Welsh residents risk waking up to Reform UK holding the largest number of seats in the Senedd unless they exercise caution.

Reverting certain Welsh highways from 20mph back to 30mph would require an investment falling between £3 million and £5 million.

Cuts to flood defence budgets would leave local authorities with reduced capacity to safeguard homes against flooding.

Funding will not be allocated for securing the Merthyr opencast site nor for making dangerous coal tips safe.

Dan Thomas intends to withdraw support from community sports clubs.

A union is encouraging Welsh voters to examine Reform UK Wales leader Dan Thomas’s history before entrusting him with public services, as detailed in a Unison report.

The document – titled Barnet’s Outsourcing Nightmare – outlines how the north London council pursued one of the most ambitious outsourcing programmes in British local government during Thomas’s tenure as a Conservative councillor, deputy leader and subsequently leader.

Major services were outsourced extensively, expenses escalated considerably and oversight was diminished, according to the document.

Unison maintains the findings demonstrate how employees and local residents suffered during his nineteen-year tenure at the council.

The document reveals Barnet’s ten-year agreements with Capita exceeded initial projections by £229 million and positions were moved out of the public sector, affecting cleaning staff, IT personnel and customer service employees among others.

The Welsh arm of the Crown Estate was valued at over £853 million in 2023, primarily due to expanding marine assets and offshore wind initiatives.

It encompasses 65 percent of Wales’s foreshore and seabed along with approximately 50,000 hectares of land, with returns traditionally routed to the UK Treasury rather than the Welsh administration.

While the estate produces considerable income (approximately £8.7 million in 2021 with an upward trend), this is directed to the UK Treasury instead of the Welsh Government, prompting demands for devolved administration.

The Scottish administration allocates Crown Estate revenues for Scottish public benefit.

Plaid Cymru remains the sole party supporting equivalent treatment for Wales, whereas five unionist parties oppose such a move.

Andrew Nutt

Bargoed