The UK's fiscal watchdog has said health costs are the biggest risk to the government's spending plans.

The Office for Budget Responsibility's (OBR) says the UK faces the challenge of an ageing population and the high cost of technological advances.
It also says: "Lifting current limits on public sector pay increases would pose a fiscal challenge."
But on Brexit, the OBR says a large "divorce bill" for leaving the EU would not be a big threat to UK finances.
Instead it argues that trade agreements with the EU and other trading partners are more important for the long-term growth of the UK economy.
The OBR's first ever Fiscal Risks Report outlines a range of risks that the UK now faces, and adds that the issues are complicated because the "ongoing challenges must be faced while negotiating Brexit and in an environment of 'austerity fatigue'".
It also says that the country's finances are far more fragile than they were before the financial crisis, ten years ago: "The deficit is at 2-3% of GDP (only just back to its pre-crisis level), but net debt is above 85% (more than twice its pre-crisis level).
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond MP said: "This is a sober analysis of the challenge we continue to face, and a stark reminder of why we must deliver on our commitment to deal with our country's debts.
"The Labour party would ignore these warning signs from the OBR, adding to the bill that our younger generation will have to pay. "
John McDonnell, Labour's shadow chancellor, said: "The Tories want to blame Brexit for their failures on the economy, but what this report really reveals is that one of the biggest risks to our economy is Theresa May's weak Government, and the last seven year of Tory economic failure."
The report outlines how economic growth is central to the amount of tax the country can collect. As an example, it says that over 50 years, an annual fall of just 0.1% in economic output would cause Britain's debt-to-GDP ratio to be 50 percentage points higher.
It says that the way taxes are raised is changing as society changes. It outlines ways in which taxes are bringing less cash into the Treasury:
The OBR also examines how another crisis in the financial sector could hit the government's budget, largely because of the large contribution it makes in taxes. Finance and insurance accounts for 3% of the UK workforce but represents 7% of economic output.
The report says: "Financial crises are fiscally costly. Regulation has been tightened since the crisis, but credit-related vulnerabilities remain. And Brexit and cyber-security represent new sources of risk."
As well as dealing with the obvious threats the 300 page report highlights a range of risks that could batter the government's tax and spending plans in the coming years.
It covers everything from foreign currency exposure to cost over-runs in infrastructure projects like the HS2 high speed rail link.
For instance, it explains how NHS spending on clinical negligence claims has doubled in cash terms over the past six years and has risen by almost half over the past two.
The reports adds: "There is a risk that greater pressures on medical professionals lead to higher numbers of incidents and future claims. This type of adverse feedback seems plausible".
On the future cost of decommissioning nuclear power stations, it says that estimates range from £95- £218bn.
It says: "While the numbers are big from the perspective of the department managing them they are less so from the perspective of the public sector as a whole. That said ... the risk that annual spending rises by more than £1bn in any year is far from negligible."
And it also covers the risks of "unanticipated events" which include everything from flu pandemics to coastal flooding and widespread electricity failure.
It says: "successive terrorist attacks have prompted debate over the funding of police and security services, while the number of tower blocks that have failed fire safety tests since the tragedy at Grenfell Tower could require significant sums to resolve".
Under its charter, the Office for Budget Responsibility has to produce a report on fiscal risks every two years. The Treasury has to reply to the report within a year.


Spinner Zafar Ansari is set to make his England debut in the second and final Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka starting on Friday.

The Surrey slow-left-armer, 24, was seen being congratulated by team-mates during training on Wednesday.
He could replace off-spinner Gareth Batty, who took 4-116 in England's 22-run win in the first Test.
Seamer Stuart Broad may be rested, with Steven Finn or Jake Ball likely to replace him.
England play five Tests in India after the Bangladesh series, and England captain Alastair Cook has said it is likely that the squad will be rotated this winter.
Ansari missed the chance to make his England debut in 2015 after dislocating his left thumb, and injured the thumb again in May this year.
"The pace that he bowls and the control that he has can only be a positive thing for us," England wicketkeeper Bairstow told BBC Sport.
"The bite that he'll get out of the wicket being a left-arm orthodox bowler - it's a good asset for us."
Bairstow broke the record for the most runs scored by a wicketkeeper in a calendar year during the first Test, surpassing Zimbabwean Andy Flower's tally of 1,045 in 2000.
Bairstow, who has scored 1,091 runs this year - England are set to play six more Tests - said: "It's not sunk in yet. It's something that won't sink in until after the year's gone out.
"There's so much cricket still to be played this year. But I'm absolutely delighted to have scored so many runs this year and hopefully it can continue."
Bairstow, who has been batting at seven, praised the depth of the England squad, saying he is just "happy to be in the side".
He added: "It's great to be surrounded by such great players.
"If you look at myself, [Chris] Woakes, [Adil] Rashid - within those three guys you've got something like 40 first-class hundreds coming in at seven, eight and nine.
"That's a great place to be, with the strength and depth we're showing with our batting line-up."


A 44-year-old woman has been assaulted in front of her son in a supermarket car park in the Scottish Borders.

The incident happened at about 16:30 on Monday outside the Co-op in High Croft in Kelso.
The victim was with her 12-year-old son when she was verbally abused and slapped in the face by a man she had earlier had a confrontation with.
Following the assault, her attacker left the car park in a large, black 2015 registration plate vehicle.
Police described him as white, aged 25 to 30, with a plump build, round face and short dark hair.
PC Alex Cain said: "This was a very frightening ordeal for the woman as it was witnessed by her son who became highly distressed and agitated after.
"I'm asking for anyone who was within the car park at the time and that can assist police with their inquiries to come forward."


Train operator Scotrail has announced a £475m programme, pledging new trains, thousands of extra seats, more at-seat power points and better wifi.

The seven-year project will see 75% of trains refurbished or replaced.
About 180 new carriages are to be added to the fleet, 346 trains to be fitted with free wifi and more than 17,000 power points added to carriages.
ScotRail Alliance managing director Phil Verster said it was the biggest programme in the company's history.
ScotRail Alliance took over Scotland's train franchise in April.
£475m
investment over seven years
180 new train carriages
346 more trains with free wi-fi
17,000  at-seat power points
75%  of trains new or refurbished
Mr Verster said: "I know that one of the biggest issues concerning our customers is busy trains."
"I hope, with the programme we are announcing today, people will see we are taking action.
"Alongside the massive projects we are currently delivering, this programme will bring more seats, shorter journey times and a rail service that is better for our environment."
Refurbished Class 318 trains
All 21 of ScotRail's Class 318s are being fully refurbished inside and out, with new accessible toilets, wheelchairs spaces and companion seating. Further enhancements will also see power sockets fitted for the first time, with cycle storage, CCTV and free wifi to follow next year.
Extra Class 320 trains
ScotRail will have rolled out seven additional, refurbished Class 320 three-carriage trains on Strathclyde routes by August next year.
High Speed Trains
ScotRail's new High Speed Train fleet will be introduced from autumn 2017 and throughout 2018 and used on the Glasgow-Aberdeen, Edinburgh-Aberdeen, Glasgow-Inverness, Edinburgh-Inverness and Aberdeen-Inverness routes. As this fleet is made up of four and five-carriage trains, rather than current three-carriage trains, the seating capacity will increase on these services by, on average, 36%.
New electric Hitachi Class 385 trains
These 70 brand new trains will be rolled out by December 2018 on a number of routes in Central Scotland, including:
This will allow ScotRail to run trains of up to eight carriages on its flagship Edinburgh-Glasgow line.
Eversholt Rail is carrying out the refurbishment programme.
Transport minister Derek Mackay said: "The Scottish government wants to see more people choose to leave their car at home and make use of public transport.
"That is why we are investing a record £5bn in our rail network, including significant improvements to rolling stock, to ensure that infrastructure keeps pace with demand and that Scotland's rail passengers are offered the very best value for money.
"When completed, this major train improvement programme will mean that 75% of trains on our railways are either brand new or newly-refurbished, meaning all passengers across the network will have access to more modern, comfortable and accessible trains."


A British woman has been accused by police in India of colluding with her alleged lover in the murder of her husband.

Sukhjit Singh, from Derby, was found dead in his bed while on holiday in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
His wife Ramandeep Kaur Mann is facing charges of plotting the killing with his childhood friend Gurpeet Singh.
Police claimed the pair are lovers but her family has denied the charges and said it is launching a legal battle.
Friends in Derby said the news came as a shock and their priority was the couple's young children, who remain with their grandmother in India.
The family were visiting Sukhjit's mother in Banda, about 450km (280 miles) south east of New Delhi, and were due to fly home earlier this month.
Local police said the Derby man was found dead in his mother's house with his throat slit and having sustained head injuries on 1 September.
They accused Ramandeep and Gurpeet of being lovers and arrested Gurpeet as he attempted to board a flight to Dubai.
Gurpal Singh worked with Sukhjit at the National Sikh Museum in Derby and saw the family the night before they flew to India.
"We all really want to know the truth. All we've heard are reports in the media and we are concerned the story is being repeated without a proper investigation," he said.
"We are all in shock. They are a lovely family - he was a devout and humble man. There was nothing to suggest anything was wrong at home.
"I'm not questioning what the Indian police have said but we would all like to see a proper investigation of what has happened."
The Foreign Office said it was providing assistance to a British national who had been detained and to the family of Sukhjit Singh.
Prayers will be said at the Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Derby later and for several days next week.


Belfast and Barbados are divided by some 4,000 miles of ocean.

