23/04/2014 BBC Wales Today

still questions about how the whole of the UK is governed.

Good evening. A group of 18 tradesmen have won their equal pay

claim against their employers after arguing female colleagues on the

same grade were paid more. The University of Wales, Trinity Saint

David, told an employment tribunal they would no longer contest the

claim, as Jenny Rees reports. Months and years of frustration

finally at an end. These are three of the 18 tradesmen, plumbers,

carpenters and caretakers, who were told today they had won their case

against their employers. It is relief, I'll be honest, and we are

ecstatic that they have conceded and we have won the case. It has been

recognised that we have been discriminated against. They were

originally employed by Swansea Metropolitan University, which

merged with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in August last

year. The claim focused on a change in their contracts. Initially they

were on a 45 hour working week which was changed to a 37 hour week, with

the agreement that the additional eight hours would be paid in

overtime. It was only when they came to sign the contracts that they

realise they were on a lower hourly rate than women on the same grade.

The University of Wales to me to Saint David said they had no

involvement in decisions made in 2007. They said they are

disappointed the new university has to deal with the consequences of

historical decisions. We are simple folk, really. We did hope it would

not come to a tribunal. I think we were quite shocked when we got this

far. This is not in the most pleasant of experiences, I'll be

honest, but the outcome has been wonderful. Roughly ?4000 is being

sought per worker for every year they have worked there. For some,

that dates back six years. Those compensation discussions continue

tomorrow. The number of people injured in

violent crime across Wales and England, has fallen by 12% according

to researchers at Cardiff University. Academics say one of the

reasons is a change in drinking habits. The study showed there were

still more than 200,000 people needing treatment following violence

last year. Here's Matt Murray. Now 34 years old, Paul has spent the

past seven years learning to walk, talk and eat again. He was attacked

during a night out, and it left him in a coma for nearly two months.

They came from behind me. A study from Cardiff University has

shown that violent crime like this has fallen by 12%. Professor

Jonathan Shepherd is a lead author of the study. He has seen horrific

facial damage from drunken violent crime. A change in alcohol habit is

something to do with this. Alcohol has become less affordable since

about 2008, and it has become less affordable, particularly for people

aged 18-30 because they have less disposable income than they had

before. So it is believed that it is the rising cost of alcohol which is

a major fact before this the crease. They found that 235,000

people were treated in the UK last year following a violent attack.

That is Millie 33,000 fewer than the previous year. It is a drop of 12%.

But it is feared that number could rise as the economic situation

improves. Staff at this bar in Cardiff say

they have seen a change in people's drinking habits. Now, customers

would rather spend their money on quality drinks rather than quantity.

People want to guard once a week and have a proper night and have an

experience they will remember and enjoy. So they are not getting drunk

to the point where they can't remember what they did. Paul and his

mother welcomed the news that violent crime has fallen if it means

fewer people will have to go through what Paul has and has to totally

rebuild his life after a drunken attack.

Griff Rhys Jones has withdrawn from becoming Cardiff University's new

Chancellor just two weeks after an embarrassing debacle which saw his

appointment halted at the last minute. The university's court

blocked the appointment when it emerged current Chancellor Sir

Martin Evans was not offered the chance to be reappointed. It led to

calls for resignations and the university has apologised.

House sales are on the up in Wales with thousands more properties

changing hands at the start of this year compared to the same period

last year. Figures released by HM Revenue and Customs show a rise of

21% here between January and March. That's slightly below the UK average

of 24%. Here's our business correspondent, Brian Meechan.

The sounds of a market bouncing back. The figures today show the

trend of people having more confidence to buy and sell

properties. As the economic crisis hit, buyers dried up and house

prices dropped. In recent months, I'll implement has fallen faster

than expected, and interest rates remain at an all-time low. Trevor is

an estate agent with 21 offices across Wales. Have got a bit more

spare money and it has given them confidence. They see house prices

rejected to rise a little in the next few years, and it has given

them confidence to buy. The Welsh government introduced help to buy

Wales on 2nd of January. It was supposed to boost the market and

increase house-building. Borrowers need a 5% deposit. They can have an

interest-free loan from the Welsh government of 20% of the property's

value, but it can only be used for new builds up to ?300,000. Help to

buy has probably added to the confidence around which has got

people buying and businesses building, but there are worries this

new demand is not being met by enough added supply of houses. We

would like to see smaller builders building more of our houses, and

that is mainly through the planning system. We would like to see land

being released in smaller parts, rather than in pig areas where only

the house-builders can compete for that. By empowering the smaller

builder, we believe we can eventually meet that demand for

houses. Many will welcome the emergence of the housing market from

what has been a desperate period. The challenge will be to continue to

see improvements without prices being pushed up young sensible

levels. Snooker, and Welshman Dominic Dale

is leading in his first round match at the World championships. He's

currently ahead 5-1 against Mark Davis at the Crucible, hoping to

make it through to the final 16. Let's take a look at the weather

now. The weather will be in better shape

tomorrow. More in the way of dry weather, some sunshine to look

forward to as well. A few showers in parts of the South and West tonight,

otherwise it is a dry story. Breaks in the cloud, if you missed in fog

patches forming, and Chile inland. A great start for some of us tomorrow

morning. Fog patches generally lifting. Dry in the morning with a

mixture of cloud and sunshine. Across the west of the UK, some rain

in the north-east of Scotland. Fog patches in the Midlands and southern

England will lift. Then there will be some sunshine and a few showers

raking out which could be heavy. A lot of places will remain drive. --

try. Many places will be dry with a mixture of cloud and sunny spells

and a high of 14 with light winds and sea breezes. Any showers will

fade away tomorrow evening to leave a clear night, but there will be

some mist and fog patches forming, and once again quite cold in mid

Wales. Friday sees more dry weather and some sunshine, but they could be

some scattered showers breaking out in the afternoon, which could turn

heavy in places. For the weekend, there is no chance of a heatwave. A

deep area of low pressure on our doorstep means breezy conditions,

showers and longer spells of rain, but some brighter spells as well.

Temperatures around the seasonal average.

We're back with the latest news and sport in Breakfast from 6am

tomorrow. That's Wales Today. Thank you for watching. Good night.