28/01/2016 BBC Wales Today


28/01/2016

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Now here on BBC One it's time for the news where you are.

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Welcome to Wales Today.

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Our top stories: Exclusive analysis for BBC Wales reveals average

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waiting times in the Welsh NHS are longer than in England for most

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key treatments and diagnoses.

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And more schools are said to be performing well in the official

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colour-coded system - but some claim it isn't

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fair to everyone.

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Good evening.

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Average waiting times in the Welsh NHS are longer than in England

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for most key treatments and diagnoses.

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Exclusive analysis by BBC Wales has found the biggest difference

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was for hip replacements.

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The average wait here was 197 days compared to 75 in England.

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The Welsh Government denies the NHS is failing,

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but says more could done to tackle delays.

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Our Health Correspondent Owain Clarke has this special report.

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If you are ill or in pain, you obviously want to be treated

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quickly, but Carol Whitfield from Mold had to wait more

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than a year for a hip replacement.

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According to NHS targets, nobody should wait that long.

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It is a life-changing operation, totally life-changing.

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Unfortunately, the stress, the length of time that I had

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to wait has put pressure on my other hip, so I am now,

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having recovered from the first operation,

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I am now on the urgent list.

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But is Carol's case exceptional or symptomatic of deeper problems

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in the Welsh NHS?

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If you think answering that question would be

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easy, think again.

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That's because health statistics in Wales and England are often

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collected and measured in different ways.

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We've been digging deeper for figures we're able to compare.

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They suggest the median waiting time in Wales was longer than in England

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by some margin for seven out of 11 key treatments and diagnoses.

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For hip replacements, the average wait was 122 days longer

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here than on the other side of the border.

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And there was a difference of 70 days for diagnosing hernias.

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And for this, hips and treating cataracts, the gap with England had

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grown in the previous three years.

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However we measure it, I think it is unacceptable

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for a patient with a painful hip to be waiting more than six months

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for a hip operation.

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The system is working flat out at the moment,

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and the staff in the hospitals are working flat out trying to keep

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up with the demand.

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But still the waiting lists appear to grow,

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and do grow.

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But there is more encouraging news on more urgent care.

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In three years, waiting times for types of heart surgery showed

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a big improvement, with the gap with England reducing by 65 days,

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although patients in Wales were still typically waiting almost

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eight weeks longer, and the performance between the two

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nations is similar on cancer diagnosis and better on waiting

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times for kidney transplants.

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So why have waiting times lengthened for surgeon treatment?

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According to the doctor in charge of a Wales-wide plan to reduce

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waiting times, it is a case put simply of supply not meeting demand.

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If you are a service which receives 100 referrals per month,

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if you don't have the activity to cope with those 100 referrals

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per month, each month, you are going to add patients

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to a waiting list.

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So the waiting list will grow and grow and grow,

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and just to increase your activity to burn off the backlog,

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as it is commonly described, alone, can be toxic.

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Here in Swansea, the local health board believes

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they have

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found one solution.

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11,000 patients a year are seen by doctors and physiotherapists

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at this clinic.

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Gail Crockett came here within weeks.

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She may have been waiting many months had she been sent to see

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a hospital specialist.

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80% of those that get seen here end up needing no extra treatment.

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It is much more personal, and much easier to come to this

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level rather than go into more serious, like operations

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and things like that.

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The majority of people do not need the surgical intervention,

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and I think the population is actually starting to get used

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to that idea, as well.

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And I think looking after yourself and maintaining yourself with a good

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lifestyle is important.

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So what accounts for the differences between Wales and England?

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The waiting list gap has been there for a long time,

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so it is not a new problem.

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Also the population of Wales, generally speaking, is older,

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sicker and poorer than in England, placing more burden on services.

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But independent experts tell us that wouldn't account

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for such a disparity.

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Wales certainly does seem to have some difficulties with waiting

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times, but I think it is also worth pointing out that Wales has done

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some really good things in the areas of for example patient safety

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and quality of care.

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If you ask the public, what matters to you more,

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the quality and safety

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of treatment you get, or the time you get it,

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I think most people would say that quality and safety is

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much more important.

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As long as people don't suffer harm while they're waiting.

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So the message from him is don't judge the Welsh NHS on speed alone,

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because as we race towards the Welsh election, how patients might get

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treated will soon be at heart of the debate.

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A head teacher who improved pupils' tests results at a Pembrokeshire

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school has been banned from teaching by an education tribunal.

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47-seven-year old Shan Harries changed the results

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at Eglwys-wrw County Primary School after the Inspectorate Estyn

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set new targets.

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An investigation is under way following allegations pornography

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was shown at the funeral of a father and his baby in Cardiff.

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Staff at Thornhill Crematorium have apologised to the family

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of Simon Lewis and his son, also called Simon.

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They died following a car crash on New Year's Eve.

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More schools have been rated as performing well in the second

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year of a new colour-coded system.

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There were 333 primary and secondary schools in the top,

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green, category in 2015, up from 236 in the previous year.

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Red schools - those needing the most improvement -

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fell from 81 to 58.

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Unions have welcomed the figures, but some governors say the system

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isn't fair on smaller schools.

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Caroline Evans reports.

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Here at Mount Stuart Primary School in Cardiff Bay, they have been

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marked as green.

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The new system takes into account more than just academic levels,

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and this has helped them to keep their place as one

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of the best-performing schools in Wales.

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We are actually recognised for the hard work that we do

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with the children.

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A lot of our children come in with very low levels of English,

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and for them to achieve by the end of foundation phase

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is often a challenge.

