0:00:04 > 0:00:05Welcome to Wales Today.
0:00:05 > 0:00:09Tonight's headlines: A major review hears continuing with ?5,000
0:00:09 > 0:00:12grants for Welsh students, wherever they study,
0:00:12 > 0:00:14is not an option.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17And a ?50,000 fine for an engineering company after some
0:00:17 > 0:00:19workers were left with permanent injuries.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35Good evening.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38The status quo is not an option.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40That's according to most of the evidence heard by a major
0:00:40 > 0:00:43review of finance for Welsh students.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46At the moment, the Welsh Government makes grants of over ?5,000
0:00:46 > 0:00:49available to them, wherever they choose to study.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52The review chair says a range of suggestions for changes has been
0:00:52 > 0:00:55heard, but there isn't an easy solution.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57These English students are leaving university with a degree and an IOU
0:00:57 > 0:00:59totalling thousands of pounds.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02But Welsh students are better off.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Faced with tuition fees of ?9,000 a year, students from
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Wales pay around ?3,800.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11The Welsh Government provides the rest, offering grants
0:01:11 > 0:01:14of more than ?5,000.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17But it is expensive, costing ?229 million
0:01:17 > 0:01:20last year alone.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22This is a made in Wales policy which demonstrates
0:01:22 > 0:01:26the benefits of devolution.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28It is five years since the then education minister,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31Leighton Andrews, announced the policy and during that time many
0:01:31 > 0:01:34have questioned its sustainability.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Over the past 18 months Sir Ian Diamond has been
0:01:36 > 0:01:38listening to the arguments.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41His interim report found most experts believe the current funding
0:01:41 > 0:01:43arrangement has to change.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46But there is no easy solution.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49There is a debate between those who say that the public purse
0:01:49 > 0:01:53in Wales should not be paying for students to study outside
0:01:53 > 0:01:58of Wales against those who say they should.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02Our panel has received evidence on both sides of that divide and one
0:02:02 > 0:02:06of the things which is clear in my mind and what we will be
0:02:06 > 0:02:10debating and discussing further over the next couple of months will be
0:02:10 > 0:02:14what our recommendations will be in that regard.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16This issue is never far from the headlines.
0:02:16 > 0:02:17Good evening.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19It costs more than ?200 million a year.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Tonight, questions over whether the Welsh Government's
0:02:22 > 0:02:25policy of funding Welsh university students can continue.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28Our top story, tens of millions of pounds spent every year
0:02:28 > 0:02:31on tuition fees for Welsh students studying over the border.
0:02:31 > 0:02:37A warning tonight our universities could fall behind.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Earlier this year, the Higher Education Funding Council
0:02:40 > 0:02:43for Wales warned universities here could fall behind English
0:02:43 > 0:02:47institutions as Welsh Government money follows students
0:02:47 > 0:02:49across the border.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51More recently the body which represents Welsh universities
0:02:51 > 0:02:56said the focus should be on helping the poorest students.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59The Welsh Government says it is investing in young people
0:02:59 > 0:03:02and argues more money comes into Wales' higher education system
0:03:02 > 0:03:04than goes out.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Today the education minister said the review panel had
0:03:07 > 0:03:09made good progress.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12Students here at Cardiff Metropolitan University are heading
0:03:12 > 0:03:14home for Christmas.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16They will be returning in January at the start of an
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Assembly election year.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21The political parties realise the issue of student finance
0:03:21 > 0:03:23is important to voters.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26They also recognise that any change to the status quo is
0:03:26 > 0:03:28unlikely to be popular, even if change is necessary.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31As they go about drafting their manifestos, they won't get any
0:03:31 > 0:03:34help from Sir Ian Diamond because he won't be publishing his
0:03:34 > 0:03:45recommendations until September, well after polling day.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49A man who stabbed his girlfriend 18 times following a row over footage
0:03:49 > 0:03:53he had of another woman in a bath has been jailed for 16 years.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56Arnel Martinez Raymundo was convicted of attempted murder
0:03:56 > 0:04:01and voyeurism after the attack in Cardiff in June.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03Drivers for Arriva Trains Wales are planning to strike
0:04:03 > 0:04:06on Monday January the 4th.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09The ASLEF union says its members are walking out in a row
0:04:09 > 0:04:11over pay and conditions.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14Arriva says it's disappointed that its drivers have
0:04:14 > 0:04:16rejected its current offer and will try to minimise any
0:04:16 > 0:04:19disruption for passengers.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21An engineering company in Merthyr Tydfil has been fined
0:04:21 > 0:04:24?50,000 after 21 of its workers suffered permanent injury
0:04:24 > 0:04:27from using vibrating power tools.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Linde Heavy Truck Division pleaded guilty to failing to ensure
0:04:29 > 0:04:32the health and safety of its workers.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35Caroline Evans has more.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39Now closed, until 2013 this factory made trucks.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43At its height, employing 500 people here.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46But when employees began to report problems with their hands,
0:04:46 > 0:04:50it emerged that the company had been breaching the law for years.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Today it was fined ?50,000.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56It is important that the lesson is learnt not only by the company
0:04:56 > 0:05:01but other companies doing similar work and potentially
0:05:01 > 0:05:05exposing their employees to hand and arm vibration,
0:05:05 > 0:05:08that they understand the seriousness of the risk.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10The employees were using vibrating hand tools like grinders and power
0:05:10 > 0:05:14drills for as many as six hours a day.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17The judge ruled there was no adequate risk assessment,
0:05:17 > 0:05:21hardly any training before 2011.