Although they are so very far apart, one Northern Ireland family has built an emotional bridge between the two.
From her County Down home, Tina Thompson explains the special connection she now has with Barbados following an accident involving her husband back in 2007.
John Thompson QC died following a freak sailing accident in the Caribbean in 2007.
After his death the family set up a trust fund in John's name which helped pay for the reopening of the surgical intensive care unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados.
John died while fulfilling a lifelong ambition to sail across the Atlantic Ocean.
He and his son, Daniel, were two of the crew on board the Avocet, an Oyster 41 yacht, which was making its way through a storm on the way to the island of St Lucia.
They were taking part in the 2007 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers race, battling through 20ft waves, when John fell, sustaining a serious head injury.
Although a distress call was sent out, the nearest ship was 16 hours away. When it arrived, doctors worked on John until they arrived at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados where the rest of his family was waiting.
"My husband's first love was his family, but his second was sailing. He loved to sail and it is some comfort to me that he died doing something he loved so much," said Tina.
The family were devastated to learn they could not donate their father's organs because the hospital did not have the facilities to do so.
"When we realised John was dying we enquired about having his organs donated, as he would have wished.
"As Barbados couldn't, we were to be charged $25,000 [to transport John's body]. John's organs were not for sale - he would not have wanted that."
So the family decided to set up a trust fund to pay for the reopening of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at the hospital, and to establish a transplant unit there.
More than £140,000 was raised for the hospital, which paid for the renovation and new equipment in the unit where John Thompson spent his final days.
The family made the first donation of £25,000. People in Northern Ireland made donations ranging from £5 to £5,000.
Nine years on, a new and modern facility is now available to people on the island.
Earlier this year, Tina unveiled a plaque in her husband's honour at the hospital.
"The day I unveiled the plaque I felt elated in so many different ways. Due to the generosity of John's friends and family in Northern Ireland, a new unit has now opened and is helping mothers and children living with the ravages caused by diabetes."
Ronald Jones, the trust administrator, said the hospital was extremely grateful. Paying tribute to the family he acknowledged the kindness shown by the Thompsons.
"In acknowledging really, I guess, the warmth that Tina received in Barbados in such a traumatic time, the first thing she thought to do was try and do something positive for the island and of course for the hospital where she spent a lot of hours with her husband John," he said.


A 17,000-tonne oil rig which ran aground on the Western Isles more than two months ago is en route to Malta on a heavy lift ship.

The Transocean Winner rig ran aground at Dalmore on Lewis in a storm in early August while being towed to Malta.
It was refloated after three weeks and anchored at Broad Bay on Lewis before being put on board the Hawk last week.
Paperwork problems caused further delays but it was given permission to set sail earlier and left at 20:05.
The Turkish authorities had to provide the documentation that will allow the drilling rig to eventually be taken to a yard in Turkey where it will be scrapped.
Hugh Shaw, the Secretary of State's Representative Maritime and Salvage Intervention, said: "At 5pm today I advised the Master of the Hawk that he had my permission to weigh anchor and proceed on the voyage in accordance with the agreed passage plan.
"The UK Coastguard will continue to monitor its passage until it leaves the UK search and rescue region. Weather permitting, the voyage to Malta will take approximately two weeks."
The rig's grounding on 8 August sparked pollution fears due to the 280 tonnes of diesel on board.
Investigations found two of its four fuel tanks were damaged in the incident which resulted in the loss of 53,000 litres of fuel, most of which is thought to have evaporated with no damage to the environment.
Transocean, the owner of the rig, has donated Â£120,000 to Dalmore and Carloway, the communities closest to where the structure washed up in early August.
Last week, Transocean Winner was floated on to the deck of the Hawk, a semi-submersible ship used for transporting large maritime structures over long distances.
This part of the salvage operation had required calm weather and was done within a shortening timescale.
The Hawk was only days away from leaving for another task and the rig's owner, Transocean, were faced with either bringing in another heavy lift vessel or leaving Transocean Winner temporarily anchored over winter.


A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder over the shooting of an 18-year-old in what police said was a "cold-blooded, targeted attack".

Yusuf Sonko was found on Tagus Street, Toxteth in Liverpool at about 20:30 BST on Friday and later pronounced dead.
The 21-year-old local man is the second person held on suspicion of murder over Mr Sonko's death. A boy aged 17 who was arrested on Monday remains in custody.
A 16-year-old boy has also been arrested on suspicion of wounding.
Police are asking anyone who was driving in the Lodge Lane area at about 20:30 on 2 June, who may have dashcam footage, to contact them.


As reports circulate about tech-savvy thieves using electronic devices - "key jammers" - to prevent cars from locking, what do you need to know about this growing crime?

The transmitters, which are easy to buy online, can be used to interrupt signals from keys fobs, meaning unwary motorists believe their cars to be secure when they're anything but.
This leaves the path clear for thieves to help themselves to your belongings, and even take the car itself.
Relatively low-powered jammers can have a range of about 75m, meaning fairly large areas, such as a whole car park, can be affected at the same time.
But jammer-wielding crooks can strike anywhere, not just public car parks.
Deputy Chief Constable Matt Jukes, from the National Police Chiefs' Council, said although he believes the problem is currently small, it is a "growing feature of vehicle crime".
"The Vehicle Crime Intelligence Unit is working closely and extensively with a number of partners including the Home Office and motor manufacturers on solutions to prevent this crime now and in the future."
Loran Dover got in touch with the BBC to say it happened to her on a residential street in Leeds.
"When I got up and ready for work, I went outside to find all my car doors just placed shut.
"I was mortified to think I'd left my car like this, when I knew I locked it - I was staying at my boyfriend's house and had to leave Christmas presents in the car. But then when we actually looked inside the car, the whole car had been rifled through and anything of value taken.
"Police at first said there was nothing they'd do. Not even send anybody to check for fingerprints because there was no clear sign of a break-in. But when I phoned my bank to cancel my card, the thieves had been using my contactless. That's when the police actually got involved and took it more seriously.
"They are currently looking at CCTV so hopefully they will catch them."
The only sure way to know your car is locked is to check manually. Most cars have another indication the lock has been deployed, such as the indicator lights flashing, wing mirrors drawing in, or the horn giving a short toot.
If you're close enough to the car you can also hear the central locking clunk into place.
Deputy Chief Constable Jukes adds: "It is essential that people remain vigilant against this kind of electronic breach.
"We urge people to keep a close watch on their cars and possessions so as not to offer any incentives to criminals, including manually checking that the vehicle is locked and taking any valuables with you when leaving the vehicle unattended."
A more hi-tech approach to securing your vehicle might be to invest in a car jamming detector, a device that sets off an alarm when a blocking signal is detected.
Ms Dover highlights one problem faced by victims - not only are they deprived of their belongings, but there is no proof they've not simply forgotten to lock their cars. And most insurance companies will not pay out if the car has been left unattended and unlocked.
According to the Financial Ombudsman, many insurers exclude cover for theft if the vehicle was left unlocked and unattended.
The only way to prove a car lock was jammed is if a thief is caught red-handed, although patterns of theft can be strong indications.
For example, Thames Valley Police is investigating 14 recent thefts from lorries, vans and cars with "no obvious sign of a break-in".
All of the thefts took place at service stations on the M4 in Berkshire in the last two weeks of November.
Not necessarily.
The Met police force warns an increasing number of electronically controlled vehicles are being taken by criminals exploiting their electronics.
Once inside the vehicle, the thieves plug a device into the on-board diagnostic port (OBD) which allows them to download the vehicle's electronic information on to a blank key. This key is then compatible with the car, allowing them to drive the vehicle away.
This process can take just seconds.
The Organised Vehicle Crime Unit recommends using a steering wheel lock or gearstick lock and to consider having an OBD lock and a tracker fitted.
Have you got a question about radio jamming theft or have you been affected by it?
Use the tool below and we could be in touch.


Star trader Bill Gross has ended a "family disagreement" with his former firm Pimco, in a settlement worth an estimated $81m (£65m).

The billionaire, dubbed Wall Street's "Bond King", sued Pimco after his abrupt departure from the firm in 2014.
Pimco, the world's largest bond fund, has agreed to pay Mr Gross in what both sides called an "amicable" settlement.
"Pimco has always been family to me, and, like any family, sometimes there are disagreements," Mr Gross said.
"I'm glad that we have had the opportunity to work through those, and see the Pimco founders receiving the recognition they deserve," he said.
Mr Gross, a Pimco co-founder, had been suing the firm for at least $200m, which he claims he lost after being forced to leave.
He had claimed he was forced out so that his colleagues could get his share of the bonus.
In the statement, Pimco said it recognised the "enormous contribution to its success" from Mr Gross and other co-founders.
Mr Gross, who moved to rival Janus Capital in 2014, also repeated that his lawsuit had never been about money.
The terms of the settlement are confidential. However, both sides have said that any proceeds from the suit will be donated to charity.
Mr Gross earned the moniker "the Bond King" from making good bets on US Treasury bonds, particularly during the dot com bubble and the housing crisis.


Leaders of 19 nations at the G20 summit in Germany have renewed their pledge to implement the Paris deal on climate change, despite the US pulling out.

