10/10/2013 BBC Wales Today

Welcome to Wales Today. Our top story.

It's the largest drift mine in the country - 200 jobs under threat as

the owners of Unity Mine file for administration.

There is some uncertainty to say the least. Everybody is devastated.

Our other headlines tonight. 84 people in court charged in

connection with an investigation into staging car crashes for cash.

Our economy will be the weakest in the UK for ten years - a stark

warning tonight. A step closer to tackling arthritis

with a little help from technology used in Hollywood films.

And making the headlines for all the wrong reasons - fans demand to know

the inside story at Cardiff City Football Club.

Good evening. It's the largest drift mine left in Wales. Tonight, as many

as 200 jobs are under threat as the owners file for administration. The

future of the Unity Mine near Neath has been uncertain in recent months

after workers were told there weren't enough shifts for everyone.

Now the firm says it's in discussion about what happens next - a

situation that's been described by the local MP as deeply worrying. Our

reporter Cemlyn Davies is there. This is a community bracing itself

for more bad news. People are still reeling after hundreds of jobs were

lost when a nearby mine closed earlier this year. Today's

announcement will not have come as a massive shock. They have been

concerns for several weeks. Questions were first raised about

the future of Unity Mine in August when it emerged over half of the 220

people who work year were in danger of losing their jobs. The company

said a fall in the price of coal meant they had to cut back and they

would only be enough work for 66 people. A deal was struck as the

workers agreed to share shifts to prevent redundancies. Discussions

have been ongoing between union officials and company directors will

stop another meeting took place today. The company released a short

statement saying the group of companies have been forced into the

process of filing for administration while discussions continue about the

future direction of the mine. The company says the workforce will be

maintained until further notice but some workers have already left in

anticipation of job losses. There is some uncertainty to say the least.

Everybody is devastated. Today's news is another blow for an area

that has already suffered its fair share of job losses. Production has

come to an end at a nearby drift mine. This area has been devastated

in recent years by job losses and these jobs are very well paid for

the area. They are vital jobs will stop management are in urgent

discussions. There are a number of planning and licensing problems to

resolve. The local councillor knows many of the men who work at the

mine. He is worried how they will cope if their jobs are taken from

them. It is very difficult to find work in the valleys. Everything

seems to stop on the M4 corridor. If we can't stave this mine, that will

make around 700 jobs lost in the last few years. You just can't

replace those. Unity Mine is Wales's largest drift mine and

tonight its future and that of its workforce is in real doubt.

We understand the company will be meeting with apprentices working at

the mine tomorrow morning and they will be a meeting with the whole

workforce on Monday. Thanks, Cemlyn. Let's have a word

with our business correspondent Brian Meechan. It can't be

underestimated to our past in Wales but what about the future for coal

in Wales? If we look at Britain as an economic powerhouse, it was in a

large part fuelled by Walsh call. In the 1920s, around a quarter of a

million people were employed in call and it was about the communities

that grew up around that. In the 1970s and 1980s, we saw pit closures

but even then we saw collieries which emerged from the strike in

1984. But even those closed their doors. So where are we now? Coal

prices have been falling of late and it is very expensive to get out of

the ground. In comparison to the global market where we can get

energy, there is cheaper and more efficient and more environmentally

friendly ways. People find it more difficult to make the case for coal.

We note that these 200 workers are employed here. They will remain

employed while the administrators do their business and see what can come

up of this business, potentially. But from an industry that once

employed 250,000 men, there are now a little over 1000 working in coal

mining in Wales. 84 people have appeared in court in

Cwmbran as part of a so-called crash for cash investigation. It's alleged

car crashes were staged deliberately to defraud insurance companies. The

hearing is one of the largest seen in Wales. Our reporter Jordan Davies

was in court. The first defendant to arrive for

one of the largest court hearings ever held in Wales. One of 86 people

charged in connection with one of the largest motor insurers scams in

Britain. This reconstruction shows the kind of thing they have

allegedly taken part in. Crash for cash, with people deliberately cause

collisions to claim money from insurers companies. Across the UK,

this type of crime is said to be worth nearly £400 million annually,

with one in seven personal injury claims linked to suspected scams.

The defendants appeared in groups of four and five, some dressed casually

in shorts and T-shirt, in shirt and tie. All had the charges put to them

before speaking to confirm their name and address will stop Gwent

Police save the defendants allegedly operated from a garage on this

industrial estate. Officers say they have been investigating the case for

over two years. Only 82 defendants appeared in court today, some

related. Cwmbran Magistrates' Court opened especially for this hearing.