0:05:21 > 0:05:2421 employees were diagnosed with hand and arm vibration
0:05:24 > 0:05:27syndrome, something which is preventable but permanent
0:05:27 > 0:05:30once the damage is done.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33Across the UK, nearly two million people are at risk of it
0:05:33 > 0:05:36and it is considered serious and disabling.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40Damage can include the inability to do fine work and cold can trigger
0:05:40 > 0:05:43pain in the fingers.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46That is why one of its symptoms is known as vibration white finger,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49a condition well known among miners.
0:05:49 > 0:05:55In 1997 the mining union NACODS won a landmark judgment which paved
0:05:55 > 0:05:57the way for tens of thousands of industrial workers
0:05:57 > 0:06:00to claim compensation.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04It was a fight which began in Merthyr, led by Bleddyn Hancock.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07He says he finds it incredible that a company in this of all towns
0:06:07 > 0:06:10could be found wanting in this way.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12After all this time, it was nearly 20 years ago
0:06:12 > 0:06:16now that we won that great judgment in favour of the miners who suffered
0:06:16 > 0:06:19from this problem and we proved then that people had known
0:06:19 > 0:06:22about the issue for decades and even then there were lots of things
0:06:22 > 0:06:24employers could of done to safeguard their workers
0:06:24 > 0:06:27and really in this day it's no excuse not to take those measures
0:06:27 > 0:06:30and look after your workers.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35It's much more expensive to harm people than it is to keep them safe.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39For the men in the Merthyr factory, the condition has meant living
0:06:39 > 0:06:44with numbness, being unable to grip or do up shirt buttons.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Sentencing, the judge said this was not a case where a company had
0:06:47 > 0:06:51put profit before safety but there had been failings over
0:06:51 > 0:06:54many years and the consequences were serious.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57The fine he said must be substantial enough
0:06:57 > 0:07:01to have an effect on management.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05The company has apologised for the breach, saying it deeply
0:07:05 > 0:07:11regrets the situation and lessons will be learned.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13National Museum Wales has been criticised by Assembly Members
0:07:13 > 0:07:16for offering a generous pension and pay-off scheme for senior
0:07:16 > 0:07:18bosses, despite being locked in a long-running pay
0:07:18 > 0:07:20dispute with staff.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23This year, it has been hit by strikes over ending "premium
0:07:23 > 0:07:24payments" to weekend staff.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27Managers said they were currently consulting on changing the pension
0:07:27 > 0:07:29and severance schemes.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Football and Cardiff City have lost at Birmingham City tonight.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35A controversial penalty for the home side just before half time put them
0:07:35 > 0:07:381-0 up and that's the way it stayed.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40A win would have seen the Bluebirds return to the Championship
0:07:40 > 0:07:49play-off places.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52The weekend weather forecast now, with Sue Charles.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54Good evening.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57It will remain unseasonably mild this weekend.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59Turning wet and very windy for some tomorrow.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Brighter on Sunday but with a few showers and very blustery.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Strong winds overnight but remaining mild because as the chart shows
0:08:04 > 0:08:06they are drawing up warm air from the Azores,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09but also feeding in weather systems from the Atlantic.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11So misty and murky overnight.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Largely cloudy with outbreaks of rain.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18Hill fog developing and remaining exceptionally mild overnight
0:08:18 > 0:08:21at 11C to 13C.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24Rain starting to push in further west because we've got this tricky
0:08:24 > 0:08:27weather front hovering back and forth tomorrow bringing heavy
0:08:27 > 0:08:30rain at times before clearing away by Sunday.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34So tomorrow might start dry but overcast in the east but turning
0:08:34 > 0:08:37wet and windy from the West and the eastern side of the UK
0:08:37 > 0:08:41will stay drier and milder with some brightness.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44But in the West where that front lingers, persistent rain for much
0:08:44 > 0:08:46of the day.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50Strong southerly winds continuing to draw up the very mild air.
0:08:50 > 0:08:5212C in north-west Scotland.
0:08:52 > 0:08:5416C in south-east England.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Hard to appreciate the milder conditions where it is very
0:08:57 > 0:08:59wet and windy tomorrow, especially across
0:08:59 > 0:09:03South and West Wales.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06In fact, the Met Office has a warning for a further 40 to 60
0:09:06 > 0:09:09millimetres of rain tomorrow, more possible on high ground.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12That rain will gradually move eastwards tomorrow night.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15The cold front clearing to showers and drier spells overnight.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19So behind it the air turns fresher and not quite as mild as tonight.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23Then it is more a case of drier and brighter spells on Sunday
0:09:23 > 0:09:25with a few isolated showers.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28Feeling slightly fresher but staying very windy with gales
0:09:28 > 0:09:30likely along the coast.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33So we keep the unusually mild weather through the weekend.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Heavy rain on Saturday.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39Brighter but still windy on Sunday but another warning for heavy rain
0:09:39 > 0:09:43spreading eastwards on Monday.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46The trend looks like we will keep the mild and unsettled
0:09:46 > 0:09:49weather towards Christmas.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52We'll be back with our next update at 5:35pm tomorrow evening.
0:09:52 > 0:09:53But that is Wales Today.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56From all of us here, good night.