News

‘Greater scrutiny’ needed for council budget

Published

10 years ago

December 3, 2014

County Hall

THE PAIN of the council’s budget settlement has been the subject of a press briefing, seminars for council members and public consultation. The headline figures are stark and staggering. Pembrokeshire County Council has to find savings amounting to a quarter of its overall budget over the next few years. With education and social care budgets ‘protected’, the way in which our local authority will deliver future services is bound to change. Services cut previously to the bone, will be sliced to the marrow. All of these cuts are also scheduled to take place against the background of threatened forced reorganization of local government and the end of local democracy in Pembrokeshire. In a time of deep and savage cuts to their budgets, the Welsh Government is expecting local authorities to fund the tens of millions of pounds it will cost to merge authorities out of their own resources.

Cardiff Bay claims there will be great savings to be made but has not produced one single shred of evidence to support that contention. Indeed, earlier this year this newspaper interviewed Kevin Madge, Leader of Carmarthenshire County Council, who told us: “Any new structure will take five to eight years to ‘bed in’ and it could take eight to ten years for a new authority to fully get to grips with things. Things won’t improve overnight. Reorganization is not a magic wand.” With budgets squeezed and pressure being applied from Cardiff to stifle local democracy it is imperative that councillors take every step to scrutinise what Pembrokeshire County Council is doing with the money under its control.

Only in that way can it be shown that our councillors are fit for purpose and have a clear grasp of the council’s finances. The Pembrokeshire Herald has been looking at the systems the council has in place in relation to its finances and how spending priorities are set. That investigation has shown that figures produced by officers are being approved without interrogating the data or assumptions that underpin the financial forecasts produced and routinely approved without query or inquiry by the Cabinet and the majority of councillors. For example, the public and the council are routinely told that the council’s annual budget is around £200m. But that is only the nett figure. The gross council budget is significantly higher.

Assumptions made about income and expenditure are often adjusted before figures are present for democratic scrutiny, so that members are always presented with a balanced budget, even when forecasts are wrong or overtaken by events. For example, the budget approved at the beginning of the coming municipal year contained assumptions about the closure of Narberth Pool and income to be derived from charging for day services for the elderly. Both of those assumptions were overtaken by events. However, such is the opaque nature of local government finance that councillors have practically no way of properly interrogating the information given to them by officers and reaching a balanced and informed conclusion on the authority’s true financial position and future plans. This summer Pembrokeshire County Council organised a series of budget seminars for councillors to try and tackle this knowledge gap and address concerns that councillors were being asked to make uninformed judgements on future service provision.

At a media briefing in October, Jamie Adams told journalists: “We are at a tipping point in local government finances.” Speaking subsequently about the council’s public consultation on the budget, Jamie Adams told Jon Coles, this newspaper’s deputy editor: “Matters which councillors think are important to the public are not always those that people find important. By and large what has come across clearly are concerns about senior officers’ pay and councillors’ remuneration. There is a commitment to look at the whole cost of senior management. In terms of where we go, the opportunities to trim around the edges is no longer there, we are going to have to look more dispassionately at the services we provide and what communities can provide.”

With a six-month review of the council’s financial performance due to be discussed in the near future, we asked Pembrokeshire Alliance leader Bob Kilmister, whose party is engaged in drawing up an alternative budget, for his view on the challenges councillors face in trying to make sense of complex financial information. He told us: “My experience is that Local Government finance is made extremely complicated and much more difficult to understand than it needs to be. I like to think that I can follow balance sheets especially those of stock market listed companies but trying to work out the complexities of my local Council often leaves me totally bemused. “Councillors have been given very little training in this area and most take very little interest at all.

In my experience very few questions if any are asked when scrutiny is supposed to take place in cabinet or on committees. I have the greatest respect for the Officers and the Authority always appears to be on track financially despite Councillors taking such little interest. Government lays down the way this is carried out and I think it is time they took a long hard look at this and urgently brought in reforms to simplify matters. I am sure this would result in savings but more importantly it could lead to greater scrutiny by elected representatives.”

Entertainment

Two-day Christmas fair set for Pembrokeshire

Published

6 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society’s annual Christmas Fair will run for two days this year, on Thursday, December 14, and Friday, December 15.

Held at the Parkhouse Building on the Haverfordwest Showground, the venue will transform into a festive shopping destination, offering an expanded range of stalls, live music, Santa’s Grotto, and an outdoor food court.

Expanded event

Event organisers Judith Roach and Emma Thomas expressed their excitement about the extended format. They said:
“We are thrilled to announce that our Christmas Fair will run for two days instead of just one. We are building on last year’s success with twice the opportunities to attend and even more stallholders. The Parkhouse Building will become a one-stop shop for everyone preparing for Christmas.”

The fair will be open from 10:00am to 4:00pm on both days, with free admission for all visitors.

