News

Services to be cut beyond the bone

Published

9 years ago

February 24, 2016

‘Giving the public what they want at a level that’s affordable’: Jonathan Haswell

THE PEMBROKESHIRE HERALD has been provided with a copy of the confidential report by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) on the Council’s finances and where ‘savings’ can be made and ‘efficiencies’ found.

And it makes grim reading. Claims that the County Council has ‘taken the sting out of budget-cutting’, as was claimed in an article in Accounting and Business last November, appear to have the capacity to bite it on the backside and require industrial quantities of the local government equivalent of savlon for treatment.

As The Herald recently revealed, Pembrokeshire County Council’s has massively underspent on the standard spending assessment from the Welsh Government to the tune of £42m over three years. That policy was seemingly aimed at maintaining the IPPG’s fixation with the totemic claim of setting Wales’s lowest Council tax and obsession with pursuing a cuts agenda more in common with England than in Wales. The consequences of that policy are now coming home to roost as when it comes to cutting services, Pembrokeshire is now faced with cutting not to the bone but to the marrow.

The most massive cut will fall in social care. The social care budget has already taken a series of massive and slashing reductions under the stewardship of former Labour member Simon Hancock. The Herald can, however, report that there is more and worse to come for the most vulnerable people in our county.

CUTS AIMED AT THE VULNERABLE

Under the so-called cost reduction/ efficiency proposals for 2016/17, the Council is considering a cut of £750,000+ in day care provision and a £1.4m cut in home care services. Nursing home placements will be hit with a £119,000 cut and there is a massive cut of £922,000 in residential placements. The Council is being asked to swallow a £329,000 in supported accommodation and a £320,000 cut in unspecified ‘Other Services’ in Adult Care.

All in all the cuts to Adult Care amount to £4m in the next civic year. The situation is no less grim for the Council’s Child Care Services with £831,000 of projected cuts, including a £250,000 cut to the fostering service and £329,000 cut from other family services.

The planned cuts to Child Services are blandly noted as possibly impacting negatively on the Council’s prevention agenda.

Given Pembrokeshire’s ‘chequered’ track record on child protection, one has to wonder whether the Council really intends to jeopardise its already fragile reputation by creating a situation in which its will and ability to protect Pembrokeshire’s children is called into question.

SCHOOLS BUDGET BATTERED

Even while the County Council takes part in the largest, most ambitious, and potentially most chaotic and litigious schools reorganisation in Wales, it is planning to cut schools’ budgets. In the midst of a spending spree totalling tens of millions of pounds, with reserves syphoned from departmental budgets to support its grandiose ambitions, the Council is planning to cut funding for primary and secondary schools by almost £1.9m.

It has identified the potential risk of those cuts of being that ‘pupil outcomes do not improve’.

In other words, the Council is prepared to embrace a policy on the one hand that its 21st Century Schools programme claims to address. What that says about the Council’s confidence in its own schools programme and the good faith of assurances about improvements made during the course of its disorganised attempt at schools reorganisation is laid open to question.

£337,000 will be cut from the inclusion and complex needs budget for education, £187,000 from the school meals budget, and £194,000 from the schools effectiveness programme. A further £37,000 in savings will come from the music service, governors’ service, and sports development budgets. There is a scheduled £242,000 cut to Adult and Community Education and a further £52,000 cut to the youth service.

All in all, a reduction to the education budget in excess of £2.9m in one year. Just enough to cover the cost of the Council’s contribution to its favoured new 6th Form Centre at Pembrokeshire College.

HIGHWAYS AND LEISURE CUTBACKS

£696,000 is to be shaved from the highways budget.

£32,000 of that money is to be pared from the coastal defence budget, while a further £28K is to be carved out of a maintenance review of flood defences and drainage. The Council is counting on mild winters and clement weather to justify the former cut, while crossing its fingers that cutting the latter will not result in its failure to fulfil a statutory duty.

While those figures are small compared to the £250,000+ cut in highways maintenance, about which the Council notes that ‘some works may not be done’, they are suggestive a desperate crossing of fingers about the elements.

Meanwhile, the Council proposes to shave £192,000 off the leisure budget by the expedient of closing them at bank holidays and reducing opening hours. It remains to be seen what impact this has on Pembrokeshire’s ability to offer anything for tourists to do on a rainy May Day or Good Friday. Although, it may be the case – as appears to be indicated by the cuts above – that the authority is in possession of remarkably detailed long range weather forecasts.

With £114,000 to be slashed off the library service and a further £59,000 about archives, it seems that Pembrokeshire is prepared to make a solid contribution to the decline of literacy and bury the past beyond retrieval.

However, Pembrokeshire continues to have the lowest council tax in Wales.

Crime

Youths failed to stop, then crashed into Milford Haven home

Published

17 hours ago

December 28, 2024

Tom Sinclair

POLICE in Milford Haven have arrested two male youths following a fail-to-stop incident that ended with their car crashing into a residential property on Hamilton Terrace.

The incident occurred at 10:50pm on Friday (Dec 27). According to officers, a black Mercedes failed to stop on North Road before speeding along The Rath and turning back onto Hamilton Terrace. As the car continued down the road, it was met by a second police vehicle approaching from the opposite direction.

In an attempt to avoid the oncoming police car and another pursuing from behind, the vehicle tried to drive up Francis Street against the one-way system. However, it failed to make the turn and crashed into a residential property.

The occupants then fled on foot, with one officer pursuing on foot and another driving against the one-way system towards The Trafalgar Public House.

