16/02/2017 BBC Wales Today

Ashley Talbot died after being hit by a minibus outside school -

a coroner says lessons must be learned.

Health officials speak of a recruitment crisis in the NHS,

costing health boards millions of pounds.

And why Wales' biggest council plans to suspend the right to buy

The coroner investigating the death of a 15-year-old boy who was run

over in the grounds of his school said the inquest has identified

Ashley Talbot was struck by a school minibus as he was leaving

Maesteg Comprehensive in December 2014.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death and the coroner

will now make a report about the design and construction of

15-year-old Ashley was struck by a minibus

Police say the driver, PE teacher Christopher Brooks,

He was driving at 14 to 17 mph and would have had less

But the inquest heard about wider safety concerns.

One bus driver said this was an accident waiting to happen.

Several children described near misses which they had witnessed.

The coroner said the investigation had revealed matters of grave

concern and he will now be preparing a report on the design, construction

Reacting to the verdict, the solicitor of the family

No child should die in a road traffic accident on school premises.

In schools, more than anywhere else, the safety of children should be

This school was constructed through a PFI initiative.

It is clear from the evidence that we have heard in court

that the staff of the school were never satisfied with the design

And that they struggled, then, to provide a secure

and safe environment, given the design restrictions

Following the hearing, the local authority issued

a statement saying improvements have already been carried out

at the school and a review of safety in all schools in the county borough

The chair of governors paid tribute to Ashley as a popular pupil

and said the governors are satisfied the school is now safe.

We complied with all the health and safety

recommendations that were brought in following the terrible accident.

We believe now that the school is certainly a very safe place.

Ashley's mother has been too ill to attend the inquest.

They have welcomed the ongoing health and safety investigation and

They also plan to campaign for school safety in

Failures to recruit doctors and nurses are costing Welsh health

boards millions of pounds and today Assembly Members were told

there's now a recruitment crisis in the Welsh NHS.

In North Wales the amount of money being spent on agency staff this

year matches the entire ?30,000 overspend of Betsi

year matches the entire ?30,000 overspend of

We are told our hospitals have rarely been busier,

pressures rarely greater, the squeeze on cash rarely tighter.

But at a time when the Welsh NHS needs every penny it can get,

spending on agency staff to fill empty posts is spiralling.

According to some critics, there is a recruitment crisis.

In north Wales, as an example, there are 177 full-time nursing vacancies.

There's a shortage of 79 health care assistants.

Ward rosters are going only 85% filled.

And that's despite a recruitment drive.

We asked to be allowed into the hospital here in Bangor

today to speak to doctors and nurses about recruitment, but that

One, an experienced sister, who didn't want to be filmed,

told me that recruitment problems were down to the

Places like this are extremely tough to work in, she said,

Outside our cities, most Welsh hospitals struggle for staff.

Today at the Senate, Assembly Members were

Why, for example, do many medical students leave

We have recently run a survey of all of those trainees coming

to interview with us to find out exactly what are those key factors.

And the vast majority have indicated that it's important that they have

got somewhere where their friends are, their family is and it's

a geographical location that it is known to them.

I was talking to a number of students thinking

of going into medicine recently in my constituency.

They were all young, single, you know, young men and women, 18,

19-years-old, who couldn't wait to get out.

And said, you know, they've spent their whole lives here,

they wanted to go and see the big wide world.

And the failure to recruit is costing money.

This year, the Ysbyty Clwyd health board expects to be

in the red to the tune of more than ?30 million.

And that's similar to the amount it was spent on agency staff

If you could fill posts, could you get rid of a big

I think it would be a massive help if we could reduce the agency

spend and we are working towards that every day.

We have some rigorous plans in place to control

the spend on agency staff, both from the medical point of view

We need to recognise that there will always be a need

in certain circumstances to employ agency clinical staff, to make sure

A safe service, then, but also a cheaper service.

This has now become a major challenge for the Welsh NHS.

Meanwhile, the number of patients waiting more

and Emergency departments in Wales has risen by a quarter.

Just over 4,000 people spent 12 hours in A last month,

The Welsh Government said the rise is "unacceptable" and pledged

to work with NHS Wales "to achieve improvements for patients."

A man from Tredegar has appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court

accused of downloading so-called Islamic State manuals.

