:00:00. > :00:00.Here, on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.
:00:00. > :00:08.Tonight's top stories: Taxpayers lose out on tens of millions
:00:09. > :00:11.of pounds over the sale of publicly-owned land.
:00:12. > :00:14.Tonight, an apology from the First Minister.
:00:15. > :00:17.And Dylan Seabridge was eight when he died of scurvy.
:00:18. > :00:35.Now calls for an independent review into his death.
:00:36. > :00:40.The First Minister has apologised after a report found taxpayers lost
:00:41. > :00:44.out on tens of millions of pounds when publicly-owned land was sold
:00:45. > :00:50.A committee of AMs called the sale "cavalier and disturbing".
:00:51. > :00:55.The offshore firm which bought 15 sites from the Welsh Government-run
:00:56. > :01:00.Regeneration Investment Fund for Wales made ?19 million profit
:01:01. > :01:03.by selling just some of them on again.
:01:04. > :01:07.Here's our political editor, Nick Servini.
:01:08. > :01:10.Another report and another accusation that valuable land
:01:11. > :01:16.This report from the Assembly Public Accounts Committee will be the last
:01:17. > :01:21.into the ?21 million sale and it is the most damning yet.
:01:22. > :01:25.And it is the first to claim explicitly that the loss
:01:26. > :01:30.It prompted Carwyn Jones to make a rare apology
:01:31. > :01:38.The way that the review was managed fell well below the standards
:01:39. > :01:40.we expect as a government and for that we are sorry.
:01:41. > :01:43.It is true to say that the concept was good
:01:44. > :01:49.And of course, as members deserve, the government will give
:01:50. > :01:52.The sites were sold without an open tender
:01:53. > :01:55.by the Regeneration Investment Fund for Wales, a body
:01:56. > :01:58.owned by the government, to a company based in Guernsey
:01:59. > :02:01.called South Wales Land Development, owned
:02:02. > :02:05.by one Wales' richest men Sir Stanley Thomas.
:02:06. > :02:08.The report says one of the sites in Rhoose in the Vale of Glamorgan
:02:09. > :02:11.was bought from the taxpayer for less than ?3 million.
:02:12. > :02:16.It has since been sold on for housing by South Wales Land
:02:17. > :02:21.Another in Abergele was bought for 100,000
:02:22. > :02:28.And the so-called jewel in the crown, at Lisvane on the edge
:02:29. > :02:31.of Cardiff, was bought off the taxpayer for 1.8 million.
:02:32. > :02:35.The report says it now has a potential open market valuation
:02:36. > :02:41.Although around a third of that will have to
:02:42. > :02:44.be repaid to the public purse in what is called
:02:45. > :02:49.When you look at some of the onward sales of those pieces of land,
:02:50. > :02:53.it is very difficult to defend the prices
:02:54. > :03:01.This has been a long-running saga that has included an investigation
:03:02. > :03:05.by the Serious Fraud Office that came to nothing,
:03:06. > :03:08.internal enquiries and a substantial report
:03:09. > :03:12.The latest inquiry by the Assembly's
:03:13. > :03:17.Public Accounts Committee has been in the full glare of the public.
:03:18. > :03:20.Throughout, civil servants admitted there were failures in the way
:03:21. > :03:22.they monitored Regeneration Investment Fund for Wales
:03:23. > :03:24.but they have always said that the decisions
:03:25. > :03:29.At one stage the possibility of there
:03:30. > :03:31.having been a fire sale was even hinted that.
:03:32. > :03:33.I remember discussions going on within the Welsh Government
:03:34. > :03:37.about a fire sale of all of our assets.
:03:38. > :03:40.That was seriously being considered at the time, putting the whole lot
:03:41. > :03:42.up in one block and discussing the fact
:03:43. > :03:46.that we might lose half of it being completely acceptable
:03:47. > :03:48.from a policy perspective because there was such a need to get
:03:49. > :03:54.That is not what happened here but that must've been
:03:55. > :03:59.What is beyond dispute is that Regeneration Investment Fund
:04:00. > :04:01.for Wales failed in its objective of funding regeneration schemes
:04:02. > :04:04.in a speedy way in the financial crisis.
:04:05. > :04:09.Its one lasting legacy so far, this car park in Neath.
:04:10. > :04:12.The price of energy from the Swansea Tidal Lagoon
:04:13. > :04:15.could be similar to the price of energy from nuclear
:04:16. > :04:18.if the project was seen as having a longer lifespan -
:04:19. > :04:22.that's according to the Chairman of the Swansea Bay City Region,
:04:23. > :04:26.Sir Terry has told BBC Wales the standard 35-year lifespan given
:04:27. > :04:30.for energy projects doesn't make sense for the lagoon project
:04:31. > :04:36.and instead it should be expected to last up to 100 years.
:04:37. > :04:39.Strike action by Arriva Trains Wales drivers has been called off
:04:40. > :04:42.after lengthy negotiations, according to the Aslef union.
:04:43. > :04:44.The 24-hour walk-out, which would have been the second
:04:45. > :04:48.this year, was due to take place on Monday.
:04:49. > :04:51.There's been a call tonight for an independent review
:04:52. > :04:54.into the death of an 8-year-old boy from Pembrokeshire.