The property sustained damage to a wall, and the vehicle was left undrivable and is now being recovered. Fortunately, no injuries were reported during the incident.

The police were seen searching the crashed vehicle, and took several paper bags full of potential evidence from the scene.

Community

Milford Haven mum gives birth to triplets amid medical emergency

Published

17 hours ago

December 28, 2024

Tom Sinclair

PREGNANCY is often a challenging experience, but for Ellie Davies from Milford Haven, it became even more stressful when she found herself facing a 140-mile round trip away from home during labour.

Ellie was initially admitted to Carmarthen’s Glangwili Hospital with pre-eclampsia, a condition causing dangerously high blood pressure. However, due to a lack of available neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) beds, staff arranged her transfer to Singleton Hospital in Swansea, nearly 30 miles away. Thankfully, accommodation was also provided onsite for her fiancé, Craig Butland.

RENAL FAILURE COMPLICATIONS
Ellie explained: “I had pre-eclampsia and was taken to Glangwili. My blood pressure was going up and down, and they had to ring around hospitals with a NICU to see if they had any spare beds – Singleton was the only one with space.”

On November 12, Ellie was transferred to Swansea, where she remained on the antenatal ward. However, her condition worsened. “On Sunday 17, my kidneys became affected by the pre-eclampsia, and I was going into renal failure,” she said.

In the early hours of Monday, November 18, Ellie underwent an emergency C-section, delivering triplets Mia, Isla, and Elsie two months prematurely.

BRIEF FIRST MEETING
“I only met Isla, the middle triplet, for around two minutes before she was taken to neonatal to be with her sisters,” Ellie shared.

Mia was born weighing 2lb 9oz, Isla at 2lb 10oz, and Elsie at 2lb 8oz. All three girls initially required breathing support and spent nine days in the NICU. Now, over three pounds each, they are receiving care at Glangwili’s special care unit and are reportedly “doing really well.”

SUPPORT FROM NHS STAFF
Reflecting on their experience, Ellie praised the hospital staff: “The midwives Louise and Emily were amazing, answering every question we had and supporting us through everything. Dr Sree Nittur, who was there during the delivery, followed up daily. The neonatal nurses were absolutely fantastic, and we can’t thank them enough for their care and dedication.”

A PLACE TO STAY
For Craig, the availability of accommodation at Cwtsh Clos, a row of five houses on the Singleton Hospital site, was a significant relief. Without it, he would have faced daily commutes between Milford Haven and Swansea.

“Craig spent a week in Cwtsh Clos, and I joined him for the final night,” Ellie said. “It was a huge help having Craig so close. It’s one problem you don’t have to think about, and it gives you a space to gather your thoughts.”

The couple is now supporting Swansea Bay Health Charity’s Cwtsh Clos appeal, which aims to raise £160,000 to refurbish the homes for future families in similar situations.

‘TRIPLETS ARE A RARITY’
Lisa Harris, interim matron for neonatal services, said: “We are delighted to hear the girls are doing well. Cwtsh Clos allows parents to stay close to their babies, which is so important during such critical times.”

NICU consultant Kate Burke added: “Triplets are a rarity for us. We serve families across south central and south west Wales, and often, we’re the unit they turn to when pregnancies are more complicated. It’s wonderful to see families like Ellie and Craig’s returning home with their babies healthy and thriving.”

The family recently celebrated their first Christmas together with Mia, Isla, and Elsie, expressing heartfelt gratitude to all who supported them through their journey.

Support the Cwtsh Clos Appeal: Donations can be made via the Swansea Bay Health Charity website.

(Pic: Swansea Bay University Health Board)

News

Christmas Eve sign-off for Pembrokeshire over-55s housing scheme

Published

20 hours ago

December 27, 2024

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

THE FINAL sign-off for a scheme to build 24 affordable homes for the over-55s at the “eyesore” site of the former Motor World building in Milford Haven has been given the go-ahead.

W B Griffiths & Sons Ltd, on behalf of Pembrokeshire County Council, in an application before the council’s November planning committee, was given approval for the construction of a new residential redevelopment of 24 affordable apartments for over-55s at 70A-80A Charles Street.

It is planned to build 21 one-bed apartments and three two-bed apartments, along with associated works.

***How the building looked before it was demolished***

The former Motor World site, previously described as an “eyesore,” was cleared in 2018 to enable redevelopment, with planning permission granted on the site for the development of 15 affordable apartments for over-55s in 2020 but the previous contractor was put into administration under what was described as, ‘significant financial stress’.

The application, submitted through agent DPP Planning, followed a public consultation earlier this year.

At the November meeting, approval was proposed by Cllr Alistair Cameron, seconded by committee chair Cllr Simon Hancock, who said: “We need to achieve regeneration of our town centres by repopulating them, and they will be much more sustainable in the future.”

He was supported by Cllr Mark Carter, who said: “I like developments like these; I think this is the way forward for communities, we’ve got a site here that as far back as I’ve been a councillor has attracted questions about when it will be built.”

A sticking point for the application was it was subject to a Welsh Government Holding Direction where planning permission could not be fully granted until an awaited vehicle Swept Path Analysis has been approved demonstrating that a turning area can be provided within the site for the largest type of vehicle that would serve it.

Members backed delegated authority for the council’s head of planning to approve the application following resolution of the issue.

The application was formally conditionally approved by planning officers on December 24, a Welsh Government response saying it “as highway authority for the A4076 trunk road does not issue a direction in respect of this application”.