All 86 people are now due to appear at Newport Crown Court at the

beginning of next month. Gas and electricity prices for

thousands of customers in Wales are set to rise next month. The energy

company SSE said the average increase for Swalec customers in the

south will go up by 9%. Manweb customers in north Wales will see an

8.7% increase. The company has blamed a jump in wholesale costs.

Hundreds of jobs will be cut at Carmarthenshire Council because of

the Welsh Government's draft budget. That's the warning from its leader,

Kevin Madge. Savings of £30 million have to be made and offers of

redundancy or early retirement have been offered to staff. The Welsh

Government said it had cushioned the impact of UK Government cuts in the

past three years. Detectives investigating historical

sex abuse at children's homes in north Wales have arrested an

eleventh person. The man, who's 52 and from Mold, has been arrested as

part of Operation Pallial on suspicion of child cruelty and

indecent assault against four boys and one girl in the 1980s.

While the UK might be seeing something of an upturn, the future

for Wales is looking gloomy when it comes to jobs and prosperity. That's

the warning tonight from an influential research company. Our

economics correspondent Sarah Dickins has more.

It is hoped these teenagers in Merthyr Tydfil will be part of the

solution to an economic weakness that has played all of Wales for

decades. The message from this report is that the economy is

recovering and will continue to do so, but that the UK is an

increasingly divided nation. The bad news for Wales, according to the

report, is that we are forecast to be the least well off writing to

2020. It is our communities that will suffer in terms of employment

and what we produce. This new college hopes to challenge that. The

balloons are wrapped, launching the college Merthyr Tydfil will stop

alongside A-levels, students can take courses directly relating to

skilled jobs. Employment levels are expected to fall this year and grow

in 2014. These teenagers are taking courses are unlikely to exist in

school sixth forms. I can do at electronics here which I could not

do at my old school. I want to join the Computerworld when I am told

that so it will give me an insight into how computers operate. We are

doing things that you would do in university. It is furthering our

skills. We certainly have some vibrant employers. There are two

things you can do if you want to improve your economy. Depress your

wage rates but we do not want to do that, or we say, at the countries

have improved their skills, we are doing that in Wales. Also providing

learners with first-class facilities. Some Welsh employers are

already gaining. Our own general orders have picked up considerably.

We have got to keep knocking doors from the south-east of the country,

London in particular, we get a tremendous amount of orders. We find

it quite difficult to fulfil all the orders. It is a chicken and egg

situation. If you don't have the skills, you can't attract the

industry, but if you don't have the industry, you tend not to train

people for it. It is the wealthier areas of the UK that are expected to

see the greatest growth in fortune. The challenge is for Wales to catch

up. Richard Holt wrote the report. He's

in Westminster. What are the solutions? It comes down to skills

and education and one of the people said, at the same time as providing

better skills, we also need to be bringing jobs to the people. That is

both in manufacturing, I think Welsh manufacturing is going to grow

faster than UK manufacturing, but also in service industries

generally. Why is Wales behind other areas of the UK? In a sense it is

because it is the easy option for companies to invest in the

south-east of England, places that are already prosperous. Wales does

badly in the same way that Northern Ireland and the north-east of

England do badly. How is the Welsh economy fare income paid to the UK

economy as a whole? It probably did a little bit better last year. The

problem is that the rest of the economy is accelerating rather

faster than the Welsh economy. Places like the south-east of

England, around Cambridge and London itself, will continue to pull ahead.

But the picture for Wales is pretty gloomy in your report. It is not

completely gloomy. It says the Welsh economy will grow around 2.5% every

year, which is pretty good by historic standards. And if we could

do one thing to improve our economy, what would it be? The answer is that

you always need to do two or three what would it be? The answer is that

things together. You need to invest in skills, ring new companies in,

strengthen the companies you already have, improve infrastructure. There

is never one thing. Much more to come before seven

o'clock. Aaron Ramsey is passed fit for

tomorrow's World Cup qualifier and will captain Wales in Ashley

Williams' absence. And an Edwardian education - a

teacher's journal lifts the lid on school life a century ago.

It's the technology usually associated with Hollywood

blockbusters, but a team of researchers from Cardiff University

is using virtual reality to help them understand arthritis. Their new

rehabilitation suite is the first of its kind in the UK. Steffan

Messenger reports. It is not your average laboratory.