23-year-old Nathan Saunders is charged with five counts

of possessing a record likely to be useful to a person committing

A woman from Swansea who claimed she'd been imprisoned

in her father's flat in Saudi Arabia is still waiting for a face-to-face

21-year-old Amina Al-Jeffrey said her father locked her up

because "she kissed a guy", an allegation he denies.

Last Summer, Mohammad Al-Jeffrey was ordered to facilitate his

daughter's return to the UK, but she remains in Saudi Arabia.

A High Court judge has revealed her lawyer has yet to be

Tenants in Cardiff could become the latest in Wales to lose

the right to buy their council houses as the authority aims

to tackle the city's growing housing need.

The Council's decision to suspend the Right to Buy policy for five

years will need to be rubber-stamped by the Welsh Government who plan

to introduce a law that would amount to a Wales-wide ban

In March, they'll have been married 60 years.

For almost 40 of them, they've lived in this former council

When we came here it was nothing like it is now and then we were hit

-- here about a month and decided we'll buy it.

We feel proud that we both came from, I came from a council house

in Ely, Harry's from the docks and we're out here

So, I'm quite pleased with both of us.

The Fords would have benefited from a discount of up to 50%

when the policy was first introduced in the 1980s.

These days, social housing tenants in Wales can get out of a maximum

of ?8,000 knocked off the value of their property.

Last year, 359 properties in Wales were bought under

the Right to Buy scheme, out of a total of more than 200,000

Had we not had the Right to Buy, we wouldn't have a waiting list

today and people on the waiting list are in significant housing need.

So what we want to be able to do, we want to protect a very important

asset for families to come, now and into the future.

Cardiff Council's requests will need to be accepted

Anglesey, Carmarthenshire and Swansea have already been given

permission to suspend the Right to Buy policy in their areas.

But other applications are still being considered.

However, next month, government ministers for proposing

a new law in the assembly that would amount to a Wales-wide

It would bring the curtain down on a flagship Thatcherite policy

driven by her desire to create a nation of homeowners.

This just deflects attention from the huge national need

We should be proud of the Right to Buy and we should

encourage its use in the future but we certainly need

to build more homes, that's what the Welsh government

We really do need investment in new homes.

Housing associations are a big part of that and are committed

to building social homes that are needed up and down Wales

and the Right to Buy is one part of that picture.

It stops us losing homes that we desperately need

but actually the focus needs to be on building new homes.

But as far as Shirley and Henry are concerned,

it afforded them the opportunity to turn the house into a home.

He's had an incredible week, but the dream is over

The teenager from Ebbw Vale lost to world number four Judd Trump

But while Jackson's Welsh Open is over, one Welshman

remains in the tournament - Lee Walker beat Graeme Dott to make

Let's see what the weather has in store.

Derek's here and is it a little milder?

We're little bit milder, yes. 10 Celsius this afternoon. And, daytime

temperatures will continue to exceed the mid-February average over the

next few days, typically ten to 12 Celsius. Tonight, some rain for

parts of mid and North Wales. That will gradually ease and clear.

Elsewhere it is looking dry. A few gaps in the cloud and a mild night.

Generally dry tomorrow morning. A bit misty and places first thing. It

should writing up in Monmouth, a little sunshine. Across the rest of

the UK a warm front through England and Scotland will bring spots of

drizzle. Some sunshine in Edinburgh and Newcastle. Many areas dry but

some pockets of rain in the West later in the day. Temperatures on

the mild side generally speaking. Nine in Glasgow, 12 Celsius in

London. Close to home, dry and brighter in the north and east

tomorrow afternoon but how will increase. Some rain spreading from

the West and look at those temperatures, ten to 12 Celsius with

a south-easterly breeze. Tomorrow night a bit damp in places,

otherwise dry. Enough moisture for a few mist and fog patches to form.

Against a mile. Mist and fog patches on Saturday will live. A lot of dry

weather, fairly cloudy, with a few sunny intervals. However, a cold

front will move through the day. It stays on the mild side on Sunday.

Again a few spots of drizzle, otherwise mostly dry. Hopefully a

little bit of sunshine. In the next week, half term, mild, breezy a

little rain, it may turn colder later in the week with showers.

We're back with updates from around 6.25am in the morning

But that's Wales Today, from all of us on the programme, goodnight.