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There are four categories - green, yellow, amber and red.

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Green schools are deemed to be already doing well.

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One in five high schools are green this year.

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Yellow are effective, and taking action to improve where necessary.

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Amber schools are in need of improvement, and red schools

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are those in need of the greatest improvement.

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This year, one in nine of our high schools are red.

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Some schools, like this one in Flintshire which is rated amber

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say the system unfairly penalises small schools.

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A primary school of less than 100 pupils, they will have eight,

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nine, ten in a year group, and they're applying percentage

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benchmarks to that.

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And in those circumstances, a school might be tipped

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into the amber category by virtue of a performance

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largely of one pupil.

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The Welsh Government says because schools cannot just rely

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on the performance of their top students, it is a system that

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delivers for all learners.

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It is also an absolute system, which means that schools are not

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in the situation where if one school goes up the league tables,

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another one has to fall, because that is the way

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league tables work.

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Every school in Wales is capable of hitting the green category,

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the top category, if they follow that improvement journey.

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The NUT is cautiously positive, but warns against using it

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as a method of judging individual schools.

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If it is seen not as a judgment but as a way of recognising

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where schools need support and where they can build capacity,

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where they can work with each other to improve each other's practices,

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then of course it can be used as useful measure.

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Opposition parties have raised concerns over the number of schools

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in the red category.

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But the Government says it's not about labelling schools,

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but directing the right support to ensure improvement

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across the system.

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Here at Mount Stuart, being green two years in a row means

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that parents are now actively approaching the school to seek

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places for their children.

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But elsewhere in Wales, schools will be keen to know

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what support the Welsh Government plans to put in place for those

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schools deemed to need it.

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Caroline Evans, BBC Wales Today, Cardiff.

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The Conservatives have promised to cut business rates for small

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companies if they win power in May's Assembly election.

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But big companies like supermarkets could pay more.

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The Tories propose changing how rates are calculated as part

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of a pledge to put the needs of small businesses at the heart

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of the Welsh Government.

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The supermarkets play a really important role in Wales,

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the length and breadth of Wales, employing many people,

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but ultimately they have huge advantages in some of the incentives

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that are offered to them with their particular business model.

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What we are saying is, for the 99% of businesses that

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are classified as small businesses in Wales...

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They

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They need

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They need a

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They need a helping

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They need a helping hand.

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Airbus has agreed a deal with Iranian officials to provide

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Iran Air with 118 airliners.

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Their wings will built at their plant at Broughton in

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Flintshire.

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The $25 billion deal was announced in Paris earlier.

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Plans for the first Welsh-medium secondary school in Newport

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are in doubt after warnings the site has a high flooding risk.

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Natural Resources Wales objected proposals that the existing

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Duffryn High School site should be split with a new Welsh-medium school

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being developed on part of it.

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Newport Council says it's committed to Welsh medium education.

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Football, and Swansea City are close to bringing in their first player

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of the transfer window.

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Chievo striker Alberto Paloschi is due to have a medical at the club

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ahead of a possible ?8 million move from the Italian side.

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Speaking at his first press conference as head coach,

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Francesco Guidolin says Paloschi could be an asset to the Swans.

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The club are just four points above the Premier League relegation zone.

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He is a good player, a good guy.

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I think it is important for us.

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I think he can help the team to have results, and to score

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many, many goals.

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I hope.

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Cardiff City striker Joe Mason has joined Championship rivals Wolves

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for an undisclosed fee.

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24-year-old Mason scored 22 goals in 60 league starts for Cardiff,

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having joined from Plymouth in July 2011 for ?250,000.

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With news of Storm Gertrude on the way, here's Derek

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with the weather.

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Hello.

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Trouble is brewing over the Atlantic.

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This mass of cloud is Storm Gertrude, the seventh named

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storm of the season so far.

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Gertrude is going to bring us more wet and very windy weather.

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I think Wales will escape the worst.

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Nevertheless, we still have yellow warnings in force for

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both wind and rain.

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So, tonight, windy with outbreaks of rain and drizzle,

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heaviest on the hills and mountains, strong to gale force

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winds, as well.

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Tomorrow morning will be very windy, severe gales in the north,

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more rain as well, some of it heavy with poor travelling conditions.

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Later in the morning, it should start to brighten up

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in the north and west.

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I think the worst of the stormy weather tomorrow will affect

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the northern half of the UK, with a risk of damaging winds

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and some travel disruption.

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So, very windy tomorrow across the UK, stormy in the far

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north of Scotland, rain will spread south-eastwards during the day

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followed by brighter weather, some sunshine, but also showers,

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some heavy showers in the north, and falling snow in parts of

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Scotland.

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A high of nine Celsius in Glasgow, and turning colder.

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In Wales tomorrow afternoon, drier and brighter, some sunshine,

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one or two blustery showers as well.

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Less windy, but still very breezy, the top temperatures 10-12

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Celsius and dropping.

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Tomorrow night, rain will spread into South Wales,

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parts of Powys, heavy before clearing away.

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Showers following, and some of these will turn wintry on higher ground.

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Saturday, then, will be a cold and breezy day,

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some sunshine, a few showers as well with a significant windchill,

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temperatures in single figures.

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Then on Sunday it is all change again, turning milder with another

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dose of wind and rain.

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That's all from me.

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Watch out for storm Gertrude tomorrow.

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Take care.

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We'll be back in Breakfast with updates from around 6.25.

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That's Wales Today.

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From all of us on the late team, thank you for watching.

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Good night.

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