03/06/2014 BBC Wales Today

That's all from the BBC News at Six. It's goodbye from me.

Our schools, the economy, the health service - under the spotlight in the

The First Minister says Wales isn't bottom of the pile.

To those who wish to talk our country down,

I said then that the indicators we are publishing today are clear

evidence that the Welsh economy and Welsh public services are moving

But opposition parties criticise Labour's record on health,

saying there's a long way to go to improve public services.

It is not a rosy picture at all, First Minister, and it shows that

your government is not delivering on health outcomes here in Wales.

Ron Jones died while needing a heart bypass - he's among the growing

From Bryn Terfel, to Marie Osmond and Sam Warburton -

celebrity sketches of home go under the hammer for the homeless.

And it will travel faster than the speed of sound.

It's Bloodhound - and we've had exclusive behind the scenes access

to its development with a team from Swansea University.

The people of Wales do not deserve to be told their

That was the message today from the First Minister Carwyn Jones

as he published his annual progress report which looks at how well areas

such as health, education and the economy are performing.

He insisted progress was being made on the economy and public services.

But opposition parties claimed that targets were

Here's our political editor Nick Servini.

This is the third report of its kind published by the Welsh government

but it comes at a time when its record is under more scrutiny than

ever before, with high-profile problems in health and education.

While launching the annual progress report, containing 335 indicators,

Carwyn Jones said Wales was moving forward despite tough times. The

people of Wales do not deserve to be told their country is bottom of the

pile. To those who wish to talk our country down, I say to them that the

indicators we are publishing today are evidence that the Welsh economy

and public services are moving forward, despite tough times. Health

is the most sensitive area. The recent damning review into hospitals

in Neath and Bridgend was the latest in a series of problems affecting

the Welsh NHS. Today's report says hundreds of millions of pounds extra

is being spent over the lifetime of the assembly and the Welsh

government was bearing down on waiting lists. It is not a rosy

picture first Minister and it shows that your government is not

delivering on health outcomes in Wales. Ambulance response times,

cancer targets are being constantly missed and my colleague to the left,

yeah, but colleagues across the chamber are dealing with hospital

closures across the whole of Wales. The Welsh government focused on its

record on the economy under the scheme to deal youth unemployment,

jobs growth Wales. Connor is 18 and got a job as a result of the scheme.

Once I got the job, they explained the six-month probation if you

haven't got qualifications and you can learn whilst learning to help

you if you move on from here. I learned more personally as I went

along. Was government says the scheme has created 13,000 temporary

jobs for 13 to 21-year-olds. 10,000 of those have been filled. Ministers

say that is because recruitment is ongoing. Of those who started the

six-month scheme, nearly 20% left early. Opposition parties said the

scheme fails to target some of those young people most at need and

dropout rate are too high. Fewer than half of those who begin the

six-month programme complete and find empowerment. How will we ensure

more people will find implement at the end of that programme? And

outside that scheme, how will that situation be improved? Away from the

economy on education, since this time last year, Wales has slipped

further behind in the Pisa education league rankings. The report says

ministers are relentlessly focused on driving up standards and pupils

with deprived backgrounds are performing more strongly. It failed

to impress the little Democrats. The report published in January by Estyn

said the standards of education in Wales have not improved in the main.

I wonder how the first Minister reconciles his narrative in his

document with the chief inspectors of schools, which only a few months

ago was able to make that statement. A huge amount of data on the

delivery of public services in Wales but what everyone wants to know is

whether it will lead to an improvement in those same services.

Let's talk to our political editor now. Nick joins us live from the

assembly. There is no new nuggets of information in this enormous

document but I would say that run this time last year, the last time

we had a report like this, I don't think anybody could have predicted

the extent to which the Welsh government record has been

scrutinised as much as it has by the Conservatives of Westminster and the

London based press. Among some of the more serious accusations is that

there was government does not like to be scrutinised. This is an

attempt to show that it is a transparent government institution.

