We have put together a round-up of all the latest news, weather, and travel information for Wednesday, March 16, that will get you caught up and ready for the day as Boris Johnson lands for a controversial trip to Saudi Arabia. He is there as as part of efforts to end the West’s “addiction” to Russian fuel in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
But Wednesday’s whistle-stop trip is far from being without controversy, with the Prime Minister facing calls to challenge the nations over their record on human rights. After landing, the Prime Minister said there is "no way Ukraine is going to join Nato anytime soon" but stressed that the decision had to be for the country's president to take.
Read more: Why the trip is so controversial
Speaking to broadcasters at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi, the Prime Minister said: "I talked to Volodymyr (Zelensky) again yesterday and of course I understand what he is saying about Nato and the reality of the position.
"And everybody has always said - and we've made it clear to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin - that there is no way Ukraine is going to join Nato anytime soon.
"But the decision about the future of Ukraine has got to be for the Ukrainian people, and Volodymyr Zelensky is their elected leader and we will back him.
"And the most important thing is that Putin's aggression, his absolutely barbaric attacks on Ukraine should stop and they should not be seen to have succeeded, and they won't succeed."
Wales news headlines
Flying Start programme to be extended in Wales
The Flying Start programme is being extended to another 2,500 children in Wales. The scheme offers support for children and their families to help promote language, cognitive, social and emotional skills, physical development and the early identification of high needs through health support, guidance and part-time childcare.
From September, the number of Flying Start target areas in every council area in Wales will be increased meaning all children under four living in these areas will be able to access Flying Start services, including childcare for those aged two to three. Eligible families will be notified by their local Flying Start team by the summer.
Once the Flying Start scheme has been fully rolled out, all families in Wales with children aged two to three years will be eligible for 12.5 hours of funded, high-quality childcare for 39 weeks of the year.
To meet this target, existing Flying Start childcare providers will be supported to expand their reach, with work ongoing to encourage new providers, including those who specialise in Welsh-medium provision, to offer the programme. There will be further plans about childcare via Flying Start will be announced in the autumn.
Coronavirus Infection rate in Wales rises again
The latest figures from Public Health Wales show that the coronavirus rate in Wales has risen again.
New data published on Tuesday, March 15, and covering a 72-hour period, shows 4,114 new positive PCR test results to bring the total to 831,632.
The total number of people who have died within 28 days of a positive Covid test in Wales now stands at 7,050.
The latest infection rate based on PCR tests for the seven days up to March 10 is 263.3 cases for every 100,000 people – a rise from the 217.7 cases recorded on Monday. This has been rising steadily for the last week.
The infection rate based on PCR tests is only a guide to the spread of Covid in Wales as it does not include lateral flow test results which are reported weekly in Wales. People with no symptoms who test positive on an LFT no longer need a confirmatory PCR test. Cases for your area here.
It comes as Scotland has delayed plans to ditch face coverings in public places because of a rise in Covid cases. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had said that from March 21, the law would not require Scots to wear a face covering but that date has now been pushed back.
It had been expected that from that date, wearing face masks in shops and other indoor public places would be "strongly recommended" by the Scottish Government. However, she has today said the law will stay in place until April due to a rise in cases of Covid-19.
Today's forecast
The sun is set to return to Wales towards the end of the week as at least five days of glorious sunshine is expected from Thursday, with highs of 15°C expected over the weekend.
Before that, here is Wednesday's forecast:
Showery periods of rain affecting many areas, but also some drier and locally brighter spells. Brighter skies arriving in the west by dusk. Feeling mild in any brightness with light winds. Maximum temperature 12 °C.
Skies clearing from the west this evening and remaining dry overnight with lengthy clear periods. Becoming cold and turning frosty for many with a few mist patches developing by dawn. Minimum temperature -2 °C.
Here is how the roads and rail are affected at 7:30am:
- No major incidents or accidents to report
National news headlines
Rapid moves to cut energy demand
Rapid moves to cut energy demand could save households an average of £150 on bills and reduce Russian imports by 80% this year, a report has said.
The report by climate think tank E3G urges the Government to cut VAT on insulation, launch a major public awareness campaign on saving energy, and make changes to stamp duty to boost energy efficiency work on homes.
They are among nine suggestions for action this year and up to 2025 to reduce energy demand, which the report says is the quickest way to reduce exposure to soaring costs.
It comes as Russia's invasion of Ukraine worsens already soaring gas prices, pushing up energy bills as much of the heating for UK homes and nearly two-fifths of electricity generation comes from gas.
The report urges the Government to use the Spring Statement and the energy supply strategy it is due to announce, to cut household energy use through existing policies and mechanisms.
It calls for a public awareness campaign to promote simple measures such as turning down the "flow temperature" on condensing boilers to reduce the temperature of the water sent to radiators and turning down the thermostat by 1C - without compromising on warmth and comfort.
VAT on green home measures should be removed or reduced, and there needs to be a boost to funding for energy efficiency and electric heat pumps, which use less energy to run than boilers, it says.
The report also calls for efforts to speed up deployment of highly efficient white goods, lighting and electronics, and accelerate the introduction of standards due in 2025 to end the installation of gas boilers in new homes and make them highly efficient.
Report finds reading progress of youngest pupils worst hit by closures
The reading progress of younger pupils has been worst affected by school closures during the pandemic, new analysis has revealed.
A report from the National Foundation for Educational Research has found that negative impacts on reading progress from school closures was "greatest among Key Stage 1 pupils, particularly those in Year 1".
The study analysed trends across several studies published between June 2020 and February 2022. It suggested that by summer 2021, maths attainment was most severely affected among Key Stage 2 pupils and maths learning recovery in this age group was much slower than reading for Key Stage 2.
The report also notes that recovery funding is having less of an impact on the catch-up rate of disadvantaged pupils than might be expected.
It says that since school closures, there has been no evidence that the attainment gap between poorer pupils and their peers has widened, "suggesting that disadvantaged pupils are recovering at around the same rate as non-disadvantaged pupils".
"This is despite the targeting of recovery funds and initiatives on disadvantaged pupils which might have been expected to enable them to recover at a faster rate," it adds.
The report finds that primary-aged pupils in every year group performed at lower than expected levels in autumn 2020 for reading and maths.
By spring 2021, there was a further drop in performance, especially for younger pupils because of school closures between January and March. However, by summer 2021, all year groups saw their attainment improve.
The study also found that the attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils had widened more for maths than for reading in most primary year groups.
Sport headlines
Wales deny dropping Rowlands
Wayne Pivac has revealed the conversation he had with Will Rowlands as he told him he was being replaced in the Wales team by Alun Wyn Jones.
Dragons lock Rowlands has had an excellent Six Nations, but now loses his spot in the starting line-up against Italy to the fit again Jones.
“I have certainly told him he hasn’t been dropped and that he has got a different role this week,” said head coach Pivac.
“We talk around three roles. You are either starting the match, finishing the match and adding the impact or you have got the role that nobody wants and you are there to prepare the side as best you can to get a result.
“Will has played well. He has had a lot of rugby this season and on this occasion he will finish as opposed to starting and he understands that.
“We looked at Will and Adam (Beard) and that both had played a lot of minutes. Adam runs our attacking lineout and Will runs the defensive lineout. Alun Wyn will take over that. Will will finish the game and he’ll play a role.” Read more here.
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