Deadlock over the issue had held up the last day of talks in Hamburg but a final agreement was eventually reached.
It acknowledges President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement without undermining the commitment of other countries.
The compromise comes after violent protests in the host city.
The joint summit statement released on Saturday said: "We take note of the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the Paris Agreement."
However, the leaders of the other G20 members agreed the accord committing nations to restrict global temperature increases was "irreversible".
In her closing news conference, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she still deplored Mr Trump's position on the Paris accord but she was "gratified" the other 19 nations opposed its renegotiation.
The statement also said the US would "endeavour to work closely with other countries to help them access and use fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently".
Mr Trump has pledged to help the US coal industry make a comeback and has previously characterised the Paris agreement as trying to disadvantage American workers.
He won another concession on a second sticking point - trade. While renewing a pledge against protectionism, the communiquÃ© for the first time underlined the right of countries to protect their markets.
Mr Trump cancelled his own scheduled news conference on Saturday, reinforcing the image of the G20 as the G19 + 1, reports the BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Robbins.
It has been divisive summit in which the rest of the world has been struggling to come to terms with the US president's "America first" policy, our correspondent says.
"I think it's very clear that we could not reach consensus, but the differences were not papered over, they were clearly stated," Mrs Merkel told reporters.
She said she did not share the view of UK Prime Minister Theresa May that Washington could decide to return to the climate agreement.
But Mrs May reiterated her belief that the US could rejoin the accord in her news conference on Saturday.
And French President Emmanuel Macron also remained hopeful of persuading Mr Trump to change his mind, saying: "I never despair of convincing him because I think it's my duty."
He announced that Paris would host another summit on 12 December to make further progress on the climate agreement and to address financing.
There have been large protests in the city, with demonstrators and armed police clashing into the early hours of Saturday.
Demonstrators - who were protesting against the presence of Mr Trump and Mr Putin, climate change and global wealth inequalities - set fire to vehicles and barricades, threw rocks at officers and looted shops.
At one point, police chased protesters across rooftops while officers on the streets used water cannon on protesters.
Nearly 200 police officers were injured during the protests. Dozens of protesters have been detained.
President Trump met Prime Minister May on the sidelines of the summit on Saturday and said a US-UK trade deal would be signed soon.
He also confirmed he would visit the UK, but said the details had still to be worked out.
On Friday, the US president used his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 to discuss the alleged Russian hacking of last year's US presidential election.
President Putin said on Saturday he believed President Trump had accepted his assurances that Moscow had not interfered in the vote.
He said he had established a working relationship with his US counterpart and a ceasefire in southern Syria - agreed between the US, Russia and Jordan on Friday - was a result of America becoming more pragmatic.
Mr Trump held his final talks of the event with President Xi Jinping, where they discussed efforts to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
President Xi suggested visits between the two countries' defence ministers, according to state news agency Xinhua.


Visitors to a planned new Highlands distillery could ride to and from the site on an "electric elevator".

GlenWyvis Distillery Community Benefit Society has proposed building Scotland's first community-owned craft whisky distillery near Dingwall.
One of the 2,600 people who invested in the distillery's crowdfunding appeal suggested that the public access the site by a funicular-style railway.
The ride would take three minutes, the society said.
It has been proposed that the electric-powered inclined elevator, also known as a hillside tram, would form part of a park-and-ride scheme serving the distillery's visitor hub.
An electric bus would take visitors from Dingwall to the elevator's base station.
GlenWyvis Distillery Community Benefit Society said the elevator would only be built if the distillery site is also chosen for the location of its visitor centre.
If the funicular does go ahead it would be the first of its kind in the UK and, at 400m (1,312ft), the longest in Europe, the organisation said.
John Mckenzie, the founder of GlenWyvis and site landowner, said: "We are now exploring this funicular-style solution as a positive response to local concerns about access to the distillery.
"We think this has great potential to attract many more people to Dingwall and the distillery itself.
"It is all aimed at rejuvenating Dingwall as the craft distilling town for Scotland."
The Highlands are already home to Scotland's only funicular railway. CairnGorm Mountain, near Aviemore, runs the railway to the UK's highest restaurant.
Opened in 2001, the funicular connects a base station with the ski centre's restaurant 1,097m (3,599ft) up Cairn Gorm mountain.


Wales is "leading the way" in efforts to increase the number of lives being saved by organ transplants, according to the Welsh Government's top doctor.

Dr Frank Atherton, Chief Medical Officer for Wales, said a new system of organ donation in Wales has increased public awareness.
He argued that could ultimately result in more donors and transplants.
New annual UK figures from the NHS showed nearly a quarter more patients living in Wales have had transplants.
Altogether, 214 patients living in Wales received organs in the 12 months up to March this year - compared to 174 in the previous year.
This rise of 24% compared to an increase of just 4% across the UK.
But the figures for Wales showed a modest increase in the total number of deceased donors.
Between March 2015 and 2016, there were 64 deceased organ donors in Wales - just four more than the year before. This was a rate of increase of about 7% - similar to the whole of the UK.
The statistics cover the eight months leading up to the introduction of the new system and the first four months since its introduction.
Last December, Wales became the first UK country to change the law to introduce a so-called "soft opt-out system".
It means adults who have lived here for at least a year are considered to be willing to be organ donors if they die - unless they have specifically opted out.
We already know 32 organs were donated from 10 patients who had neither opted in or out of the system in the first six months since the law was changed.
Under the Welsh system, families can object to organ donation if they have clear information that the deceased would not have consented - although they have no legal veto.
However, in practice clinicians have admitted that it is unlikely organs would be taken if that caused distress to loved ones.
The latest figures showed that family consent rates for organ donation in Wales increased from 48.5% to 59%.
Even so, it remains below the UK average of 62% and lags behind the highest rates in the world of around 80%.
Dr Atherton said the new law has also intensified discussions within families and communities about donation.
But he said it was too early to tell precisely what impact the change in the law has had on organ donation rates.
Dr Atherton said "a full evaluation" would take place next year, and if the results are positive he added that he would consider encouraging other UK countries to consider following Wales' lead.
"We have to be careful looking at just one year's data. But the trend is in the right direction," he said.
"By next year we'll be in a better position to say with certainty what the impact of the deemed consent system has been.
"I speak with the chief medical officers across the UK on a regular basis. When we have good evidence of population benefits it's something I take into the discussions.
"So I'll be looking at the results of the evaluation and I hope this is an area where Wales again can lead the way."
The Welsh Government argued there was still more work to do - in increasing donation rates among younger people and members of black, Asian and ethnic minority communities in particular.
A campaign, Time to Talk, is now focused on getting 18 to 34 year-olds in Wales to discuss their organ donation decision.
An e-mail and letter will be sent to all students who have accepted a place to study in Wales through UCAS but live outside of Wales.
CASE STUDY - THE DECISION TO DONATE
Jason Leigh, from Bridgend, met his future wife Laura while they were on holiday as teenagers.
Laura found out she had cardiomyopathy after her father was diagnosed with the disease and had a heart transplant in 2006. It saved his life and he was able to walk his daughter down the aisle in March 2015.
The couple were hoping to foster and have children of their own when in September last year, Laura, 31, suffered a cardiac arrest at home. Her heart stopped and Jason tried to resuscitate her before the ambulance arrived.
But three days later, with doctors unable to save her, the subject of organ donation came up.
Jason and Laura had previously talked about organ donation, given her father's history.
"Your mind tells you it's a natural act but your heart says this is the woman you've been married to for six months, your best friend, your soul mate,"  Jason, 31, told BBC Wales.
"You know deep down what's right. At the point, prior to the doctors telling us that she wasn't sustaining life herself, you're in disbelief and we thought Laura might come round.
"There were minute signs; she opened her eyes a few times. If her heart was so severely damaged maybe Laura would be waiting for a transplant, like her father did, like so many people are.
"So I couldn't sit there and have a double standard to such an important thing which could have saved Laura's life if just her heart was damaged."
Jason added: "I can recall the conversation quite vividly with the transplant coordinator. It sounds bad but I can recall him giving the age of the [three] recipients who were all older than Laura.
"But I remember one was a male, 40 plus and something struck me that maybe he could walk his daughter down the aisle."
Meanwhile, the consent rates of black, Asian and ethnic minority communities across the UK was almost half (33.6%) that of white patients (65.8%) - even though a third of all patients on waiting lists for kidneys, for example, come from those communities.
Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said the new statistics overall were encouraging  - although it was clear the demand for organs in Wales, like elsewhere, continues to outstrip supply.
For example, there were 192 patients waiting for a transplant at the end of March 2016, with a further 118 temporarily suspended from transplant lists.
Meanwhile, 24 patients died while on the active waiting list for their transplant and a further 58 were removed from the lists because their health had deteriorated too much and many of these would have died shortly afterwards
Mr Gething said: "An increase in the number of people having their life saved or improved by an organ transplant is good news.
"Much of the data in today's report is positive for Wales, showing things are moving in the right direction, but there's still work to do."


Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt has been released from a prison in the western Indian city of Pune.

Dutt, 56, was sentenced for firearms offences linked to the 1993 Mumbai blasts which killed 257 people and injured 713.
He was convicted of buying firearms from the bombers but said the weapons were necessary in order to defend his family during Hindu-Muslim rioting.
The actor was moved to the Pune jail in 2013 to finish his five-year jail term.
How Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt spent his time in jail
But he was recently granted a remission of 144 days on the basis of good behaviour and activities like running a radio programme.
"His remission was worked out in compliance with jail rules and he was treated like any other convict," the chief of Pune Yerwada Jail Superintendent UT Pawar told the Press Trust of India news agency.
Dutt kissed the ground as he walked out of the prison on Thursday morning and was driven to the airport on his way to Mumbai, where he lives.
"I am out here because of their [fans'] support. There is no easy walk to freedom, my friends," he was quoted as telling reporters by the AFP news agency.
One of Bollywood's most bankable stars, Dutt is hugely popular for his role as a lovable gangster in the Munnabhai movies. He has also dabbled in politics.
The son of a Hindu father and a Muslim mother, Dutt said he had bought the firearms to protect his family during the 1993 Mumbai Hindu-Muslim riots, which followed the destruction of the Babri mosque by Hindu zealots in the northern town of Ayodhya.
In 2006, a special anti-terror court convicted 100 people for the blasts. Twelve were given the death penalty and 20 others sentenced to life imprisonment.
Dutt, the most high-profile among the convicts, was originally charged with five offences, including criminal conspiracy and possession of illegal weapons.
In March 2013, India's Supreme Court upheld his conviction, but reduced his sentence from the earlier six years to five.


A masked gang stole thousands of pounds in a robbery before throwing an axe at a police car and dragging a woman out of her vehicle in Lancashire.

Three men threatened security guards at Hatfield Avenue Shell garage in Fleetwood at 07:50 BST, said police.
They drove off, later throwing an axe at a police patrol car then reversing into the vehicle before speeding off and stealing another car.
Four men aged 22, 24, 27 and 32, have been arrested on suspicion of robbery.
The men, all from the Bolton area, are in custody.
A number of motorists on the A6 at Barton reported their cars had been involved in minor collisions.
The vehicle stolen from the woman, aged 61, was found abandoned. No-one was injured.
Det Ch Insp Mark Winstanley said: "This was a fast-paced sequence of events and it is fortunate that, while distressing for those involved, no-one was injured."


