Italian police have seized 20 million loom bands amid fears the children’s fashion accessory could contain deadly cancer-causing chemicals. The chemical is used to make plastics more safe and pliable but it is also a known carcinogen and its use is strictly controlled – particularly in toys that could go in the mouth. The legal limit for phthalates is 0.1 per cent by weight of the plasticised material in toys and childcare articles. Safety officials issued the stark message after intercepting rogue consignments of the bands and plastic trinkets sold with them which were headed for British shelves from the Far East. Officers warned that the products could contain high levels of carcinogens, according to Rai News. Scientists carried out rigorous tests on several loom band ‘charms‘, accessories attached to necklaces and bracelets made from the colourful elastic bands, and each one was found to have dangerous levels of phthalates in them. Although it us the first time a potentially dangerous batch of loom bands have been discovered in Italy, a similar incident took place in Britain last month. It is clear that we are facing an organized supply chain that we are happy to have broken,’ the news website quoted local Safety Councillor Marco Granelli as saying. Officers seized products worth an estimated £2.5million from five warehouses in the China Town area of the northern city of Milan. The loom band craze has led to children around the world collecting the brightly-coloured plastic charms in order to make bracelets and other jewelry. Danger: Officers seized products worth an estimated £2.5million from five warehouses in the China Town area of the northern city of Milan. Popular: The loom band craze has led to children around the world collecting the brightly-coloured plastic charms. The Milanese loom bands were seized by police because they did not have a CE safety mark – a stamp tells consumers the products have been properly tested and meet EU safety requirements. Last month British parents were warned of a cancer-scare involving fake accessories for loom bands after tests revealed some imported batches were laced with deadly levels of chemicals. As well as fining three Chinese nationals over the discovery, the police said they have also informed the Italian Customs Office and the Internal Revenue Service. Three people of Chinese nationality have now been fined a total of €40,000 for importing products that do not meet safety requirements required by EU law.

Implementing that vision will involve generational change, halting the decline of the last century.

Welsh Government strategy on the internal use of the Welsh language. It is part of our shared inheritance and identity as a nation. Welsh is spoken for cultural, commercial, social and emotional reasons, but it is also a vocational skill – a skill that should be better recognised and utilised. There is an onus on us to take proactive steps to support and increase the use of the language, and to pass it on to future generations. This will enable staff to work in Welsh from day to day and there will be a significant increase in the use of the language as a result. The First Minister has also pledged to “mainstream” the Welsh language into the development of policy and to the way we work more generally. But its future across Wales cannot be taken for granted. The Welsh language – y Gymraeg – is integral to our culture, our heritage and our daily lives. We are proud of the Welsh language and want it to thrive. Set in this context, the Welsh Government’s goal for the Welsh language within the organisation is that by 2050 all staff working for the Welsh Government will be able to understand Welsh. Implementing that vision will involve generational change, halting the decline of the last century. So our goal is that the Welsh Government should gradually become a truly bilingual organisation; one in which it is routine for the Welsh and English languages to both be used naturally and interchangeably. An important part of the vision involves renewing the association between the language and the workplace. As a result the Welsh Government has already committed to “… Welsh by our own workforce” (Theme 2 Increasing the Use of Welsh, chapter 6 The Workplace). This file may not be fully accessible. This is the Welsh Government’s vision for the Welsh language in Wales (Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers, Welsh Government, 2017). It is to see, by 2050, a million speakers using the language in every aspect of their lives, and doubling the percentage of people in Wales who speak and use the language daily. This is something we can all do together. The year 2050: the Welsh language is thriving, the number of speakers has reached a million, and it is used in every aspect of life. Mae’r ddogfen yma hefyd ar gael yn Gymraeg.

It is something that can unite us as a nation. Statistics show that 86% of people across Wales feel that the language is something to be proud of. Remaining an open, inclusive and diverse organisation: everyone has the potential to be a Welsh speaker and this strategy does not conflict with our commitment to being open, inclusive and diverse – although Welsh language skills will progressively be needed for more posts, developing a bilingual workforce does not mean (or imply) those skills being a universal pre-requisite for joining the Welsh Government. It is important to be clear what is meant by a bilingual organisation. We know that what we do within the Welsh Government will influence other parts of the public sector in Wales. Making a long term commitment and leading the way: change will be incremental and will happen over time, but we intend to lead by example in the way we promote use of the language in the workplace. With that in mind this strategy is underpinned by the following principles. However, we are conscious also that steps taken to increase use of the language must be reasonable and proportionate, which means that becoming a bilingual organisation will involve change that happens gradually. This is why our long term goal is to become a bilingual organisation. But while some are comfortable speaking Welsh – more often than not as the language was passed on to them by their families – many are not. We need to establish a common understanding that the Welsh language belongs to us all whatever our linguistic background. This is especially the case in so far as those learning Welsh in our schools are concerned, who should understand that the language will be a useful skill for them in the workplace. We are conscious of how using Welsh in the workplace can give the language more purpose and relevance. The language is not exclusive to those who can speak it today. Our strategy on the use of Welsh in the workplace is, in many respects, set by the political direction and legal framework that have already been established; to promote the language and to increase its use. Eventually a choice of language will be available operationally within the organisation, meaning we will be able to routinely choose whether to communicate (orally and in writing) in Welsh or English, or indeed both. Investing in staff and providing opportunities to learn Welsh and develop language skills: it is crucial that effective and convenient training is provided, with people given both time and motivation to continuously improve their Welsh language skills. This has relevance that goes beyond being able to provide all outward facing services and internal formal communications in both languages.