:04:55. > :04:57.Dylan Seabridge died of scurvy in 2011.
:04:58. > :05:01.The call, from Conservative AM Angela Burns, was made
:05:02. > :05:04.following a BBC Wales investigation which revealed that
:05:05. > :05:09.concerns were raised about Dylan more than a year before his death.
:05:10. > :05:16.Dylan Seabridge was invisible to local councils, according
:05:17. > :05:19.to a draft serious case review leaked to BBC Wales.
:05:20. > :05:22.The author of the report knew so little about Dylan
:05:23. > :05:25.that it was impossible to draw a picture of him, she said.
:05:26. > :05:28.The inquest into his death heard that Dylan also didn't see a doctor
:05:29. > :05:32.or dentist from the age of 13 months until he died of scurvy
:05:33. > :05:37.Dylan's parents don't believe he died of scurvy or that he was
:05:38. > :05:44.Mr and Mrs Seabridge were charged with neglect but those charges
:05:45. > :05:51.Now there are calls for a review looking at the role of the education
:05:52. > :05:55.For four years, that little boy's name and his situation has not been
:05:56. > :05:58.in the eye of those who can make a difference, so I would urge
:05:59. > :06:02.the Minister to consider whether or not we need
:06:03. > :06:06.to have an independent review into this because it is more
:06:07. > :06:08.than just about Pembrokeshire County Council.
:06:09. > :06:11.We really want to make a difference and, as I say,
:06:12. > :06:14.I don't have absolute faith that those who are going to be doing
:06:15. > :06:17.this review will be able to do it to the best of their ability.
:06:18. > :06:19.After Dylan died, a serious case review was commissioned
:06:20. > :06:21.by Pembrokeshire Safeguarding Children Board.
:06:22. > :06:24.BBC Wales has seen a draft from 2013.
:06:25. > :06:27.It says concerns had been raised more than a year before Dylan died.
:06:28. > :06:32.That review has never been published and, four years since Dylan's death,
:06:33. > :06:34.nothing else has been published either.
:06:35. > :06:37.However, the health minister has said that since Dylan's death,
:06:38. > :06:39.improvements have been made to safeguarding
:06:40. > :06:45.There have been a whole series of independent voices who have been
:06:46. > :06:48.present there in Pembrokeshire and who have reported
:06:49. > :06:52.on the progress that the local authority has been able to make
:06:53. > :06:57.in the time since this death took place.
:06:58. > :07:00.I am sorry that the member doesn't have confidence
:07:01. > :07:09.It seems premature to reach that conclusion before any one of us has
:07:10. > :07:12.had an opportunity read the report that they will produce.
:07:13. > :07:15.Pembrokeshire Council says the delay in publishing the child practice
:07:16. > :07:18.review into Dylan's death is because of the criminal
:07:19. > :07:21.investigation, which was completed with the inquest a year ago.
:07:22. > :07:23.They also say changes to the structure of the safeguarding
:07:24. > :07:29.board and Welsh government guidance have made it particularly complex.
:07:30. > :07:32.The gap between the best schools in Wales and those that
:07:33. > :07:35.according to the Chief Inspector of Schools.
:07:36. > :07:38.The report, published by Estyn, urges teachers to focus
:07:39. > :07:41.on the basics and take a fresh look at teaching methods
:07:42. > :07:46.But signs of progress are also mentioned, especially in areas
:07:47. > :07:53.Football, and in League Two Newport County lost 1-0 to Leyton Orient
:07:54. > :07:57.through a penalty scored by striker Jay Simspon,
:07:58. > :08:03.while Wrexham were beaten 1-0 by Braintree in the National League.
:08:04. > :08:04.One flood warning and 30 flood alerts tonight.
:08:05. > :08:22.And, three inches, of rain has fallen in parts of Snowdonia with a
:08:23. > :08:29.big rise in the river levels. We're not out of the woods yet. He Met
:08:30. > :08:36.Office yellow warning in force. More wet and windy warning tonight. Heavy
:08:37. > :08:42.rain, especially on higher ground, with temperatures on the mild side
:08:43. > :08:46.for January. Tomorrow morning, more rain and strong winds but later on
:08:47. > :08:49.they should start to ease as it moves away south eastwards and
:08:50. > :08:59.hopefully it will try and brighten up. Across the rest of the UK, more
:09:00. > :09:03.rain for Southern areas, heavy in places, accompanied by strong and
:09:04. > :09:10.gusty winds. Some dry and brighter weather and sunshine but also
:09:11. > :09:21.showers in Scotland. He waves range in temperature. 14 in London, a
:09:22. > :09:28.chilly seven in Glasgow. The wind is using with temperatures above
:09:29. > :09:32.average. Tomorrow evening, the rain and showers will clear away leaving
:09:33. > :09:37.a eight. Much colder tomorrow night with the widespread ground frost.
:09:38. > :09:40.You may need to scrape the frost off your car windscreen on Thursday
:09:41. > :09:44.morning. Try fully timeless and sunshine. One to showers then later
:09:45. > :09:49.in the afternoon more rain will spread from the West with the wind
:09:50. > :09:51.is picking up. Friday is milder but turning wet and windy. Colder on
:09:52. > :09:56.Saturday. From all of us on
:09:57. > :10:00.the programme, goodnight.