At Cardiff University's new virtual reality suite, they are turning

cinematography interscience. Using special sensors and cameras, they

can monitor the way patients's joints are working and see where

things could be going on. They are focusing on knee injuries, improving

the way they move to postpone further damage. It is an excellent

tool and has helped to move our research forward fast. Having this

tool helps us make the next step and bring it more to clinical practice.

Similar equipment has been used by movie directors for years. The hope

is that this pioneering piece of cake, the first of its kind to be

installed in the UK, will help develop new ways of easing the pain

and disability caused by arthritis. That is welcome news for Liz Evans

from Newport to badly damaged her knee in a skiing accident. I was

made very aware by the rehab team that I was going to be burnable to

getting osteoarthritis in years to come. I don't want that to hit me. I

want to do anything I can to get the researchers to find out more about

the causes and ways of postponing the onset of arthritis.

One in six in the UK suffer with arthritis and that affects the young

as well as the old. By putting in funds to work like this, we will

become nearer to finding a cure. Motion capture technology used in

films and TV dramas may have inspired the development of this

equipment but Liz and others like will hope it can lead to real life

results. Candidates have been deterred from

applying for the vacant Chief Constable job at Gwent Police

because of the actions of its Police and Crime Commissioner, according to

a senior MP. Carmel Napier left the force in June after an order from

Commissioner Ian Johnston to retire or be removed. The Caerphilly MP

Wayne David said, while he fully supports the choice of Jeff Farrar

for the job, he's disappointed only one person applied. Mr Johnston said

it would be inappropriate to comment until the appointment has been

considered by the Gwent Police and Crime Panel.

The PCC have had enormous power to hire and fire at will. What worries

me particularly is that one of the main reasons there is one applicant

for the job in Gwent Police was because of what has happened in the

recent past. I think many senior police officers around the country

saw what happened with Carmel Napier and thought, we are not going to end

up in that situation, we are not prepared to do that.

Cardiff Airport has announced the return of flights to ski

destinations. The airline Flybe will operate direct services to four

airports in France and Switzerland from December.

The leader of Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood, will be hoping to build on the

party's recent by-election victory on Anglesey when she addresses the

annual conference tomorrow. Our political editor Nick Servini is in

Aberystwyth, where the conference is being held.

Parties always say they are in good spirits when they gather for their

annual conference and it certainly will be the case in Aberystwyth over

the next two days after a conference if by-election victory on Anglesey

in the summer. The question is, was that a solid victory in eight Plaid

Cymru heartland or is there something more substantial going on?

What Leanne Wood needs to which you tomorrow is to get eight sense of

momentum building within the party. There is an interesting dynamic this

week because this is the last of the annual Plaid Cymru conferences

before the Scottish independence referendum next September. This

question is whether the party can take advantage of that in anyway,

shape or form. Can it become a party which people vote for not

necessarily because they believe in independence but because they

believe the SNP is a credible alternative government? That is

clearly what it has got to try and cash in on.

Cardiff City supporters are demanding answers from the club as

fears grow over the future of manager Malky Mackay. Some fans are

meeting tonight to discuss whether to hold a protest over how the club

has handled the suspension of former head of recruitment Iain Moody.

Yesterday it emerged owner Vincent Tan had replaced him with an unknown

23-year-old who was formerly on work experience. Here's our sports

reporter Ashleigh Crowter. The fans of Cardiff city are

wondering why nothing ever seems to be straightforward at their club.

Their impressive start in the Premier League is now being

overshadowed why the decision to remove Malky Mackay's right-hand

man, head of recruitment year and moody, and replace him with a

23-year-old with experienced student. The newspapers dissected

the whole affair in great detail. They filled their pages with

speculation about whether Malky Mackay had been fatally undermined.

The sun even dedicated its front page to it. Many fans were already

ensure about Vincent Tan's motives. This supporters group who marched

against his decision to change the kit from blue to read are meeting

again tonight to plan another protest. It is a fertile subject for

this blogger, then James. He thinks the Iain Moody affair has damaged

the reputation of Vincent Tan in even the most pragmatic supporters

will stop I think it has galvanised the fans. Even those who accepted

the red cape were happy the football was being left alone but now they

feel Vincent Tan is meddling with the football side of things. The

fans are not happy. The Supporters' Trust have also asked for public

clarification but the club has not made any official comment. Chief

Executive Simon Lim is understood to be in Malaysia. The club are

preparing to host tomorrow's World Cup qualifier between Wales and

Macedonia and there was sympathy today from one under pressure

manager to another. Malky Mackay, look at his record, a cup final,

play-off semifinals, and league winners, and they are doing well in

the league, so if Malky Mackay is in trouble, I feel sorry for the rest

of us. Aaron Ramsey will captain a depleted Wales team tomorrow night

even though he has not trained this week. Chris Coleman's injury

problems seem to be getting worse will stop he has 15 absentees.

