24/07/2014 BBC Wales Today

We were worried day one might pass without any Welsh success and Wales

would be the only home nation without a medal, but in

Wales's rhythmic gymnastic trio have won silver in the team event.

Frankie Jones, Laura Halford and Nikara Jenkins

completed all four disciplines to finished just behind Canada.

And their reaction was wonderful to watch.

Wales wanted to get off on the right foot by winning a medal on the first

day. And they had to wait late in the evening but when it came, it was

a special moment. The rhythmic gymnastics team of Frankie Jones,

Laura Halford and Nikara Jenkins celebrated silver in the all-round

group competition. Wales 's first medal of the Glasgow games. They had

spent the whole day competing. Each gymnast had to perform a routine in

each of the four disciplines. After three rounds, Wales were in second

place and it was a question of holding their nerve when it really

mattered. The tension was there for all to see on the face of Nikara

Jenkins, the least experienced of the trio. Then Laura Halford showed

why she was the British champion with a strong routine. Captain

Frankie Jones, a silver medallist four years ago, was last onto the

floor and when she had finished, their embrace told the story of a

job well done. Representing Wales, Jaz Carlin. At the swimming centre,

Jaz Carlin was also in the hope for medals. She raced in the 200 metres

freestyle, the weakest of her three events in Glasgow. In the end, she

finished sixth. A new Welsh record. I really have been focusing on the

longer events and hopefully they will go well. I cannot complain. It

was a second faster than four years ago. In the other swimming finals

this evening, Rob Holderness finished seventh while Wales is

women's four x 100 metre squad was sixth.

So Wales ends day one on the medal table and there could be more to

come tomorrow as the gymnasts going to the individual competition.

All eyes too are on cyclist Elinor Barker at

the velodrome tomorrow, she goes in the individual pursuit, and there's

As councils across Wales are forced to make cuts, many have

Now, for the first time, we know how much it is costing

Figures obtained by BBC Wales show the amount local authorities

Last year the bill was more than ?30 million.

This is Blaenau Gwent, the second smallest council in Wales, but the

second biggest payer when it comes to redundancy cheques. The council

has reduced staff by more than many others, around 400, and it has cost

more than ?7 million over three years. Figures we have obtained show

?17 million was spent by councils across Wales two years ago. By last

year, this had almost doubled to more than ?30 million will stop we

estimate that in that time, the workforce has been cut by around

2500. The Welsh local government Association says councils are the

poor relations when it comes to redundancy payments. With others in

the public sector getting far higher packages. It says the payments save

money in the long run. It is necessary because the budgets are

being cut, we have got to think up to 2018, around 900 million will

have been cut from local government budgets. And one of the only ways

that authorities can manage this is to shed jobs. And there are huge

differences depending where you are. Over the past three years,

Caerphilly spent just ?170,000. The biggest authority, Cardiff, spent 16

million. Powys spent five million and Wrexham, ?800,000. During times

of plenty, the cost of redundancies is less of an issue but not when

things are tight. Blaenau Gwent has had to make cuts like other

councils. This leisure centre has been closed as part of a ?2.6

million saving plan. The year before, the very same amount, ?2.6

million, was used for what it calls exit packages. Within that, ?1.6

million was used for just 25 people. And half ?1 million was used for

senior managers. The council says it has been forced to take these

measures because of unprecedented budget cuts. What a lot of people

get anxious about is when they see people received big golden

handshakes and then three months later end up going back into the'

authority or a neighbouring local authority and doing very much the

same work and that does not seem right or just. Blaenau Gwent is not

alone and redundancy payments across Wales will become even more topical

if local government reorganisation happens and many more senior

managers are given payoffs. How much they will get will come under

intense scrutiny. A decision not to publish

a document on the conclusions of a consultation on the planned M4

relief road has been criticised Welsh Government ministers approved

the paper last week before announcing they backed plans

for the new Road, south of Newport. The Welsh Liberal Democrats say they

are outraged at the Government's decision not to publish the Cabinet

paper, A woman who stabbed a businessman in

the neck while in his car has been Swansea Crown Court heard that

Katie Jenkins killed Richard Craddock in Gowerton last

year after he gave her a lift. She had been on trial

for his murder but later admitted 78 jobs are to go with

the closure of Unipart Nine stores from Bangor to Cardiff

will close, though the Carmarthen branch has

been bought by another company. A journalist from Ruthin who used to

work at the Sunday Mirror and the News of the World has

received a suspended jail sentence Dan Evans also pleaded guilty to

making illegal payments to public officials and perverting

the course of justice. A surgeon who failed to tackle

internal bleeding quickly enough in a patient who later died has been

placed under supervision for a year. Pembrokeshire businessman Malcolm

Green suffered congregations after an operation for bowel cancer at

Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest. Hywel Dda Health Board has already

admitted failings in his care. 82-year-old Malcolm Green had been

in good health, seen here receiving But the

following year he was diagnosed with bowel cancer and in June 2012 went

into Withybush Hospital for Early the next morning, there

were signs something was wrong. It was later discovered he was

bleeding internally, but a second operation to correct

that did not take place until 1pm. By then, it was too late and

Mr Green died three days later. The surgeon in charge

of his care has now been placed under a supervision order

while the General Medical Council A move welcomed

by Mr Green's family today. We had understood that the GMC would

be having a tribunal, that would be the only action that was going to be

taking place and I think it goes to show the severity of the

catastrophic error that was made. Dr Umughele remains employed

by the Hywel Dda health board but the conditions imposed

by the GMC state that for the next year he must be supervised

by a named consultant and his work Mr Green's family are currently

pursuing damages against Football and a busy 24 hours

for Swansea City. They have completed the signing

of Iceland international The Swans have also bought

Ecuadorian midfielder Jeferson Wales. Plenty of sunshine. We sought

high temperatures. Eventually 29 Celsius. This is how tomorrow is

looking. Plenty of sunshine and another hot day. Warm sewage -- warm

first thing in the morning as well. Clear skies across much of the

country. These are the temperatures at 6am. It is not disappointing at

all. Quite uncomfortable yet again overnight. Tomorrow morning, plenty

of sunshine across the country. Blue skies to enjoy for most of the day.

If we take a look at the rest of the UK, Scotland a little bit cloudier

tomorrow. South-east England seeing the highest temperatures tomorrow

yet again. Back in Wales, tomorrow afternoon, again, not as appointing

at all. Plenty of sunny spells. Especially across eastern parts.

Maybe the odd shower in Swansea. Temperatures reaching 28 Celsius.

Tomorrow night, showers across parts of south Wales but generally dry and

temperatures down to 14 Celsius. Saturday not looking too bad. But we

will see some showers, especially across eastern fringes. This high

pressure is still in charge for now but low pressure not far away. The

outlook means it is quite changeable on Monday. A reminder of our

breaking news, team Wales has won its first medal of the Commonwealth

Games. The rhythmic gymnastic trio has won silver in the team event.

Frankie Jones, Laura Halford and Nikara Jenkins completed all four

disciplines to finished just behind Canada. We will have more on that

and reaction to the news tomorrow morning. But from me and the rest of

the team, good night.