26/01/2016 BBC Wales Today

Here, on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.

Tonight's top stories: Taxpayers lose out on tens of millions

of pounds over the sale of publicly-owned land.

Tonight, an apology from the First Minister.

And Dylan Seabridge was eight when he died of scurvy.

Now calls for an independent review into his death.

The First Minister has apologised after a report found taxpayers lost

out on tens of millions of pounds when publicly-owned land was sold

A committee of AMs called the sale "cavalier and disturbing".

The offshore firm which bought 15 sites from the Welsh Government-run

Regeneration Investment Fund for Wales made ?19 million profit

by selling just some of them on again.

Here's our political editor, Nick Servini.

Another report and another accusation that valuable land

This report from the Assembly Public Accounts Committee will be the last

into the ?21 million sale and it is the most damning yet.

And it is the first to claim explicitly that the loss

It prompted Carwyn Jones to make a rare apology

The way that the review was managed fell well below the standards

we expect as a government and for that we are sorry.

It is true to say that the concept was good

And of course, as members deserve, the government will give

The sites were sold without an open tender

by the Regeneration Investment Fund for Wales, a body

owned by the government, to a company based in Guernsey

called South Wales Land Development, owned

by one Wales' richest men Sir Stanley Thomas.

The report says one of the sites in Rhoose in the Vale of Glamorgan

was bought from the taxpayer for less than ?3 million.

It has since been sold on for housing by South Wales Land

Another in Abergele was bought for 100,000

And the so-called jewel in the crown, at Lisvane on the edge

of Cardiff, was bought off the taxpayer for 1.8 million.

The report says it now has a potential open market valuation

Although around a third of that will have to

be repaid to the public purse in what is called

When you look at some of the onward sales of those pieces of land,

it is very difficult to defend the prices

This has been a long-running saga that has included an investigation

by the Serious Fraud Office that came to nothing,

internal enquiries and a substantial report

The latest inquiry by the Assembly's

Public Accounts Committee has been in the full glare of the public.

Throughout, civil servants admitted there were failures in the way

they monitored Regeneration Investment Fund for Wales

but they have always said that the decisions

At one stage the possibility of there

having been a fire sale was even hinted that.

I remember discussions going on within the Welsh Government

about a fire sale of all of our assets.

That was seriously being considered at the time, putting the whole lot

up in one block and discussing the fact

that we might lose half of it being completely acceptable

from a policy perspective because there was such a need to get

That is not what happened here but that must've been

What is beyond dispute is that Regeneration Investment Fund

for Wales failed in its objective of funding regeneration schemes

in a speedy way in the financial crisis.

Its one lasting legacy so far, this car park in Neath.

The price of energy from the Swansea Tidal Lagoon

could be similar to the price of energy from nuclear

if the project was seen as having a longer lifespan -

that's according to the Chairman of the Swansea Bay City Region,

Sir Terry has told BBC Wales the standard 35-year lifespan given

for energy projects doesn't make sense for the lagoon project

and instead it should be expected to last up to 100 years.

Strike action by Arriva Trains Wales drivers has been called off

after lengthy negotiations, according to the Aslef union.

The 24-hour walk-out, which would have been the second

this year, was due to take place on Monday.

There's been a call tonight for an independent review

into the death of an 8-year-old boy from Pembrokeshire.

Dylan Seabridge died of scurvy in 2011.

The call, from Conservative AM Angela Burns, was made

following a BBC Wales investigation which revealed that

concerns were raised about Dylan more than a year before his death.

Dylan Seabridge was invisible to local councils, according

to a draft serious case review leaked to BBC Wales.

The author of the report knew so little about Dylan

that it was impossible to draw a picture of him, she said.

The inquest into his death heard that Dylan also didn't see a doctor

or dentist from the age of 13 months until he died of scurvy

Dylan's parents don't believe he died of scurvy or that he was

Mr and Mrs Seabridge were charged with neglect but those charges

Now there are calls for a review looking at the role of the education

For four years, that little boy's name and his situation has not been

in the eye of those who can make a difference, so I would urge

the Minister to consider whether or not we need

to have an independent review into this because it is more

than just about Pembrokeshire County Council.

We really want to make a difference and, as I say,

I don't have absolute faith that those who are going to be doing

this review will be able to do it to the best of their ability.

After Dylan died, a serious case review was commissioned

by Pembrokeshire Safeguarding Children Board.

BBC Wales has seen a draft from 2013.

It says concerns had been raised more than a year before Dylan died.

That review has never been published and, four years since Dylan's death,

nothing else has been published either.

However, the health minister has said that since Dylan's death,

improvements have been made to safeguarding

There have been a whole series of independent voices who have been

present there in Pembrokeshire and who have reported

on the progress that the local authority has been able to make

in the time since this death took place.

I am sorry that the member doesn't have confidence

It seems premature to reach that conclusion before any one of us has

had an opportunity read the report that they will produce.

Pembrokeshire Council says the delay in publishing the child practice

review into Dylan's death is because of the criminal

investigation, which was completed with the inquest a year ago.

They also say changes to the structure of the safeguarding

board and Welsh government guidance have made it particularly complex.

The gap between the best schools in Wales and those that

according to the Chief Inspector of Schools.

The report, published by Estyn, urges teachers to focus

on the basics and take a fresh look at teaching methods

But signs of progress are also mentioned, especially in areas

Football, and in League Two Newport County lost 1-0 to Leyton Orient

through a penalty scored by striker Jay Simspon,

while Wrexham were beaten 1-0 by Braintree in the National League.

One flood warning and 30 flood alerts tonight.

And, three inches, of rain has fallen in parts of Snowdonia with a

big rise in the river levels. We're not out of the woods yet. He Met

Office yellow warning in force. More wet and windy warning tonight. Heavy

rain, especially on higher ground, with temperatures on the mild side

for January. Tomorrow morning, more rain and strong winds but later on

they should start to ease as it moves away south eastwards and

hopefully it will try and brighten up. Across the rest of the UK, more

rain for Southern areas, heavy in places, accompanied by strong and

gusty winds. Some dry and brighter weather and sunshine but also

showers in Scotland. He waves range in temperature. 14 in London, a

chilly seven in Glasgow. The wind is using with temperatures above

average. Tomorrow evening, the rain and showers will clear away leaving

a eight. Much colder tomorrow night with the widespread ground frost.

You may need to scrape the frost off your car windscreen on Thursday

morning. Try fully timeless and sunshine. One to showers then later

in the afternoon more rain will spread from the West with the wind

is picking up. Friday is milder but turning wet and windy. Colder on

Saturday. From all of us on

the programme, goodnight.