A teacher's journal dating back to 1907 has revealed just what it was

like to be at school in Edwardian Wales. The writings, discovered by

chance in a cupboard, describe a time when girls were expected to do

laundry lessons and PE involved a military style drill. Carwyn Jones

has more. For more than a century they had

been gathering dust at the back of a store cupboard at this school in

Cardiff. Two books, a diary and a lesson guide, written in 1907 by a

young teacher at the school. Her name was Jenny Edwards and we know

practically nothing about her but what we do know thanks to her

writings is that Edward in education in South Wales was a very strict

affair. They would only answer when the teacher asked them. There was no

opportunity for them to turn to their partner to share ideas. Any

interruption to the lesson was severely dealt with. Talking across

the teacher, for example, led to two strokes on the hand with a cane. She

also wrote about a PE lesson at the school which sounds more like an

army drill. Teachers gave arm, trunk and foot

exercises. Children marched in single file and double file along

the hall. Boys and girls were taught

incompletely separate wings of the school and that was reflected in the

lesson plans too. In the afternoons, boys were given serious academic

subjects to study while the girls were given cookery, needlecraft and

laundry lessons. Times have changed but the pupils at the school today

seem to be relieved they are not learning under such script

supervision. Going to the headmaster would be very bad. You would have to

hold your right hand out. Slap, slap, slap. These unassuming

journals do lift the lid on school life in the 1900 or stop they will

now be transferred to an archive so that future generations can learn

what education was really like. Derek's diary and his weather

forecast now. Lots of blue sky in the south today,

but chilly. A north wind has brought a drop in temperature. Only 13

Celsius in Usk, compared to 20 on Tuesday. In the wind it felt more

like minus eight on the summit of Snowdon. More dry and cool weather

to come tomorrow. Also a few spots of light rain and a cool wind.

Tonight will be dry. Clear this evening but, after midnight, cloud

will spread from the northeast. Enough breeze to stop the

temperature from falling too low, but I wouldn't rule out a ground

frost in some of the valleys in the Cambrian Mountains. Tomorrow's chart

shows high pressure to the north of Scotland. Low pressure over France

and that means winds for Britain. Here's the picture for 8am in the

morning. Much of the country dry. Bright in places but some cloud

around as well, along with a cool breeze. Much brighter in the west.

Sunshine in Aberystwyth, Carmarthen and Haverfordwest. During the day a

band of thicker cloud will spread from the northeast with a few spots

of light rain in the afternoon. The odd light shower but otherwise dry.

The best of the sunshine in the southwest. Temperatures higher than

today. 11 to 15 Celsius with a breeze making it feel cool. In

Pembrokeshire tomorrow, dry with a good deal of sunshine. Windy on the

Preselis with a high of 14 Celsius in Narberth. In Monmouthshire

tomorrow, more cloud than sunshine. The odd light shower but most of the

day dry. 14 Celsius in Chepstow with a breeze. Tomorrow night will be

dry. Plenty of cloud. Clearer in the west but temperatures not falling

too low. Saturday will be cloudy, cool and breezy. Spots of light rain

and drizzle in the north and east and Powys. Elsewhere, dry. Bright in

parts of the south and west with a little sunshine. On Sunday, the wind

lighter, but there is a risk of some rain, at least for a time. Our

picture tonight is from Annie Riggs. Plumstone Rock in the Preselis.

Thanks, Annie. More sunshine in Pembrokeshire tomorrow.

The main news from the BBC. Millions of households face high

fuel costs - the energy company SSE, which owns Swalec in Wales, pushes

up its prices by more than 8%. With winter on the way, other energy

companies are likely to raise their prices, leaving some customers

struggling. More than 200 jobs are under threat

at Wales's largest drift mine as the owners file for administration. The

future of the Unity Mine has been uncertain after workers were told

they were not enough shifts for everyone.

I am deeply worried because this is a vital mine. 250 jobs, potentially

more in the future. There are urgent discussions taking place and I am

assisting every way I can. We'll have an update for you here at

8.00pm and I'll be back after the BBC News at 10.00pm. That's Wales

Today. Thank you for watching. Good evening.