clinical support services vital for the smooth running of the hospital. 

The project is part of the “Health Vision Swansea” programme of investment, supporting the reorganisation of services between Morriston and Singleton hospitals and the modernisation of Morriston.

The Combined Services Centre will include goods and stores, specialist freezers, a plant room and supporting infrastructure and allow for essential service yard improvements.

The Welsh Labour Government is cutting the costs of short term Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) to make them more accessible and cost effective for SMEs.

KTP, a UK-wide programme delivered by the Technology Strategy Board and supported by the Welsh Government, links companies with further and higher education institutions.  Recently qualified graduates, who are supported by academic supervisors, are placed with companies to work on specific business projects.

The aim is to help businesses improve their competitiveness, productivity and performance through better use of knowledge, technology and skills. Companies currently contribute 40% of the cost of short term KTPs, with an average contribution being around £20,000 and the Welsh Government contributing the remaining 60%.

Welsh Labour’s Economy Minister Edwina Hart has now announced that the Welsh Government will contribute 75% of the costs, with businesses only contributing 25%, until 31 March 2015.

Welsh Labour’s Minister for Tackling Poverty, Huw Lewis, has called on UK regulators to take action against payday loan firms whose sharp business practices can trap people in a spiral of debt.

Huw Lewis has submitted evidence to a consultation being carried out by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), who want to refer the payday loan market to the Competition Commission. The consultation is part of work being undertaken by the OFT into the practices of UK’s 50 payday lenders, a sector worth £2 billion. OFT research illustrates “a concerning picture of the UK payday lending market” where “lenders prepared to comply with the law and guidance…are driven out of the market”.

Huw Lewis was appointed as the Welsh Government’s first Minister for Tackling Poverty in March, the first appointment of its kind for a UK Government.

The Welsh Government is committed to taking action to protect vulnerable people and is calling on all UK governments to support this OFT initiative. It is particularly concerned at the evidence that many payday lenders do not comply with basic compliance requirements, such as assessing the affordability of a loan for an applicant. This squeezes more responsible lenders out of the market and allows unscrupulous ones to take advantage of people who are often in dire financial situations.

The Welsh Government also: supports the OFT view that a full investigation by the Competition Commission is required about the lack of competition in this market; is calling on the UK government to consider introducing regulations on the advertising of payday loans, in particular on television.

The transfer of Careers Wales into public ownership marks the beginning of a more joined-up, refreshed and revitalised service designed to deliver a personalised approach to careers information advice and guidance.

In 2010, the Welsh Government announced its intention for Careers Wales to become a single body, and after consideration of options confirmed in 2012 that the new body would be a wholly owned subsidiary of the Welsh Government.

All adults and young people will continue to have access to high quality services both online and on the telephone. Face-to-face guidance will be targeted toward those groups who will benefit most from this approach. Developing the online offer is seen as a key priority, reflecting changes in how people of all ages choose to access information services.

The refreshed CareersWales.com service offers people of all ages high quality, impartial information on job requirements as well as real-time information on the labour market, training courses and jobs. Webchat and email services will help connect with clients in ways that make sense to them, using the clients’ preferred method of communication.

Other Welsh Government services, such as the National Work Experience Database for assisting schools in placing pupils, the Apprentice Matching Service and adverts and online applications for Jobs Growth Wales opportunities are also brought together within the revised and updated website.

In addition to the existing telephone helpline (0800 100 900), an enhanced free telephone service “Careers Wales Connect” will be launched next month. The new 0800 028 4844 number will be available to anyone that wants to seek help and support from 7th May.  Careers Wales will continue to develop the range of services available through the Careers Wales website over the course of the coming year.

Careers Wales will also have a key role in advising on options for Work Based Learning and apprenticeship opportunities to young people as an alternative to further or higher education.　

A Welsh Labour Government programme to get jobless young people into quality employment marked its first anniversary this week with news that it has outstripped its initial job creation target by nearly 50%.

Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, Jeff Cuthbert, who is visiting some of the firms and individuals benefiting from Jobs Growth Wales, has announced that the £75m three-year scheme is fast approaching 6,000 new job opportunities created for people aged between 16-24.

Launched in April 2012, the flagship programme funds wages for up to six months to allow employers take on unemployed young people with a view to offer them sustainable posts at the end of the 6 months. The original target was to create 4,000 opportunities each year for three years.

Of the nearly 6,000 job opportunities created so far more than 4,000 have already been filled.

In order to qualify, employers must engage the young people for between 25 and 40 hours a week and they are funded for six months to cover salary and national insurance costs up to minimum wage level. Initial research indicates that around three in every four recruits are kept on at the end of the six months, with many progressing onto formal apprenticeship training.

Swansea East AM Mike Hedges has joined with Health Minister Mark Drakeford in thanking NHS staff for their response to the measles outbreak in the Swansea area, as well as calling on parents, carers and communities to ensure that children have the MMR vaccination.

Health Minister Mark Drakeford said:

“More than 1,700 people were vaccinated at special drop-in clinics this weekend, and over 900 people were vaccinated in GP surgeries. NHS staff from Public Health Wales and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board, primary care staff in particular, have worked hard to make these clinics available and to encourage people to attend. I want to thank them for their dedication.

“In light of this, it is vital to maintain momentum. Those not vaccinated are highly likely to catch the disease as measles is still circulating, and we still face the awful possibility of a child left with serious and permanent complications such as eye disorders, deafness or brain damage, or dying.”