Festive treats and unique gifts

Attendees can expect to browse an extensive selection of unique gifts, handmade decorations, artwork, and homeware. Local food and drink producers will also showcase festive delights, including chocolate brownies, fudge, spirits, and Welsh cheeses.

An outdoor food court will cater for visitors on the go, with a variety of hot and cold options.

Santa’s Grotto

Santa himself will make a special appearance, with children able to visit him for £3 per child. Each child will receive a small gift, with all proceeds going to the Sandy Bear charity. Advance bookings can be made via the Sandy Bear website.

Community effort

Adam Thorne, president of the Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society, praised the efforts of the event’s organisers:
“The society would like to thank Judith and Emma for their dedication in organising this two-day event. We’re delighted to offer visitors a chance to do their Christmas shopping while enjoying the festive atmosphere.”

The Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society encourages visitors to follow the Pembrokeshire County Show’s Christmas Fair event page on Facebook for updates and a complete list of stallholders.

The event promises to be a perfect start to the holiday season, welcoming families and shoppers alike.

News

New hope for rare dormouse after forest find

Published

6 hours ago

November 16, 2024

Tom Sinclair

A RARE hazel dormouse has been discovered in Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, bringing fresh hope for the survival of the endangered species in the area.

The golden-brown rodent, known for its distinctive big eyes and long whiskers, has seen a dramatic population decline across Britain—down 70% since 2000. It is now one of seven vulnerable mammals in Wales.

Conservationists made the significant find during a project aimed at linking habitats across the park. Volunteers had set up nesting boxes in the Nevern woodland, roughly five miles west of the dormouse’s known habitat in Pengelli Forest.

A lucky discovery

Park conservationist Mary Chadwick said the team had been trying to connect isolated dormouse populations across the park’s ancient oak woodlands, including Pengelli Forest and areas near the Pentre Ifan Neolithic site.

“We were looking at linking up those important sites and checking whether populations were isolated,” she explained. “A licensed dormouse volunteer took on a new site and set up the boxes. It can take years for dormice to use the boxes, but we got lucky this year.”

The discovery marks the first recorded dormouse population in the Nevern valley, raising hopes for the species’ ability to spread across the landscape and bolster genetic diversity—key to its long-term survival.

Supporting conservation efforts

To ensure a brighter future for dormice, conservationists are calling on farmers and landowners to adopt wildlife-friendly practices, such as cutting hedgerows less frequently.

“We’re asking people to trim hedges on alternate sides each year,” said Ms. Chadwick. “That would be much better for our dormice.”

Building a future

With ongoing conservation efforts and discoveries like this, researchers hope the dormouse can move closer to recovery in Pembrokeshire. The new find has confirmed their belief that dormice could thrive across the Nevern valley, creating vital connections between isolated populations.

*Nesting boxes placed in the forest where dormice were found (Pic: Pembrokeshire Coast National Park)*

Crime

Burglar jailed for stealing cars worth £90,000 from Sinclair Garage

Published

6 hours ago

November 16, 2024

Tom Sinclair

BRIAN DAVIS, 53, of Bush Street, Pembroke Dock, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after admitting to three counts of non-dwelling burglary at Swansea Crown Court.

The court heard that Davis and an accomplice targeted Sinclair Garages in Neyland during the early hours of April 2 last year, stealing four vehicles: a Mercedes CLA, an Audi A1, an Audi Q3, and a Volkswagen Tiguan worth around £90,000 in total.

Sentencing Davis, Judge Paul Thomas KC said the crimes were too severe for a suspended sentence and noted little hope of rehabilitation. “These offences display planning and determination,” the judge remarked.

The burglars forced entry into the garage, using a crowbar to access a key storage board. Nine sets of keys were stolen, allowing them to take multiple vehicles. Prosecutor Matthew Murphy told the court: “The men left with two cars initially, returned 14 minutes later to steal a third, and returned again for a fourth.”

The stolen cars were valued at approximately £90,000. Three vehicles – the Volkswagen Tiguan, Audi A1, and Audi Q3 – were recovered the following day. However, the Mercedes CLA, worth £12,382, was only located in January this year. Damages included £5,541 to replace locks on several vehicles.

Police traced Davis through partial fingerprints found on a glove left in one of the stolen cars. He was arrested after surrendering at Haverfordwest Police Station on August 14.

Struggles with addiction

The court heard Davis had left Pembrokeshire in December, breaching post-sentence supervision for an unrelated offence, to stay with family in Glasgow and recover from drug addiction. Stuart John, defending, explained: “The defendant struggled with heroin addiction from a young age. Family bereavements caused a relapse.”

Mr John noted that Davis had been clean when he returned to Pembrokeshire and voluntarily handed himself in. While in custody, Davis completed courses and attended counselling, demonstrating awareness of the consequences of further drug use.

Recovered vehicles