Jewelry Findings Sterling Silver Noodles

This choice will be made possible by all staff being able to at least understand Welsh. This can be done in 2 ways; by existing staff starting to learn or improve and by more recruitment of those who already have Welsh language skills. The principle of continuous improvement over the long term will be based on the scale currently used to assess Welsh language skills. The shorter term objective will be reviewed in 2025 and a new objective and associated actions will be set for the following 5 year period – a process that will continue until the 2050 goal is reached. Our focus will be on encouraging people to learn and to continuously improve. Both of these will be required, as – crucially – is plenty of time and support to adapt. One of the most fundamental elements to the success of this strategy will be the learning and development on offer to staff across all levels of proficiency. Our goal is to become a bilingual organisation by 2050, but over the first 5 years our objective is to see the Welsh Government become an exemplar organisation in increasing internal use of the language when assessed against comparable public sector organisations in Wales. This strategy envisages reaching its goal more than 30 years from now, so for obvious reasons it will need to be periodically reviewed and changed. As well as setting a long term 2050 goal we are also setting a shorter term objective for the period up to 2025 and 10 actions designed to help meet that objective. Our goal is to allow staff increased opportunities to acquire and then use their Welsh language skills in the workplace, and eventually allow for language choice. The renewed focus on the language is to be led not just at the political level but also by senior officials. We want and need more Welsh Government staff to have Welsh language skills they can use in the workplace. They will be expected to lead by example in promoting use of the language and making its importance to the organisation clear. We envisage a process under which the strategy and changes in policy adopted under it are reviewed every 5 years. They will help others to use, learn and improve their Welsh language skills – and develop skills of their own. These, in turn, contribute to reaching the 2050 goal. This will of course take time and will require a long term commitment (firstly) to continuously improving our language skills and (secondly) to developing a working culture that understands and respects bilingualism. Learning Welsh and facilitating its use by Welsh speakers in day to day work will be a business need across the organisation, and line managers will need to adhere to that principle by demonstrating personal leadership.

However this will be amended to introduce a new minimum level of “courtesy” Welsh and to more accurately reflect the notion of being able to understand written and spoken Welsh (which is what we need to enable bilingual working). The programme will acknowledge the fact that people learn differently by offering a range of learning methods, including face-to-face classes, e-learning, informal group conversations, mentoring and online networks. This will promote the value of the Welsh language to the organisation, and provide staff with a flexible and adaptable programme to address agreed organisational needs. Governments and other organisations in many countries already operate bilingually (or even multilingually) and what we propose for the Welsh Government is far from unique. However, we need to bear in mind, firstly, that this is a long term strategy and, secondly, that (although this has not been done consciously) our recruitment processes have at times put insufficient emphasis on the importance of Welsh language skills. We will develop an innovative and wide-ranging choice of training. In countries such as Canada, Belgium, Switzerland and the Basque Country working in two or more languages is considered to be normal and an inherent part of modern, representative government. This means that we must have regard to initiatives already pursued by other public bodies. Our starting point will be to continue to aim to recruit the best people regardless of their background, with new staff being welcomed and supported to improve their Welsh language skills. We also intend to make better use of technology to produce Welsh language material without always necessarily having to send work to translation services. The process of determining the actions in Chapter 3 has been informed by comparative analysis and most of the actions replicate existing good practice elsewhere in Wales (or internationally). This will be made easier by increases in the number of Welsh speakers in society, in particular as more pupils leave school with improved skills. There have in recent years been only limited opportunities to recruit new staff and we do not expect this to change significantly any time soon. The context for the Welsh Government becoming an exemplar organisation is that we are already committed to “leading by example” in so far as our internal use of Welsh is concerned. However we will over time also need to recruit more people who already have Welsh language skills. It has also been an important feature of European institutions. We will focus on use of technology to make it easier to work in Welsh.