I don't think it will change the minds of critics at this place. I

was just speaking to Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru. She believes

the Welsh government is in denial about the state of education, even

after reading parts of this document. I caught up with the first

Minister Carwyn Jones earlier and began by asking him, if he doesn't

want the Welsh people to be bottom of the pile, there is an easy answer

and that is to improve public services. That's not what I said. I

said they were fed up with being described as bottom of the pile when

we are not. If you look at the economy and employment, better than

the UK average, youth unemployment coming down. There are areas of

improvement like cancer waiting times. If you look at education,

students get access to further education and not be penalised

financially. There is room for improvement but a lots to shout

about. With the Pisa gradings, we are at the bottom. We have new

schools being built in Wales and that is not happening elsewhere. We

are talking to teachers next week to emphasise the importance of Pisa

because that is how they are measured now. We have a new

curriculum and qualifications in Wales. If you look at this, this is

just the summary. I wonder is it really worth it, 300 indicators and

something like 500 commitments? Really the public just want you to

achieve on a relatively small number of targets and in many cases, you

are feeling to do that. Things like NHS waiting times. Cancer waiting

times are doing better and there are some areas where there needs to be

improvement. Let's put this in context. We have less money every

year from London and yet there is more demand every year so that is

something we have to juggle. This means services sometimes have to be

reconfigured. We are doing better in some areas but nobody can call as

secretive. Does it achieve anything? I think it is, otherwise

we wouldn't doing it -- wouldn't be doing this interview. On education

it says you are relentlessly focused on driving up standards. When can we

expect to see improvements? That is happening now with the gap in

England and Wales at GCSE beginning to close. The fact that we have so

many new schools now that students can enjoy. The fact that we have put

the money in the schools challenge can mean that we have good

consistency. We are giving help to the schools that are not doing as

well as we would like. Thank you very much indeed. That was Carwyn

Jones speaking to me earlier. I mentioned about critics and a

document like this not changing their mind. The people that matter

are the public and the potential voters out there in two years time

at the next election. What Carwyn Jones is saying is that he and his

government should be judged by the way they have responded to the

inevitable challenges that they faced in the course of this assembly

term. Thank you. The number

of heart patients who've died waiting for cardiac surgery in South

Wales has risen in the last year. The figures obtained by BBC Wales

show 29 patients died between April 2013 and March this year,

12 more than the year before. Pam Allen is still coming to terms

with life alone. Her partner, Labour councillor Ron Jones from Newport

became ill two years ago and was told he needed a triple heart bypass

at you HW that at the University Hospital of Wales. The frustration

grew as he waited for an operation date. You could see him

deteriorating, losing weight. He was using his angina spray 15 or 20

times a day, saying that if anything happens before this operation, you

won't leave it there. One died 15 months later, in August last year,

before having the operation. He was one of 29 patients who died on a

cardiac waiting list in South Wales between 13 and March this year. 12

more than the year before, when the Royal College of Surgeons raised

concerns about delays. The chief executive of the Cardiff and Wales

University health board said waiting lists had been reduced by half at

his hospital bed or needed to be done. -- but more needed to be done.

I am truly sorry and I realise this must be a truly awful experience.

That is why it is important we deal with this problem and we get to a

position to ensure that patients who need this kind of surgery get is

much more quickly. Health board says that they need

time to deal with the problem. Morgan says there are regular

shortages of intensive care beds across Wales. He says it can impact

on elective surgery. If you are the patient whose

operation is postponed, for whatever reason, you are going to be

traumatised psychologically but it might also be that the physical

nature of whatever disease you have got could be adversely affected. You

might die as a result. Yes? Absolutely, yes. Tonight, we go

behind the scenes with a veteran MP as she calls for action on waiting

lists. There are currently 125,000 patients waiting for diagnostic and

therapy sessions across Wales, more than any time in the last five

years. Those are shocking figures. It means that some people are going

to get worse because they haven't been diagnosed. Welsh health

Minister Mark Drakeford insists the Welsh NHS is doing a good job for

the vast majority of patients. Pam Allen is waiting for the results of

an investigation into her patient? Partner's death on a waiting list.

-- into her partner's death on a waiting list.

You can see more on that story on Week in Week Out, at 10:35pm

South Wales Police has confirmed it's sent specialist search dogs and

their handlers to Portugal to help with the investigation into the

They've joined officers from the Metropolitan Police

and the local force in exploring a cordoned-off area of scrubland

The same dogs were previously used to search for missing April Jones

Two people from the Swansea area are critically ill in hospital

Public Health Wales say they are treating three adults in all

and are carrying out lab tests to see whether the drug was

contaminated by bacteria or a chemical cutting agent.