A man once labelled the world's fattest has released naked photographs of his body to warn others "how bad things can get" and to plead for medical help.

At his heaviest, Paul Mason weighed 70 stone (444kg) and was confined to the bed of his bungalow in Ipswich.
He now weighs about 24 stone (152kg) but says he will be "stuck in limbo" until the excess skin is removed.
"I want health professionals to have a look and think 'it's about time we helped this chap'," he said.
Mr Mason, 52, who had gastric bypass surgery in 2010, says his "goal weight" is 15 stone (95kg).
He said about eight stone (50kg) would be lost if he could have the three operations he needs to remove loose skin around his midriff, legs and under his arms.
"Around my middle and on my legs the skin keeps splitting because of the weight of it," Mr Mason said.
"I've got myself a little bit of independence and want to carry that on to where I don't need a wheelchair to get around."
He said he decided to undress for the photographs because he had given up hope of the NHS offering him the surgery, which he says could cost more than Â£60,000 in total.
"I wonder if it will ever happen now," he said. "I met a lady the other day who has been waiting 13 years and she's only got about two stone of loose skin to be removed."
When someone loses a lot of weight through diet or surgery, they will be left with excess loose skin.
This can be unsightly and uncomfortable - but there is no requirement for the NHS to fund the cosmetic procedure to remove the extra skin.
That can require multiple operations -  including an apronectomy to remove excess abdominal skin - and a prolonged stay in hospital.
Each case will be considered by local health planners - and each area has different rules to decide who might qualify.
However it is common to require patients to remain at a stable weight for a prolonged period, often two years.
This is because gaining or losing a significant amount of weight would obviously affect the success of the procedure.
The NHS says Mr Mason has to have a stable weight for two years before the skin removal operations can be considered.
Mr Mason said he had never seen "proper photos" of the back and front of himself and admitted that some people might find the images "shocking".
"I wanted people to see the issues that can happen to your body, to your skin, when you put an extreme amount of weight on," Mr Mason said.
"A lot of people think that's just going to shrink back, but it doesn't.
"If people find it shocking, perhaps they will think twice that they mustn't get themselves in that state."
Samantha Scholtz, a consultant liaison psychiatrist working in the bariatric (treatment of obesity) service at St Mary's Hospital in west London, said excess skin was an issue for a lot of patients.
"It's an under-recognised issue and something patients before going to surgery aren't always informed about," she said.
Calculate your own BMI
"Although health is the main motivator for seeking surgery, I think the cosmetic appearance does come into it.
"It certainly affects their quality of life, self-image and their ability to form relationships."
Ms Scholtz said she could not comment on Mr Mason specifically, but said it would be "unfair" to allow a patient to wait two years for an operation if that person was suffering from other complaints such as tears to the skin.
But she added it was important for patients to get to a "stable weight" before having the skin removed.
"If they are still losing weight they will be left with more excess skin," she said.
The NHS Ipswich and East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group said decisions about surgery were taken in the "best interest" of patients.
"In cases like this the NHS has a panel of people, including clinicians, who decide whether the patient should have such an operation," a spokesperson said.
"A patient must have a stable weight before he or she is considered."


Married couples have taken home the bacon after going on trial to prove their undying love for one another.

The Dunmow Flitch trials - a tradition going back at least to the 12th Century - were held earlier in Great Dunmow.
Couples have to convince a jury of six maidens and six bachelors they "had not wished themselves unmarried for a year and a day".
Ralph and Helen White, who have been married for 36 years, were among those who won the prize.
During the trials, held every four years and alluded to by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Wife Of Bath's tale, couples are cross-examined under oath about their love.
If successful they win a "flitch" (side) of bacon.
Mr and Mrs White, who live in north London, said they believed working hard and spending time together had made them closer, adding they rarely argued.
This year's four successful flitch-winning couples were:
A gammon was awarded to Mr Jonathan and Mrs Caroline Spooner
"We're great believers in avoiding that," said Mr White, 61.  "Some people say, 'oh you need the occasional row to clear the air' but I don't believe that myself, because it can become an everyday habit."
Mrs White, 57, added: "It's very, very rare that we argue - it's never now."
The couple said they would be having a cup of tea to celebrate, after they were interrogated by "barristers" in a packed marquee-cum-courtroom.
After just 15 minutes, the jury unanimously found Mr and Mrs White were telling the truth when they said they were enjoying wedded bliss.
Having been carried on a bench to the town square, the couple knelt on pointed stones as Judge and BBC Essex presenter Dave Monk passed sentence on them, saying: "For this is the custome of Dunmow well known, Tho' the pleasure be ours, the bacon's your own."


Four Scots have already qualified for Great Britain's athletics team for this summer's Olympics and hopes are high that that number could rise to as many as 12 after this weekend's trials in Birmingham.

That would be a substantial increase on the five at London 2012, following four in Beijing (2008), five in Athens (2004) and three in Sydney (2000).
Beth Potter has already qualified for the 10,000m in Rio, while Callum Hawkins, Tsegai Tewelde and Derek Hawkins have been selected in the men's marathon.
A top-two finish at the Alexander Stadium will be sufficient for all those who already have the necessary Olympic qualifying time.
BBC athletics commentator Steve Cram, the former world 1500m champion and Olympic silver medallist, and triple Scottish Olympian Lee McConnell discuss the prospects for five other Scots hoping to make it.
The 29-year-old from Perth won the opening Diamond League race in Doha in early May and followed that with a third place in Rome and two second-placed finishes in Birmingham (in a photo finish) and Lucerne.
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Only six hurdlers worldwide have run faster than the two-time Commonwealth Games silver medallist this year.
McConnell: "Eilidh is a fantastic athlete. She went into the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow two years ago as a poster girl knowing everyone in Scotland was expecting her to get a medal and she delivered a silver. She showed she can cope with that pressure.
"Now she has got herself in a really good place.  She got married to Brian last year, he has moved down to Bath and is her constant support, with her side by side.
"She used to go into races and sometimes deliver, sometimes not. But last year she was pretty consistent and this year she has been really consistent again.
"She is confident she can go up against anyone in the world and be as good as them; that is a big thing."
Cram: "Eilidh has come first and second in two big events recently and she is moving into the medal zone in the 400m hurdles."
The 25-year-old from Edinburgh set a new Scottish indoor record earlier this year and the Commonwealth silver medallist has maintained her form outdoors.
She has ran under two minutes three times in finishing third in Rome, fifth in Rabat and fourth in Birmingham - and won a slower race in Lucerne last week.
McConnell: "Lynsey has some really tough competitors [South African Caster Semenya and Burundian Francine Niyonsaba among them] in her event.
"It is going to be really tough to win a medal in Rio, but she is a fantastic competitor."
The defending British champion is already confident of being able to challenge for a medal in Rio, once the matter of sealing her place on the plane is confirmed.
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She opened her season with a victory in France, set a new Scottish record in finishing second in Oslo's Golden Mile a fortnight ago and finished fifth in a tough race in Stockholm last week.
Cram: "Laura is in the middle of a really interesting development part of her career. She is turning into a real world-class athlete.
Having switched from the 3,000m steeplechase following a string of ankle problems and surgery, the 25-year-old from Dundee set a 5,000m personal best (15:09.94) in her first race for 22 months in California last month.
She has also set a 3,000m best as her return to the track continues apace and is around 10 seconds off her mother, and coach, Liz's best effort over 5,000m (14:59.56).
Her main rivals will be fellow Scots Steph Twell - the 26 year-old who leads the UK rankings - and Laura Whittle, 30, who like Twell wants to make up for missing London 2012 through injury.
McConnell: "To think 'what else can I do?' when your body is not allowing you to do something and come out and change to the 5,000m takes a lot of guts.
"But Eilish has had quite a few good races now in the build-up to the trials. She is a really strong competitor. I hope she does well because she has had a tough time."
The 24-year-old from Dunblane is full of confidence after smashing two long-standing Scottish records already this season.
He broke Nat Muir's 36-year-old 5,000m record in Holland - despite running the last lap with only one shoe - and followed that with another when finishing second to Mo Farah in the 3,000m in Birmingham.
He also set a new 10,000m personal best in winning the Vitality London race in late May.
Cram: "He has had an incredible summer already. He broke my old mate Nat Muir's record and looked good when he came in behind Mo Farah in Birmingham, so he is in great shape.
"I think he will be definitely be selected."
Women:
Lennie Waite (3,000m steeplechase) - Final 14:46 Sun
Men:
Chris O'Hare (1500m) - Heats 17;04 Sat; Final 15:05 Sun
Jake Wightman - (1500m)  - Heats 17;04 Sat; Final 15:05 Sun
Allan Smith (high jump) - Final 14:03 Sun
David Smith (high jump) - Final 14:03 Sun
Jax Thoirs (men's pole vault) - Final 12:35 Sun
Mark Dry (men's hammer) - Final 15:14 Sun
Chris Bennett (men's hammer) - Final 15:14 Sun


Bill Furniss, the man who helped guide Rebecca Adlington to four Olympic medals, has been named as British Swimming's new head coach.

