Transparency records reveal senior trade officials held dinners and strategy meetings with the notorious lobbying firm even as controversy over its Epstein links deepened, says SOLOMON HUGHES
ON March 24 2025 the Health and Social Care Act was placed on the statute books and Wales became the first UK nation to stop companies delivering care for children from making a profit.
The move, which was part of the 2021 manifesto, could be one of the most radical actions of the Welsh Labour administration. The legislation means that from April next year, no new for-profit providers can be commissioned to provide children’s care in Wales. By April 2027, care must be provided by not-for-profit organisations, charities or councils.
The move met predictable opposition in some quarters — most notably the for-profit providers. But with profit margins of up to 22 per cent that selfish hostility was to be expected.
Years of underfunding are eroding Scotland’s local services and deepening inequality in communities, says VINCE MILLS
The election offers a critical chance to shape the future of pay, care and community provision in Wales, says Unison’s JESS TURNER
In the second part of her critique of Wes Streeting’s TenYear Plan for Health, HELEN MERCER looks at the central planks of this privatisation blueprint
Wales is second from the bottom in terms of cultural services in the EU. HELEDD FYCHAN believes that needs to change if the country is to prosper



