02/04/2014 BBC Wales Today

brightness between the clouds. The outlook is mixed. Thank

Welcome to Wales Today. Today, the proposals to improve the health of

the nation. Electronic cigarettes could be banned in enclosed public

places although thousands of people say they've helped them stop

smoking. A minimum price of alcohol could

also be introduced. Tonight, the Welsh Government says it is a

radical step forward. We are confident today marks the day when

people look back on it, they will say this was a really important step

forward in that great Welsh radical public-health tradition in

safeguarding the health of the Welsh nation for the future.

Also tonight: Former Visteon workers have fought for five years to win

compensation. Finally, a deal is reached said to be worth millions of

pounds. Are children in Wales waiting too

long for psychiatric services? Claims tonight their plight being

ignored. And after a battle against cancer

he's back in the game. Matthew Rees tells us how he got through the dark

days. My family have been very supportive

of the way through this. I have got a young daughter. To be seen her,

when I was going through the treatment, on a daily basis, it is a

fight. Good evening. Wales could become the

only part of the UK to restrict the use of electronic cigarettes in

confined public places under plans put forward by the Welsh Government.

There would also be minimum price for alcohol. The Health Minister

says it's part of a radical package of proposals to improve public

health but critics claim the move to restrict e-cigarette use could be

misguided. Here's our health correspondent Owain Clarke.

Enjoying a Perth over a cup of tea. Don't be fooled, this Cathy isn't

breaking the smoking ban. This is an smoke, it is vapour and these are LH

on. E-cigarettes as you can see coming all shapes and sizes. The

idea is that by inhaling a VP at people can still get their fix of

nicotine but without being exposed to some of the toxins or poisons

present in normal cigarette smoke. It is a business that is growing

rapidly. What is the appeal? BC hundreds of customers coming in

every week. They are becoming so popular. I used to smoke about 25 a

day, super Kings. Since I have started these, 15 months ago, I

haven't smoked a cigarette. If the Welsh Government had its way this

place would have to close, but why? It argues e-cigarettes normalise

smoking making it appear acceptable. It claims research from

the United States suggests more young people are trying them. If

they become addicted they could move on to real cigarettes. It argues

that the evidence is limited. Others challenge those claims. The number

of studies show people are using them as effective aids to quit

smoking. The studies that are available don't suggest that

e-cigarettes at the news that some sort of gateway where you start

using them and end of smoking tobacco. Beyond restricting

e-cigarettes the government was to introduce food standards for

nurseries and care homes. They will force councils to open more public

toilets and have registers of tobacco sellers and tattoos

parlours. It wants to set a minimum price for alcohol, 50p a unit which

would mean a can of strong lager couldn't be sold for less than ?1

50. We're having 30,000 bed days every year blocked due to problems

with alcohol. This is an epidemic. To tackle that we need drastic

measures. One of those should be minimum pricing. Are these

international students currently studying in Cardiff convinced? If

students want to go out, they still drink. They still find to alcohol.

You do to have fun, become more social. You are still going to buy

it if that is what you want. It isn't only the students who are

likely to give the minimum price plan hostile reception. Launching

his proposals, the health minister admitted he is likely to face a

challenge from the drinks industry. He could also face an even bigger

hurdle, the UK Government has claimed he hasn't got the power to

set a minimum price in the first place. I am quite sure there will be

pushed back from the alcohol industry as the husband in Scotland.

We can't necessarily prevent others from challenging our powers through

the courts. Maybe the UK Government. You could describe them as

trigger-happy in wanting to do that, to take legislation passed the

National Assembly to the Supreme Court. We're confident of our

ground. In the end, the health minister IDs improving people 's

health is one of the most powerful things a government can do. Here in

Carmarthen they argue the new law, at least in one respect, as have the

opposite effect. Clamping down on e-cigarettes, they claim, could

stigmatise the people trying hard to turn their back on tobacco.

A little earlier I spoke to the Chief Medical Officer Dr Ruth

Hussey. I began by asking her whether there was any evidence to

show that banning e-cigarettes will improve public health.

Our concern is that the growth, the rapid growth in the use of

e-cigarettes runs the risk of three normal eyes in smoking, making it

more common. -- pre-normalising the stop the consequence is that a lead

into an expectation this could be a gateway into conventional smoking.