Furniss, 58, replaces American Dennis Pursley, who left after London 2012.
It's a team that can take swimming to a new level and achieve fantastic things
Former England Rugby and GB Basketball performance director Chris Spice takes over from previous incumbent Michael Scott, who resigned in November.
They are tasked with revitalising the sport after failing to achieve their London Olympic medal target of five.
"In Britain we have some of the best coaches and most talented swimmers in the world," Furniss said.
"My role will be to work with them and their programmes to achieve the small margins required to convert finalists into medallists."
Unlike his predecessor Pursley, Furniss plans to be heavily involved with athletes and coaches on a daily basis, while Spice will provide what is described as "overall strategic leadership" to the World Class Swimming Programme.
"One of the key things that attracted me to the position is the great potential I see within swimming and based on the solid foundation in place already, I believe we can build for an exciting future," said Spice.
"I'm delighted to be working with Bill and I feel it's a team that can take swimming to a new level and achieve fantastic things."
Following a "disappointing" London Olympics, British Swimming conducted an independent review of their failings. Although the programme was deemed "not broken" they suffered a £4m funding cut for the Rio 2016 Olympic cycle.
Chairman of the debrief panel and British Swimming Board Member Craig Hunter believes the team of Spice and Furniss can help the sport move in the right direction.
"The combined knowledge, skill sets and experience of Chris and Bill will provide the perfect leadership and support required to implement the recommendations from the debrief and take British Swimming to the next level in Rio 2016," said Hunter.
The move is likely to please Adlington, who previously criticised the sport for delaying new appointments and stated the new head coach should be British.
The news does however increase the expectation that the swimmer, who has revealed she will make a "major announcement" about her future on Tuesday, will now confirm her retirement from the sport.
"If I was going to carry on, I would only want to be coached by Bill [Furniss]," Adlington told the BBC in late 2012.


Pictures have been released of a dead 15ft (5m) basking shark which washed up at Skelmorlie, North Ayrshire.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the fish, which weighed "a few tonnes" was found near the A78 Shore Road.
North Ayrshire Council was notified along with Largs Coastguard Rescue Team which photographed the shark.
Basking sharks can be up to 40ft long and are the largest fish found in British waters.
They are the second largest fish in the world, after the whale shark, according to the Shark Trust charity.
An MCA spokeswoman said: "This was reported to us by a member of the public in the evening of 23 January. The shark was dead when it washed up. It was 15ft long and weighed a few tonnes.
"North Ayrshire Council was contacted and we sent Largs Coastguard Rescue Team to confirm it. All relevant agencies were informed."


Selfridges has said it will not take further action against an employee who was suspended for refusing to serve a man who was with the English Defence League leader.

Tommy Robinson and his friend had been in the London department store on Monday when they were declined help.
Selfridges said the staff member was suspended for violating company policy.
A spokesman said everyone was welcome in the store "regardless of political opinion".
However, they said the staff member, who is expected to return to the shop floor this week, would not face any further action.
After the incident the pair were offered a complimentary meal.
The spokesman said: "If something happens against company policy you need to investigate it.
"The assistant has worked for Selfridges for seven years with an unblemished record and he accepts what he did was wrong."


The Northern Powerhouse is "a concept yet to catch fire" that could go the same way as the "Big Society" scheme, a leading politics professor has said.

The claim was made after a BBC-commissioned survey found two-thirds of respondents either had not heard of, or knew nothing about the powerhouse.
The Northern Powerhouse policy attempts to redress the north/south divide and attract investment to the north.
Some businesses said the plan is already helping win export contracts.
Professor Jon Tonge, from Liverpool University, said: "It is a concept yet to catch fire. I wonder if it will head the same way as the Big Society. Who remembers that?
"The problem is it is only a concept. It is also offset by huge cuts to the councils in the north.
"Even those who have heard of it are cynical. Those who haven't heard of it think at most it's the idea of a concept - where is the clear plan?"
44%
Never heard of it
20% Heard of but know nothing about it
30% Heard of and know a little about it
6% Heard of and know a lot about it
The ComRes survey for the BBC suggested 44% had never heard of the policy while 20% had heard of it but know nothing about it.
In Sheffield, Paul Firth, regional managing partner of Irwin Mitchell solicitor said he was "quite surprised" at the low awareness of the powerhouse.
He said: "The government clearly has a great deal to do to improve the way it has communicated the initiative and also the benefits that are associated with it."
A report the firm published earlier this year highlighted issues "particularly in relation to whether George Osborne's plans will actually work".
Mr Firth said tackling the north/south divide "isn't going to be easy".
He added: "The current proposals will improve output and job creation in the north, but not at the same rate as in London.
"We believe that expansion in London is a positive thing, but we don't want it to be at the expense of other cities in the UK."
82%
want politicians in the North to control transport and health
70%
do not believe it is fair that London should get more money than the North for arts, science and transport
50% are confident the Northern Powerhouse will boost the economy in the North
49% don't believe the Northern Powerhouse will help rebalance the North-South economic divide
Matthew Kimpton-Smith, chief executive of Cygnet Group in Northwich which assembles and sells machinery for carbon fibre manufacture, said the Northern Powerhouse brand is "really helping" the firm sell itself to export clients, with 30% of trade with China.
"For us as an exporter and a manufacturer, pulling together the best of the north west and the north east and packaging it up as a whole really helps our cause when we sell ourselves in China, in the Middle East," he said.
He described Cheshire as the "gateway" to the powerhouse and potentially "it can be at the heart of it".
But Southport Lib Dem MP John Pugh said the branding is "far stronger than the delivery."
Mr Pugh said there had to be a fair funding system.
Frank McKenna, a Labour councillor on West Lancashire district council said: "For many years now it's a fact London and the south east has overheated and Liverpool and the north has been left out."
He said he was "surprised" 56% knew about it because the "discussion and debate" is so focussed on politicians.
He said skills, training, education, transport and infrastructure were among the key issues to be addressed.
ComRes interviewed 1,003 adults in the North of England by telephone in October 2015. Data was weighted to be representative of all adults aged 18+ by age, gender, region and social grade.


The first babies of 2017 have been welcomed across Scotland.

One of the earliest arrivals after midnight was Violet Gromett, who made her entrance to the world at 00:07 at the Ayrshire Maternity Unit at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock.
Violet, who weighed 8lb 14oz, is the first child for Sheryl Bell and David Gromett who live in Ayr.
A few minutes later a boy, Carl, was born at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow at 00:19.
He is a fourth child for Glasgow mother Leigh Bridges.
Shortly afterwards, Daniel MacPherson was born at Wishaw General Hospital, a third child for Nicola Swann from Blantyre. His two siblings helped choose his name.
Other babies arriving in the early hours included a boy born at 01:56 to Dumbarton mother Zahra Sajjad at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.
At Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Alison Roy gave birth to daughter Lisa at 02:26.
The first baby today at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was Alvie, born at 04:41 to local parents Kirstie and Steven Frater.
At Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert, a boy arrived at 05:33 for Cumbernauld couple Victoria and Stephen Timpson.
The first new year baby at St John's Hospital in Livingston was Imogen, who was born at 08:42 to Madison Finlay from West Lothian.


Fining people for feeding gulls on the Yorkshire coast would be "counter-productive", a councillor has said.

Godfrey Allanson, from Scarborough Borough Council, said fines could damage tourism and would not prevent "gull-muggings".
The council is introducing a number of measures to allay concerns over mess and noise, he said.
Some businesses had suggested fines as an additional option to help reduce the nuisance posed by gulls.
Anne Baker, from Winking Willys Fish and Chip shop on Sandside, said: "It is the only think I can think of that would keep them aware and stop people doing it."
Councillor Allanson said: "I can imagine it really backfiring if we started fining people especially children or someone new to the area.
"You only have to realise if someone gets a parking ticket they go away feeling disgruntled. I think the publicity for a seaside resort would be just too bad."
He added that education was the key to reducing the problem and there was no "quick-fix".
Measures introduced by the council include advising property owners on putting netting on roofs to prevent gulls from nesting, improved online advice, new reporting methods and providing gull proof refuse sacks for householders.
It also is planning new signage for sea front and town centre areas to advise people not to feed the gulls.
Both herring gulls and kittiwakes are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act but the council said it was herring gulls which feed inshore that presented the biggest nuisance.


Radiohead have scored their sixth number one album with A Moon Shaped Pool.

The band's ninth album fended off competition from Skepta, who debuts at number two with Konnichiwa.
A Moon Shaped Pool, Radiohead's first album in five years, sold 50,000 copies in the past week, despite only being released on Sunday.
Beyonce's Lemonade slides to number three, while last week's number one - Views By Drake - drops to number four.
Soul singer Gregory Porter completes the top five, with his new album Take Me To The Alley.
Other new entries in the top 20 include Jean Michel Jarre's Electronica 2: The Heart of Noise - which takes eighth place.
James Blake's surprise release The Colour in Anything is new at number 13, while Andy Biersack - lead singer of the Black Veil Brides - lands at 16 with The Shadow Side, a solo project released under the name Andy Black.
Adele's 25 slips out of the Top 10 for the first time since its release in November, going in at number 12 this week.
Notable climbers include Elle King's Love Stuff, which soars 73 places to number 33 after her performance at Sunday's Bafta TV Awards.
In the singles chart, Justin Timberlake fails to hit the top spot with Can't Stop The Feeling - the first single from his new album - which debuts at number three.
Drake's One Dance remains number one for the fifth week, while Rihanna and Calvin Harris spend a second week at number two with This Is What You Came For.
One Dance also passed the 600,000 sales mark this week, certifying it platinum.
Both Sia and Mike Posner side one place, to number four and five respectively.
New entries further down the chart include Drake & Rihanna's collaboration Too Good, while will.i.am scores his 39th top 50 hit with Boys & Girls feat. Pia Mia landing at number 26.


Russia is beefing up the law it uses to tackle online piracy.