Plans to build a wind turbine opposite Dylan

Thomas's boathouse in Laugharne have been approved, against the advice

Campaigners had protested against the proposals, claiming

Carmarthenshire County Councillors say the move is consistent with

The manager of a Swansea Valley mine, where four men died,

came out of retirement just months before the disaster happened,

The miners drowned following an inrush of water

Malcolm Fyfield managed to escape but he said he still suffers from

He denies four counts of manslaughter through gross

The flared at the Gleision colliery in a scene of devastation in its

wake and it also led to the death of four colliers. Gary Jenkins,

Filippo, Powell and Charles Breslin all died after 650,000 gallons of

water filled the area where they were working. A number of the men's

relatives sat in the public gallery as the man in charge that they

continued to give evidence. Alcan Fifield's wife and brother were in

court as they have been throughout this trial. -- Malcolm Fyfield. The

father of two told a jury he has to take medication and attend weekly

hospital appointments because he suffers severe post-traumatic stress

disorder as a result of being underground when the disaster

happened. Malcolm Fyfield said certain words and subjects can act

as triggers, reminding him of the experience, sometimes to the extent

where he feels he is back in the environment. The prosecution claims

Malcolm Fyfield failed to take adequate steps to check for the

presence of water as he and his colleagues mind towards old

workings. He said he went down this walkway to inspect the area behind

the coalface on three occasions and there wasn't a body of water there.

Asked if he was sure of the route he took, he said, I am in no doubt. Ask

if he had gone as far as the back of the coalface of the men were

planning to break through, he replied:

The prosecution also says Malcolm Fyfield should have made an

application for a prevention is against inrush scheme, in line with

industry regulations. He told the court such a scheme is only needed

for workings which can't be examined. The workings at Gleision,

he said, were examined at all. He also told the jury he wasn't a mine

manager who took short cuts. Malcolm Fyfield in the grey suit denies four

counts of manslaughter through gross negligence. The mine owners deny

counts of corporate and slaughter. A reminder of our top story tonight:

Publishing his government's annual report, the First Minister Carwyn

Jones has insisted progress is being made in areas like the economy and

public services. But opposition Who lives in a house like this? The

celebrity sketches of home, going It will be the fastest vehicle on

earth, reaching speeds of 1,000mph. The Bloodhound supersonic car has

been in development since 2008, Engineers from Swansea University

have been involved in the project from the very beginning

- and they've got the key role of Carwyn Jones has been given

exclusive access to Bloodhound's HQ It will be the fastest vehicle on

earth, reaching speeds of 1,000mph. It will travel faster than

the speed of sound, covering one Bloodhound has been designed to

shatter the world land speed record, going from to 0-1,000mph

in 55 seconds. The car has been in the pipeline

for six years. It's now left the drawing board

and become a reality. Bloodhound is a mix of automotive

and aircraft technology. The front of the vehicle is made of carbon

fibre. The back is made of panels like an aeroplane.

Some of the UK's best engineers have been

Dr Ben Evans, form Swansea University, is one of them.

His team has been working on the aerodynamics of the vehicle,

ensuring each contour of the car will allow it to break the sound

Once you are travelling faster than the speed of sound, you generate

shock waves were you experience extremely high pressures. Trying to

understand the complexities of that in the context of a car travelling

across a desert service has been a massive problem but we believe we've

got the right solution and the shape bloodhound is is the right shape.

That's been made possible by high end computer simulation.

At Swansea University members of Ben's team are using state

of the art software to study the airflow over the car.

That's crucial, because at such high speeds, there's

the risk that those forces could lift the Bloodhound into the air.