It becomes more familiar to people. But there is no evidence that it

will improve public health. The argument is that we have made huge

strides in the last seven years since smoking was banned in public

places here in Wales, we have made huge strides in reducing the

evidence of smoking around as. The concern is we are seeing much more

frequent use of e-cigarettes in public places. The challenge is to

people who are concerned, to implement restrictions, they are

hard -- finding it hard to tell the difference. Many people say they

don't know. They don't want e-cigarettes. We do know this,

University College of London and Cancer research UK both save the

list are clear connection between the use of e-cigarettes and the

uptake of normal smoking. Could you be creating a problem? What we are

concerned about, this is emerging evidence day by day, our knowledge

about these products is we are seeing young people using them. They

don't know that is nicotine in them. In a sense, this is a precautionary

approach. This is uncharted territory in terms of the detailed

long-term evidence and follow-up of these because they are such new

products. Our consultation is a consultation. It is a question in

terms should we take this that? Would this help in making sure

smoking is not normalised again? The Chief Medical Officer Ruth

Hussey talking to me earlier. Our health correspondent Owain Clarke is

at a pub in Cardiff tonight. What is your take on the Welsh

Government health plans? This perk which is a favourite haunts of

students is the head of the game. It is already banning the cigarettes.

If you want to smoke then we have to go outside with the smokers. But I

think there will be a lot of debate here tonight about the pros and cons

of the Welsh Government's proposals. The main debate as you mentioned

earlier is about the evidence and stop the Welsh Government claims

e-cigarettes can be a gateway to proper tobacco smoking. A study

published this month by the University of Leicester says the use

of e-cigarettes by individuals would never smoked is extremely rare. The

other debates would be about minimum alcohol price, has the Welsh

Government got the power to do that? The wealth -- Welsh health

minister thinks he has got the power. He wanted to go much further.

He wanted to place restrictions on fast food outlets, for example, but

found he didn't have the to do that. He is confident he has the power to

introduce a minimum price on alcohol. But this is consultation.

If you believe this is a nanny state in action you can have your say. If

you believe these are sensible puzzles, you can also have your say.

-- proposals. Hundreds of workers at the former

Visteon car parts factory in Swansea are being offered compensation after

the value of their pensions was slashed. The Ford motor company,

which formerly owned Visteon, and the union Unite said they had agreed

a settlement. It follows years of campaigning by the pensioners, who

took their case to parliament today. David Cornock reports.

This is a moral victory. I hope we're going to good news. We have

got our fingers crossed. Back to Westminster, this time with a spring

in their step. Car parked workers who felt cheated out of their

pensions when Visteon went bust five years ago. Its owner, Ford, denied

any liability. The workers took liability for the bash legal action.

-- the workers took legal action. I lost 40% of my pension and as a

result my standard of living has gone down considerably. What

difference do you hope today's deal will make? I hope to have some for

that form of compensation for the many I have lost. John won't get

back everything he lost that the deal is said to be worth millions of

pounds shared between 1200 workers. It is important is pensioner

understands how much many they get. Everybody will get something. If

there is a court case, all pensioners may not get a pay-out. It

is for them to decide. Inside the House of Commons, the deal was

welcomed across political parties. This is a good development for

pensioners and all those who played a role. Colleagues all sides of the

house have been involved in this. They should be credited with the

work they have done with Ford. Outside, the mood was unusually

buoyant. For years, these pensioners have been travelling from Wales to

Westminster to put political pressure on the Ford motor company.

They hope today's deal means it will never have to come here again. The

deal needs the approval of 95% of pensioners. Ford said the agreements

were settled the legal claims made against the company but the details

were confidential. An inquest into the death of a

Newport teenager, who went missing in December last year, has been

opened and adjourned. Nida Naseer's body was found at the Wetlands area

of the city last month. The coroner said the cause of death has not yet

been determined. The inquest has been adjourned for six weeks.

Two teaching unions have asked that pupils be allowed to re-sit the

controversial English Language GCSE this summer without any extra cost

to their schools. A review by the Welsh Government found there were a

number of reasons why thousands of pupils here received "unexpectedly

low" grades but ruled out paying for re-sits.

It was as if they had drawn up a battle line. That's how a doctor

described the relationship between the family of a dying teenager and

the director of care at Ty Hafan's children hospice today. Jayne

Saunders faces claims of professional misconduct over the way

she dealt with the girl named only as S at the hearing of the Nursing

and Midwifery Council. She denies all the allegations. Caroline Evans

was at the hearing. What was the background to this case?

Ty Hafan just outside Cardiff was established about 15 years ago. This

case goes back to 2008 and relates a 14-year-old girl with leukaemia and

how she was treated by the director of care, Jayne Saunders. The dispute

began when her mother noticed a red mark on the girl's body and reported

it to staff. The allegations are that Jayne Saunders, seen here in

green meeting Prince Charles, told the family child S would have to be

regularly examined by members of the care team if she was to stay at the

hospice, that she failed to ensure that the child was giving informed

consent to examinations, and that she failed to ensure that only a

qualified nurse examined her. She also accused of giving insufficient

consideration to the child's feelings when she asked to have a

sleep over at Ty Hafan. What was said at the hearing today? We heard

from a specialist doctor there who said it was Mrs Saunders' general

approach to say no to things and then go away and consider it. He

said it was her job to keep Ty Hafan safe but that she and the family

seemed to view each other as on the opposites sides of a battle line.