The law was introduced in mid-2013 and gave the authorities the power to tell internet companies to cut off access to sites found to be pirating media.
As first enacted, the law only applied to sites that shared pirated movies and TV shows.
The updated law has been expanded to cover sites that share links to pirated music, books and software. It does not cover images.
The updated law comes into force on 1 May.
It gives those accused of harbouring pirated media just 72 hours to respond to a complaint before a permanent ban is put in place.
No court order is required to shut down sites.
Instead, officials will respond to complaints from rights-holders.
Those accused of pirating content will then be able to argue their defence in court - but if they lose two cases, their site will go on the block list.
Figures from Russia reveal that in the first year, anti-piracy watchdogs got complaints about 175 sites, which resulted in 12 of them being put on the banned list.
Most of those banned are believed to be sites that share BitTorrent "trackers", which people use to find pirated media.
Earlier this week Sergei Zheleznyak, deputy speaker of the Russian Duma, warned pirates about the imminent change.
Mr Zheleznyak said the sites had until 1 May to enter into a "constructive dialogue" with the firms that hold the rights to the media being shared around.
Talking to Russian media, he said: "Our common goal is to ensure that all work is adequately rewarded and that the benefit from successful books, music and wonderful computer programs is enjoyed by those who created them, and not those who stole them."
Russia has also released figures that it says show that the action against pirated video has been successful.
Online sales of movies and TV shows have doubled since the law came into force.
The imminent arrival of the updated law has prompted some Russian sites to make changes to the way they work.
In early 2015, Russian social network VKontakte removed a feature from its app that let people stream music they had uploaded to the site.
The anti-piracy law is one of several different pieces of legislation enacted by Russia aimed at the internet.
In August last year, Russia imposed restrictions on popular bloggers telling those with more than 3,000 daily readers to register with regulators and to follow regulations that governed what they could say.
Human rights groups said the law was "draconian".
In September next year, a law comes into force that will require internet companies to site servers that gather data about Russians in the country.
Critics fear the data will be pored over by authorities to locate people who use social media to organise protests.


Two people were injured and 10 homes had to be evacuated when a car crashed into a house.

The beige Vauxhall Astra ploughed into the property in Grovehill Road, in Beverley, East Yorkshire, at about 10:40 GMT.
Police said two people suffered minor injuries in the incident.
About 10 neighbouring homes had to be evacuated over fears of a gas leak after the vehicle hit and damaged an external meter, the fire service said.
Residents have since returned to their properties after gas engineers ensured the area was safe, Humberside Fire and Rescue Service said.
The road between Cherry Tree Lane and Armstrong Way was also closed for a short time.


Great Britain's men's team agonisingly lost out on a gold medal to Russia at the European Archery Championships.

Larry Godfrey, Kieran Slater and Patrick Huston went to a recurve shoot-off and despite scores being level, had to settle for silver as Russia's arrow was closest to the centre.
Huston, of Belfast, also managed to win a bronze medal in the individual event.
Britain's women's team lost their bronze medal match to Germany, with the Ukraine side winning the gold medals.


Fever-Tree has said global demand for its premium mixer drinks has boosted profits in an "exceptional year" for the business.

Pre-tax profits hit £16.8m in the year ending 31 December 2015, up from £2.5m.
Revenue was up 71% to £59.3m, from £34.7m in 2014.
Charles Rolls, the firm's executive deputy chairman, said its success was due to their customers' "desire to drink premium mixers to complement their premium spirits".
Tim Warrillow, chief executive of Fever-Tree, added: "2015 was an exceptional first full year for Fever-Tree as a public company."
The pair decided to become business partners after meeting for the first time in 2003 and launched the company in 2005.
The company is named after the colloquial term for the cinchona tree, from whose bark the natural anti-malarial drug and core tonic water ingredient, quinine, is produced.
About 65% of its sales come from overseas, with key markets in the US and Europe.
Fever-Tree has signed deals with Easyjet and British Airways, with Marks and Spencer also stocking its drinks.
It said its tonics continued to be its best-selling products and that it was benefiting from the popularity of premium gin products in western Europe and US.
In the US, the popularity of the Moscow Mule cocktail continued to drive strong growth in ginger beer sales in 2015.


Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho blamed a "dangerous" pitch for the ankle injury which is expected to prevent captain John Terry from playing in Sunday's match at Tottenham.

Terry, 34, was carried off on a stretcher in the 72nd minute of Chelsea's 4-0 win at Maccabi Tel Aviv.
"The surface was bad and dangerous," Mourinho said.
"For John to leave the pitch with the score at 1-0, I know already that he is in trouble."
Mourinho lost midfielder Ramires to an injury sustained while training at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa on Monday and criticised the "very bad" pitch before Tuesday's match kicked off.
The surface appeared to cut up heavily throughout the game, with Mourinho replacing a large divot near his technical area at one point.
"My medical department is really good. John is a special guy, with a special desire to recover," Mourinho said.
"But I don't believe too much that he can play (against Spurs). Ramires slid on the pitch and had a muscular injury."
Terry will have a scan on his injury later this week.


Facebook has revamped its design, making its website look more like its Android and iOS mobile apps.

The refresh also introduces topic-specific alternatives to its news feed.
One consequence of the change is that adverts can take up more screen space, making them harder to  ignore.
However, the project's lead engineer denied ads were the redesign's focus. He also played down suggestions that the move was intended to make people spend more time on the site.
Chris Struhar instead suggested his focus had been on stripping back the amount of information being shown on the news feed to make each post more "engaging".
By Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent
Rory's verdict on Facebook's 'tabloid' look
"One of the consistent themes we heard in feedback from people was that it felt cluttered and that there was lot happening on the page," he told the BBC ahead of the official announcement.
"We wanted to clean up the page, declutter it, make it simpler, more modern and easier for people to use.
"I often compare this to a 1960s television with wood panelling, knobs around it and a tiny postage stamp-sized screen - and what we're trying to do is take that same TV and translate it into a 40in HD experience."
The firm has begun rolling out the new format but it will be months before all users are affected. However, those wanting to be among the first to be switched over can sign up to offering a waiting list feature.
Facebook reported in January that 1.06 billion people were using its service at least once a month.
It also revealed that its profit for the last three months of 2012 was 79% down on the same period the previous year despite a rise in sales because of increased spending on research and development.
There are three key changes being made to the social network:
It is also noteworthy that the firm has now dropped its "facebook" logo which spelt out its full name, and replaced it with an "f" icon. This change had already been experienced by the selected group of users given early access to its Graph Search facility.
Another tweak involves auto-generating maps to accompany posts about specific locations. This may encourage more members to use the mobile app's GPS-powered check-in function which competes with Foursquare.
Investors and marketers will be keen to find out whether the alterations make users more likely to read and interact with paid content.
The social network already knows that engagement with ads in its main news feed is greater than with those that appear on the right-hand side of its web browser. This column of adverts is absent from its mobile apps altogether.
Enlarging the news feed now allows a sponsored post to become by far the biggest element on the screen, taking up roughly a third of the page when viewed on a 13in (33cm) laptop display.
Another business-friendly change is that if a user "likes" an organisation a horizontal banner photo is added to posts reporting the news in addition to the brand's logo, making the update more eye-catching.
Mr Struhar acknowledged that sponsored posts from "liked" brands had become bigger, but added that it was not his intention to make users more likely to click them.
"This redesign doesn't change anything about how people interact with ads on Facebook," he said.
"We aren't changing where adverts show up or what ads you see. We're just trying to take all the content that you do see and make that bigger and more immersive and more engaging."
He added that further amendments might be made once users had had a chance to provide feedback.
Hin-Yan Wong, head of strategy at Connect Advertising & Marketing, said he expected users would eventually learn to get used the new look - and come to accept the bigger presence of advertisers.
"I think the design, which is a lot less cluttered, actually cleans up the whole thing quite a lot," he told the BBC.
"It's really a case of making sure you have high quality [advertising] content.
"Facebook will have to make that work because they have to make money. I suspect in the weeks to come they will unveil additional flexibility for advertisers.
"Hopefully that will bring a lot of new opportunities."


The Queen has told competitors in the Invictus Games she has been "deeply moved by your courage, determination and talent".

In a statement read out by organiser Prince Harry at the closing ceremony, she said competitors had "overcome great adversity just to take part".
The prince added that those who had taken part had shown their "unconquerable" character.
Wounded servicemen and women from 13 countries took part in the games.
Prince Harry read out a statement from the Queen to crowds at a concert in London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to mark the end of the games.
"Prince Philip and I send our heartfelt congratulations to the organisers and supporters of this competition and most importantly to you men and women of the armed forces who have overcome great adversity just to take part in these Games," the Queen said.
"As I have followed the competition over the past four days, I have been deeply moved by your courage, determination and talent.
"All of you have used the power of sport to enhance your own recovery and to raise wider awareness of the enormous challenges faced by wounded veterans."
The Queen said the success of the games could "be measured not by medals won but by the renewed sense of purpose and confidence in your abilities that you have gained".
She added: "I send my warmest good wishes and congratulations to you all."
The concert, in front of a sell-out crowd of 26,000, featured acts including rock bands Foo Fighters and Kaiser Chiefs.
Prince Harry told the crowd the games had shown "the very best of the human spirit".
"These games have been about seeing guys sprinting for the finish line and then turning round to clap the last man in.
"They have been about team-mates choosing to cross the line together, not wanting to come second, but not wanting the other guys too either," he said.
'Huge achievement'
The games featured more than 400 competitors in track and field events and disciplines including cycling and indoor rowing.
Teams have travelled from the US, Afghanistan, New Zealand and across Europe to take part in events at the Olympic Park and Lee Valley Athletics Centre in London.
See here for more coverage of the inaugural games
Prime Minister David Cameron, meanwhile, has said the games could become a permanent fixture.
"What's exciting is that other countries are now coming forward and saying, 'We would like to host an Invictus Games as well,'" he told Forces TV.
"And I think there's every chance that this can become a real institution and a huge achievement for Prince Harry."


Former Mansfield striker Ollie Palmer scored against his old side to secure a 1-0 win for Leyton Orient.

Palmer won the game when he met Lloyd James' header just after half-time.
That goal strike atoned for his earlier failure to tap into an open net in the first half after rounding Stags goalkeeper Scott Shearer.
Emmanuel Dieseruvwe also missed with the goal gaping at the other end when Orient's Alex Ciask failed to safely gather a cross.


A convicted terrorist has been found guilty of fuel laundering offences after a contested hearing at Dungannon Magistrates' Court.