The vehicle itself is fuelled by not one,

but three different power sources - a jet engine,

Every single component of the car has to be strong,

secure and fitted correctly - that's the task of Luke Dee, a former

We have thousands of parts that assemble this car together. The

front frame has 30 tonnes of load going through it. If the parts

aren't manufactured correctly, something could go wrong with the

car. High speed testing of Bloodhound

will take place next year in But the real challenge will come

in 2016 - and that world-first If successful, it will be a triumph

of homegrown design - taking Welsh 67 jobs could go after

the soft drinks manufacturer A.R. Barr announced it planned to

close its plant in Tredegar. The company, which produces Irn Bru,

is making a multi-million pound investment

at its site in Milton Keynes. There will be a consultation

on the plans and possible In Flintshire 50 jobs are to be

created in Buckley - with the opening of a new factory

in the town. The Irish company, Glen Dimplex,

which is the world's largest manufacturer of electrical heating,

will make medical and commercial It says the new location will

help serve its customers better. They may be well known

for their comic abilities, Bailey, John Bishop and Reginald D

Hunter are among celebrities from celebrities from around the world

who've turned their hand to art to who performed in Cardiff's

Motorpoint Arena has been asked to draw a picture of what home means to

them and the results are being sold at auction this evening. Caroline

Evans has been finding out more. It is a collection like no other in

the art world. Sketches from big names in entertainment and music,

games which span the generations. Each one is a personal illustration

of what home aims to them. And now, after almost three years work

putting it together, tonight the pictures are being sold to raise

money for a homeless charity. It is so important because we work with

over 4000 people a year. 4000 people who if asked, draw us a picture of

home, it would be a blank page. It wouldn't be a place of security and

fond memories. That is what we are trying to create for the future so

the celebrities are showing their support for the people who don't

have a home. It is work like this that the proceeds will be spent on.

These young people are getting help with life skills. The charity has

been working in Wales for 28 years. Now settled in her own flats, Ruth

says the charity help to avoid homelessness but it was much more

than just a question of providing bricks and mortar. Within a month I

got offered a flat. I was pleased but I was scared about. I had the

keys but I didn't actually move in until two months after. The support

from the charity was excellent. The idea of what he means is, as they

pictures demonstrate, a deeply personal notion. How did they

persuade so many celebrities to take part? Anybody looking to the city we

found out and contacted them. Bill Bailey, Jack Whitehall, Ronan

Keating, Eddie is hard, John Barrowman. -- Eddie Izzard. More

than 70 go under the hammer at the Hilton hotel in Cardiff tonight.

Onto sport now and BBC Wales understands sprinter Christian

Malcolm will NOT be selected for next month's Commonwealth Games.

The Newport athlete has failed to run sufficient qualifying times

35-year-old Malcolm, who has won Commonwealth silver and

bronze medals, had hoped to compete in his fifth games in Glasgow.

The Wales athletics team is officially announced on Friday.

Despite struggling with injury this season, reigning

World Triathlon Champion Non Stanford has been named in the Wales

She'll be joined by two-time former World Champion Helen Jenkins.

In Glasgow there are individual men's and women's races as well

I think it will be fun. I haven't faced Non for over a year and she is

coming out of injury now. We have a great team going into the

Commonwealth Games. The women's triathlon might be one of the first

medal events of the game so to have a Welsh medal would be amazing.

Rugby and Wales back James Hook has officially signed for English

Hook, who's with the Wales Squad preparing for the Summer Tour to

South Africa, left French side Perpignan at the end of the season.

We can expect anything in June. Heatwaves and floods. We even had

snow in June 1975. No sign of a cold snap but tomorrow will be cooler

with some rain and showers. Thursday better with some sunshine. The end

of the week warmer and humid with a risk of thunderstorms to start the

weekend. This evening generally dry. Just the odd shower in places. Later

in the night increasing cloud will bring a few spots of rain. The wind

light with lowest temperatures seven to 11 Celsius. Tomorrow's chart

shows a trough of low pressure over southern Britain and that means rain

and showers. So here's the picture for eight in the morning. Plenty of

cloud. Some places dry but not everywhere. There will be some rain

and showers around. The showers heavy in places. So not as nice as

today. More unsettled and wetter but not a total right off. It should

turn drier later in the afternoon and brighten-up in the south west.

Temperatures below average. Only 12 to 14C with a west to north-westerly

breeze. Tomorrow night one or two showers. A little rain in the north.

Elsewhere becoming dry and clearer. A cool night with temperatures in

Rain will spread northwards doing the day with the wind picking up and

highs of 20 Celsius. High pressure to the east over the weekend. That

means warm southerly wind. Really humid with the risk of heavy

downpours and thunderstorms on Saturday. Send a dry and fresh with

some sunshine and a few showers. -- Sunday.

A cool night with temperatures in It's coming up to 7:00pm. Our main

headlines this evening: Carwyn Jones says his annual report on how the

Welsh Government is doing shows progress is being made on the

economy and public services. But opposition parties claimed targets

are being constantly missed. The people of Wales do not deserve

to be told their country is bottom of the pile Time after time. To

those who wish to talk the country down, I would say that the

indicators we are publishing today are evidence that the Welsh economy

and services are moving forward, despite tough times. And next week

on the programme we will be marking 15 years of devolution in Wales are

looking at the performance of the NHS, schools, our economy and other

public services. That is our service across BBC Wales from next Monday.

That is Wales Today. More at 8pm and 10:25pm. Good evening.