Asked about the family he said, they were intelligent analytical people,

going through a very difficult time and their emotion would sometimes

surface unexpectedly. With me, they were courteous, he said, but I have

is from others who were not doctors who said they were not treated with

the same courtesy. The case is expected to continue until the end

of April. He's responsible for looking into

complaints about public services in Wales and is independent of

government. Today, Nick Bennett's appointment as the new Public

Services Ombudsmen was approved by the National Assembly. He says he

hopes to help drive improvement in public services here.

The growing problem of children waiting for psychiatric services in

Wales is being ignored by ministers, it has been claimed. The number

waiting more than 14 weeks has soared in the past year. Ongoing

problems with mental health services in Wales were previously highlighted

in a report last year. Here's our political reporter James Williams.

Amanda Jones's certain a few years ago. He was diagnosed with

Asperger's last November that they will have to wait six months for a

psychiatrist appointment. It has left a lot of people down. I joined

a small group. Most of the people in the group have had similar dealings

with not getting the support they need to help their children.

Amanda's certain is one of a growing number of children and young people

waiting longest foray psychiatrist appointment. There were 139 waiting

more than 14 weeks and the numbers wavers slightly before rising

dramatically from November of that year to the highest point in January

of this year. The latest available figures show 736 are now awaiting

the longest for an appointment. It has led to more work for this child

psychiatrist. She works privately. Long way to the public sector and

increasing demand for the services. My experience is there has been an

increase. But there has always been delay in being able to assess

children appropriately for mental health problems. Child health

experts recently told BBC Wales the service which treats children and

young people with mental illness is in a state of crisis. Opinions

rejected by the Welsh Government which is prioritising tackling

waiting times in its improvement plan. But the service is the subject

of an Assembly committee enquiry and was raised by the Liberal Democrats

today. As we have seen this so many Welsh Government strategy the words

on the paper are fine. But when it comes to action the Welsh Government

wealth -- let's people down. It is a feeling shared by Amanda as she

continues what she calls her battle against the system.

Still to come tonight: Bridge over the Dwyryd estuary. Why renovation

work is causing problems for local people.

The BBC has been accused of making "elementary errors" when it comes to

covering matters that are devolved to Wales. The comments were made

during the director general's appearance before Assembly Members

this morning. Our arts and media correspondent, Huw Thomas was

watching proceedings. What happened? Today, it was the way

Wales 's portrait of BBC programmes that are made in London such as News

at ten that was top of the agenda when the director general appeared

before committee at the Assembly. A specific example was raised. It was

a decision to hold question Time in Newport without any Assembly Members

on it. There was barely a mention of Wales. When a topic map to link to

Wales was mentioned the wealth health service was the topic and

cause the shadow minister to struggle with it. There are clearly

issues on the Welsh Government is dealing with that. I don't want to

be unkind but I know bits more about the Welsh health service than you

do. I say that with a despite. What did Tony SOP -- Tony Hall have to

say about that? It said the way West in time selects its panel will be

looked at. Rosemary Butler said that the programmes the BBC makes in

London has struggled with the fundamental differences of

devolution. She said the coverage can sometimes leave Welsh viewers

feeling short-changed. Tony Hall said the way to address all of these

concerns was to persist and explain devolution to BBC staff. We have got

to keep on working, using the strengths we have got in Wales to

work closely with London. We need to improve the sensitivity, accuracy of

what we do and whilst recognising this is changing all the time. Tony

Hall reiterated this morning a point he made in a speech last night. That

was English-language television programmes have been in decline in

Wales for around a decade. He said it was right BBC Wales has

prioritised news and current affairs when budgets were tied but he wanted

to start a discussion about how Welsh culture can be better

deflected on BBC programmes in fault -- in future.

People living in the Penrhyndeudraeth area are expected

to use a public meeting tonight to voice their concerns about a

decision to scrap plans to build a temporary bridge across the Dwyryd

estuary while an old bridge there is being replaced. A diversion adds 16

miles to an around trip. Work on the new bridge at Briwet is expected to

last until the end of the year. Gwynedd Council says it's taken the

decision to improve safety. Here's Roger Pinney.