Gareth Malachy Doris, 39, of Gortnaskea Place, Coalisland, disputed any involvement in fuel laundering.
The charges followed an incident at J & K coaches in Ardboe on 19 March 2014 which was attended by police and an HMRC official.
Doris was found guilty of fraudulent evasion of duty on hydrocarbon oil.
Separately, Kevin Quinn, 40, of Ardean Close, Cookstown, pleaded guilty on Monday to fraudulent evasion of duty on hydrocarbon oil and having vehicles with laundered fuel, in relation to the incident.
Another man, John Thomas O'Neill, 46, of Sandy Row, Coalisland, pleaded guilty to a single count of fraudulent evasion of duty.
Doris's case has been adjourned for sentence along with the two co-accused next month.


The driver of a bin lorry which crashed in Glasgow killing six people is set to give evidence to an inquiry after a motion to halt proceedings was dropped.

Relatives of two of the six victims had sought an adjournment to pursue a private prosecution of Harry Clarke.
They still intend to seek a prosecution for dangerous driving but want the inquiry to proceed to its conclusion.
Mr Clarke will now be advised he does not need to answer questions which may incriminate him.
The fatal accident inquiry (FAI), now in its fifth week at Glasgow Sheriff Court, has heard that Mr Clarke was unconscious at the wheel of the council bin lorry when it veered out of control on 22 December last year, killing six people and injuring 15 others.
The inquiry has also heard that Mr Clarke had a history of dizzy spells and fainting which he had not disclosed to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) or on job application forms and health assessments for Glasgow City Council.
This included a blackout at the wheel of a stationary bus in April 2010, when Mr Clarke was employed as a driver by First Bus.
Normally in Scotland prosecutions are brought by the Lord Advocate, who heads the Crown Office, although some public bodies such as local authorities can bring private prosecutions under statutory law. As an example, this could be against a parent failing to send their child to school.
Non-statutory private prosecutions are extremely unusual, with only two in the 20th Century.
At the Glasgow bin lorry FAI, the Solicitor General Lesley Thomson QC, Scotland's second most senior law officer, described a private prosecution as "a rare and exceptional beast".
To proceed, an individual must request the concurrence (agreement) of the Lord Advocate for a "Bill of Criminal Letters". This procedure at the High Court is effectively an application to the Lord Advocate to support the move - and in most cases he will already have made a decision not to prosecute.
Read more from Reevel
The Crown Office in Scotland has already decided that Mr Clarke should not be prosecuted as the crash was a "tragic accident".
But some relatives of those who died have been critical of this and have signalled their intention to pursue a private prosecution.
They had sought a three-month adjournment while proceedings could be raised.
On Wednesday, Dorothy Bain QC, representing the bereaved Morton family, told the inquiry that they had withdrawn the motion to have the inquiry adjourned but would still pursue a private prosecution.
Ms Bain said: "May I say that the family are finding these proceedings stressful and most worrying and having regard to further discussions and understanding the other families positions, the Morton family are now not insisting on this motion."
Following the development, Sheriff John Becket, who is hearing the inquiry, said he needed to know what crime or offences were under contemplation in any private prosecution
He has previously said that he would need to warn Mr Clarke, before he gave evidence, that he did not have to answer any question which may show him to be guilty of an offence.
Ms Bain then told the court the scope of a private prosecution may focus on dangerous driving.
The QC said that evidence to the FAI had demonstrated that Mr Clarke knew he would be unfit to drive if he gave correct answers on medical forms.
She said that driving while unfit to do so, because of a medical condition, was "dangerous driving".
Sheriff Beckett then told the inquiry that if a private prosecution relied on evidence of Mr Clarke's medical history then he could not be asked about it while giving evidence.
Mr Clarke is the only witness remaining to give evidence to the inquiry.
His solicitor Paul Reid said he had not had the opportunity to consult with his client or take his instructions on the latest development.
The lawyer asked the inquiry for time to do so on Thursday.
Solicitor General Lesley Thomson, who is leading the inquiry, said she believed that Mr Clarke would not have to give much information beyond his name because of pending prosecution.
The inquiry continues.


The owner of a jewellery business has said its Pandora brand Christmas collection has been stolen during a burglary in Craigavon, County Armagh.

The incident happened at the shipping company it uses, Parcel Express, in the Moyraverty West Road area at the weekend.
The owner of Argento, Peter Boyle, said £80,000 of stock was stolen in the burglary.
He said the firm was due to launch the collection in its stores on Thursday.
It has offered £15,000 as a reward.
"We had a huge break-in at our shipping company Parcel Express in Craigavon. We had given them our Christmas stock to deliver on Friday night and unfortunately their warehouse was broken into some time between Friday and Sunday morning," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Nolan Show.
"All of our Christmas stock has been stolen, some £80,000 worth of Pandora Christmas stock has gone. Most of the products have not even been released, so we are very upset and it is our biggest ever loss.
"We are hoping the reward may lead to some information for the return of the goods, that's what we are looking for.
"Effectively someone is stealing £1m of our sales or closing down one of our best stores."


An inquest into the death of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky has heard he was found lying on his bathroom floor with a "ligature around his neck".

Mr Berezovsky, 67, was discovered at his Berkshire home on Saturday.
A post-mortem examination found his death was consistent with hanging, but further tests are being carried out and are likely to take several weeks.
The inquest, which has been adjourned, comes after relatives of his second wife described him as "extraordinary".
Speaking at the opening of the inquest at Windsor Coroner's Court, Detective Inspector Mark Bissell, of Thames Valley Police, said Mr Berezovsky was found lying on his bathroom floor with a "ligature around his neck and a piece of similar material on the shower rail above him".
The inquest was opened and adjourned by Berkshire Coroner Peter Bedford.
Janine Prunty, the coroner's officer, confirmed Mr Berezovsky's daughter, Elizaveta Berezovskaya, formally identified the body.
And police confirmed the ambulance crew found the Russian oligarch's body on the floor at his home in Ascot, Berkshire.
The BBC's world affairs correspondent  Richard Galpin said the police search of Mr Berezovsky's house will continue for a few days more and other tests are under way.
Following her father's death, Mr Berezovsky's daughter Anastasia, 19, said: "My father was not the typical parent, nothing about him was ordinary... he has taught me many things about this world.
"He has taught me to never stop fighting for what one believes in no matter what the costs may be."
Anastasia and her brother Artem are Mr Berezovsky's children with his second wife Galina Besharova.
She added: "There aren't enough words in any language that can somehow express everything that he was and everything he will continue to be. The only word that comes close is extraordinary."
Early reports suggested Mr Berezovsky's body was found by an employee, who called an ambulance at 15:18 GMT on Saturday. He had not been seen since around 22:30 GMT the previous evening.
Police have said the post-mortem examination found nothing to indicate a violent struggle.
They had earlier said there was no evidence so far that a "third party" was involved.
It will be several weeks before the results of further tests, including toxicology and histology examinations, are known.
Our correspondent says some friends of Mr Berezovsky had said he was depressed after the failure of his legal battle in London with fellow Russian oligarch and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich.
But others have insisted he was not a man who would have taken his own life, our correspondent adds.
Mr Berezovsky, an outspoken critic of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, amassed a fortune in the 1990s following the privatisation of state assets after the collapse of Soviet communism.
He survived numerous assassination attempts, including a bomb that decapitated his chauffeur.
Mr Berezovsky had been living in the UK since 2000. He was granted political asylum in 2003 on the grounds that his life would be in danger in Russia.


Former England manager Sam Allardyce is set to be named as Crystal Palace manager, replacing Alan Pardew.

Pardew was sacked on Thursday with the club 17th in the Premier League after a run of one win in 11 games.
Allardyce travelled to Palace's training ground on Friday to complete talks with chairman Steve Parish.
As he arrived, the 62-year-old described the Palace job as a "fantastic" opportunity to return to top-flight management.
Allardyce could be in place to take training on Saturday, before Palace's Boxing Day game with Watford.
Parish said Pardew's "expansive style of football hasn't worked" and told BBC Sport on Thursday they would now "wind the dial back the other way".
Caretaker manager Keith Millen took Friday's news conference and told the media that if Allardyce was appointed, he would "sort the players out".
Allardyce has been out of work since leaving his role as England manager by mutual consent after 67 days and just one game, in the wake of a Daily Telegraph investigation.
However, the former Bolton, Blackburn, Newcastle and West Ham boss saved Sunderland from the drop last season despite them being second from bottom when he joined.
Parish, who co-owns the club with American investors Josh Harris and David Blitzer, said that Palace are "talking to a number of people to make sure we get this right", with the club now focusing on staying in the top flight.
"Relegation is so costly and I feel, with no blame attached, we got ourselves in a rut and need a change," he said.
Allardyce is known for having an instant impact on sides when he joins them - shown below after he arrived at Blackburn Rovers (2008-09) and Sunderland (2015-16).
The graph also shows the dip in form immediately after Allardyce has left (Newcastle 2007-08) and Blackburn (2010-11).
Allardyce has become associated with a preference for direct football during his career.
As the graphs below show, during his season at Sunderland after joining in October 2015, they were among the most prolific long passers in the division and strong at set pieces.
Ex-Palace chairman and owner Simon Jordan told BBC Radio 5 live: "Sam Allardyce is as good as it gets at guaranteeing a team doesn't get relegated.
"There's not exactly a plethora of top-quality managers around there, and Sam is a top, top manager."
Former Palace striker Clinton Morrison said: "If you need a man to get you out of the trouble Palace are in you don't look past Big Sam."
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South Africa's women took an unassailable 3-0 lead in their four-match one-day series against Ireland after a 67-win at Malahide.

Openers Laura Wolvaardt (105) and Trisha Chetty (95) shared an opening stand of 192 - the second highest partnership in South African history.
They helped the Proteas to 260-6 before Isobel Joyce (57) top-scored for the Irish as they fell well short.
The teams meet again on Thursday at The Hills in the final match of the series.
The impressive Wolvaardt struck 14 boundaries while Chetty anchored the innings before being run out off the penultimate ball.
Ciara Metcalfe (2-37) was again the pick of the Irish attack, who fought back well after the initial onslaught.
The new opening Irish pairing of Clare Shllington and debutant Una Raymond-Hoey scored 25 apiece as Ireland replied to South Africa's total.
Cath Dalton and Gaby Lewis fell cheaply, but an 85-run fifth wicket stand between Joyce and Kim Garth (51 not out) gave the hosts hope of pulling off a famous win.
Ireland were genuine contenders at 160-4 with 15 overs left, but star spinner Sune Luus claimed a five-wicket haul to extinguish Irish ambitions, as they lost six wickets for 33 runs to finish on 193 all out.


US lawmakers have warned of car 'recall fatigue' in a congressional hearing with regulators and carmakers about progress in a major airbag recall.

A faulty part made by Japan's Takata has been linked to eight deaths and multiple injuries. It has prompted the largest recall in US history.
Senator John Thune said the size of the Takata recall was causing confusion and delays in replacing the airbags.
The US safety agency said it had set up a dedicated website.
However Mark Rosekind, administrator at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), said that the agency was underfunded and did not have enough staff or the right technology.
"You've got too many complaints and not enough people," he said. "It's just overwhelming."
He added that the NHTSA had submitted a request for extra funding.
In the US, 34 million cars have been recalled. Globally, the number of vehicles affected is thought to be 53 million.
Questioned on the safety of its airbags today, the Japanese car company said it had changed its design and was no longer using an inflator shaped like a batwing which was involved in the eight fatal accidents.
"We feel very confident in the inflators we are making today," said Kevin Kennedy, from Takata North America.
"We will continue to do everything we can to ensure uncompromised safety for our customers and the success of the recall efforts," he added.
Mr Kennedy also said he would provide an answer to the question of whether to set up a victim compensation fund, as GM has done, within two weeks.


A 94-year-old man who survived a prisoner of war camp next door to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp believes a football league which the guards allowed them to set up may have helped save his life.

As Ron Jones, from Newport, prepares to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday with a service at the city's cathedral, he says that amongst all the terrible memories, there will also be a few which will make him smile.
He was captured in 1943 fighting in the Middle East, and after nine months in Italy, was transferred to forced labour camp E715, part of the Auschwitz complex.
There he spent 12 hours a day, six days a week, working with hazardous chemicals in the IG Farben works, but on Sundays they were permitted to play football.
"I think the Germans thought that letting us play football was a quick and easy way of keeping us quiet," he said.
"The Red Cross would bring us food parcels, and when they heard about our football, they managed to get us strips for four teams: England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. I was always the Wales goalkeeper.
"It kept us sane, it was a bit of normality, but it sounds wrong somehow to say I've got fond memories of playing football, considering what was going on just over the fence."
He says as well as keeping up spirits, football played a major role in his survival, and that of many of his fellow prisoners, when they were forced on one of the series of extremely long marches westwards from PoW camps during the final stages of the conflict.
Whilst many of Mr Jones's friends died on the march, he believes it is no coincidence that those who had been involved in the Auschwitz football league fared better.
"You could say the football we'd played saved our lives. The football lads were fitter, yes, but more than that, they belonged to a group which kept each other going on the march."
E715 was located close to Auschwitz III, Monowitz, which held mainly Polish resistance fighters, political dissidents, homosexuals and some captured Soviet troops.
Whilst this was not officially a death camp, Mr Jones says it did not take long for him to realise that the inmates at Monowitz were far from safe.
"In the nights you could hear shots coming from Monowitz," he said.
"Not bursts like you had when you were fighting, but deliberate, regular every few seconds; like they had a system going.
"We didn't know who they were or why they'd been killed, and we couldn't help but be terrified that we'd be next."
But when the British PoWs were allowed out to play football, they would be taken to fields next to Auschwitz II, Birkenau, where killing was on an altogether more industrial scale.
"The first Sunday we went to the playing fields, we saw these people - well walking skeletons they were really - digging trenches," he said.
"We asked, 'Who are those poor sods?' and the German guards shout 'Juden', Jews, as if it had been a stupid question.
"We could only play in the summer, because everything was covered in snow through the winter. But when it was hot, this awful stench would waft across from the crematoriums.
"Your imaginations pretty much filled in the gaps for you, but we'd carry on playing football.
"Scoring a goal, making a save or arguing about an offside was the only way you could stop yourself from cracking up."
Mr Jones says he has spent a great deal of time since the war wondering about how much his German guards had known and cared about what was going on inside Birkenau.
"You have to remember that our guards weren't SS like in Birkenau; they were conscripted squaddies like us," he said.
"Dozens of them would come and cheer our football matches and have a laugh with us, and if you got them on their own, you could tell that they were ordinary, decent blokes.
"But if you asked them about Birkenau they'd get angry and scared. 'We didn't need to know', 'they didn't know', 'it was nothing', and even if it was, then 'it wasn't their fault, they weren't SS'."
"I had nightmares about Auschwitz for years after the war, but I bet mine were nothing compared with what those Germans must have gone through.
"Some would say they deserve it, but most likely they couldn't have done any more about it than we could have ourselves."
As the Red Army closed in, on 21 January, 1945 German guards burst into Mr Jones's hut in the middle of the night, and ordered him to leave immediately with whatever he could carry.
The Soviets liberated Auschwitz on 27 January, 1945, confirming for the first time the stories of the Holocaust's mass murder, which the Allies had hitherto rubbished as too extreme to be possible.
But by the time the Russians arrived, Mr Jones was long gone; as part of the death march west, which killed anywhere between 3,000 and 8,000 Allied PoWs.
"We were on the road for 17 weeks, and God knows how many hundreds of miles we traipsed, through Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany and Austria."
"I was 13 stone (82kg) when I was captured, and when I was liberated by the Americans in April 1945, they weighed me, and I was seven stone."
Mr Jones considers himself one of the lucky ones.
"I was very lucky. I came home to a good wife, who helped me get over it. But lots never really recovered at all," he said.
"I think I'm probably the last now. There was another of the footballers who I got Christmas cards from, but there was nothing this year. So at 94, I think it's probably time to tell the story before it's too late."


There are "no indications" that Trump Tower was under surveillance by the US government before or after the election, a Senate committee has said.

The statement from Republican Senator Richard Burr, Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, dismissed Donald Trump's claim his phones were tapped.
Mr Trump had accused his predecessor Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower during the presidential race.
But White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Mr Trump maintains his claims.
"He stands by it," Mr Spicer said at a daily news briefing on Thursday.
The press secretary refused to accept the Senate Intelligence Committee report, saying "they're not findings".
Mr Spicer quoted at length from an unproven Fox News report suggesting Mr Obama had dodged US restrictions by asking Britain's GCHQ electronic surveillance agency to monitor Mr Trump, an allegation already dismissed as "utterly ridiculous" by the Cheltenham-based complex.
Mr Burr joins a cadre of Republican lawmakers who have rejected the allegation.
"Based on the information available to us, we see no indications that Trump Tower was the subject of surveillance by any element of the United States government either before or after Election Day 2016" Mr Burr said in a joint statement with Senator Mark Warner, the committee's vice-chairman.
Earlier on Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan also said "no such wiretap existed".
Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee Devin Nunes said on Wednesday he doesn't believe "there was an actual tap of Trump Tower".
But that has not deterred Mr Trump, who on Wednesday told Fox News a "wiretap covers a lot of different things".
He also hinted that more details about the alleged surveillance could be revealed in the coming weeks.
"Wiretap covers a lot of different things. I think you're going to find some very interesting items coming to the forefront over the next two weeks," he said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday night.
Mr Trump echoed comments from White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who said the president used the word "wiretap" in quotes to broadly refer to "surveillance and other activities".
The White House has yet to provide any evidence of the president's claims, and instead has asked Congress to examine the allegation as part of a wider investigation into alleged Russian interference in last year's election.


Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, never one to mince words, launched some of his sharpest attacks on rival Ben Carson on Thursday night in Iowa.

Addressing supporters at a community centre in Fort Dodge, the New York billionaire gave a 95-minute speech deriding his critics, punctuated with occasional obscenities.
He reserved his harshest words for the retired neurosurgeon who is currently running even with him in many opinion polls - and the Iowans for giving him huge support in the polls.
He said Mr Carson's admission of childhood anger issues revealed an incurable "pathological disease" and compared him to a child molester.
"If you're a child molester, there's no cure," he said. "They can't stop you. Pathological? There's no cure."
He mocked Mr Carson's religious conversion and dismissed the much-publicised story that as a teenager his attempt to stab a relative in the stomach was foiled by a large belt buckle. He displayed his own belt and challenged any members of the audience who had a knife to "try it" on him.
"How stupid are the people of Iowa?" he asked. "How stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap?"
Armstrong Williams, Mr Carson's business manager, told CNN that Mr Carson's response to the attacks was to "pray for him".
"He feels sorry for him because he really likes Mr Trump," he said. "To see him just imploding before our very eyes - it's just sad to watch,"
More fireworks may be in store on Friday, however, as Mr Trump and Mr Carson are scheduled to appear back-to-back late in the day here in Orlando at the Sunshine Summit - a presidential forum hosted by the Florida Republican Party.
It could be a dramatic day from start to finish, in fact, as Florida Senator Marco Rubio leads off the event and is immediately followed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
The two candidates traded barbs on Thursday over their record on immigration, with Mr Cruz accusing Mr Rubio of siding with Democrats in the Senate to support amnesty for undocumented workers.
With the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses less than 100 days away, and Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays looming, the Republican presidential contest may be approaching a boiling point.
From here on out, the attacks will grow more pointed and, for some, more desperate.
Candidates have been on the campaign trail for months now, nerves are fraying and time is growing short.