It is hardly a major lose but if you live, work or holiday here replacing

the Briwet Bridge matters. But that is now a longest detour. That is no

doubt this diversion is an inconvenience even for somebody like

me who has to do its very occasionally. There are those who

have to make the journey every single day. Let's see what problems

they face. This is the main route south to places like Harlech. France

Penrhyndeudraeth, the D2 takes a East to a crossing then there is an

narrow winding roads back along the southern bank. Finally, you get to

the other side of the Briwet Bridge. And to end them make that has built

eight miles and it has taken me 20 minutes. Traffic today was light. A

temporary bridge seemed the obvious answer but Gwynedd Council decided

to spend the money on another local concern. Putting traffic management

on a narrow stretch of road close to the southern end of the bridge where

construction vehicles are making driving difficult and in some

peoples eyes, dangerous. I live halfway up the mountain. This man

lives on one side and works of the ever. It is a former attorney before

that which was maybe 15 minutes. But now it is a 45 minute journey. At

Gwynedd Council, the few caught between two stools. People have come

to us initially saying the situation on the road was a fatality waiting

to happen. We are dammed if we do and dammed if we do. I am confident

we have made the right decision. A question of road safety or

convenience? At Gwynedd council they say the new bridge will be completed

soon. An exercise, testing the response of

the emergency services, has taken place in Cardiff Bay. The RNLI and

the police took part with the fire service and the Coastguard. An RAF

helicopter from Chivenor was also involved in a staged crash between

two boats involving 25 potential casualties.

The owner of Neath Rugby Club has been arrested on suspicion of fraud

and money laundering. Geraint Hawkes, who's 47, and another man

aged 44, are being questioned as part of an ongoing fraud

investigation. Police say the arrests were made at addresses in

south Wales, including at Neath RFC. When Wales international Matthew

Rees was diagnosed with testicular cancer last November, he didn't know

whether he would be able to play rugby again. But last weekend, he

took the field for the Cardiff Blues after being given the all-clear

following a gruelling course of chemotherapy. Today, he's been

telling our sports reporter Ashleigh Crowter about how his young daughter

and his love for rugby kept him going through the dark times.

The support has been phenomenal. I think it shows how good a friendship

you can get from rugby. The strong, sort of, friendships that you carry

through the rest of your life. You still finding it hard about the

treatment you went through. But physically and mentally, is there

any reason why you can't get back to the clear you were 12 months ago? I

am meant to be stronger than they have ever been after the last five

or six months. They have always been pushing myself as a player. That is

my goal, the World Cup. Especially after missing the last World Cup. It

is a massive goal of mine. They need to ask you about how you feel about

the people at Felindre who have helped do. They have been amazing.

The staff have been phenomenal all the way through my treatment. A lot

of credit has got to go to the Princess Margaret Ward when I was

based. You realise how important those type of people are. They are

worth their weight in gold. It has changed me as a person. You never

know what is round the corner. Obviously, my family have been very

supportive all the way through this. I have got a young daughter. To be

seeing her when I was going through the treatment on a daily basis, it

was a fight. There are things you want to see your daughter grow up

and do. That has kept me going. Matthew Rees talking to us. Good to

see him back. All change on the weather front

today. Derek has the forecast. We have all seen some rain and

rumbles of thunder. The raider shows the rain and showers spreading their

way northwards, dry weather following from the south with the

odd glimpse of sunshine. Tomorrow, some dry weather but there is more

drain on the way. Some heavy rain as well. A lot of dry weather tonight

but splashes of rain which could be heavy and thundery, for example in

Pembrokeshire. Another mild, murky night. Lowest temperatures in 11

Celsius. There is a trough of low pressure over the south west of

Britain with a front line through Pembrokeshire. Tomorrow morning at

eight o'clock, most of the country dry at this stage. Little bit misty

in places. It won't be dry everywhere. Rain is likely part of

the and west. During the day tomorrow, the rain in the south and

west will become more widespread, some of it heavy, over 20

millimetres in places. The north east dry but even here a few

showers. The winds light with top temperatures of 13 Celsius. Turning

wet in Pembrokeshire. Tomorrow evening, how to break suffering will

spread northwards and eventually clearing. Overnight, turning try it

with low cloud. Friday will be a better day with one or two showers

but generally dry and brightening up, feeling fresher. The air quality

improving. The weekend, light rain on Saturday, heavy rain on Sunday

but it should try and brightening on Sunday afternoon. Not a total

write-off this weekend. The main news again from the BBC.

And new proposals to ban people using electronic cigarettes in

public places have been put forward by the Welsh Government. It says

it'll help reduce smoking related deaths.

And that is Wales Today. We'll have a quick update at 8pm and more news

at 10.25pm. For now though, from all of us on the programme, have a good

evening.