News

Adult care report slates Council

Published

10 years ago

July 26, 2016

Accepts reports findings: Cllr Simon Hancock

A DAMNING report from Wales’s Social Services Inspectorate (CSSIW) and the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) has exposed a series of scandalous and substantial shortcomings in the way Pembrokeshire County Council deals with people with learning disabilities, The Herald can reveal.

The report’s authors conclude that there is a series of significant failings in the way the Council delivers its services for vulnerable adults with learning disabilities, and says that plans for improving the service are ‘aspirational or embryonic’.

The report goes on to say that some measures taken with the aim of improving the authority’s performance are ‘less effective than they could be because of the absence of an overarching strategy that drives improvement across all aspects of care and support for people with learning disabilities’.

While failings are noted at the front line of service delivery, the publication does not hold back in identifying those at fault, stating that ‘senior managers and other leaders must also accept final responsibility for the deficits in performance at the front line’.

The report finds that, while there have been historical issues about competence and performance in the Community Team for Learning Disability (CTLD), it would be a mistake for the authority to conclude that this is the main reason for the deficits in performance. Rather, inspectors concluded that care managers and others have not been well served by systems, processes and leadership in recent years.

The distinction between ‘senior management’ and ‘leadership’ is particularly telling for the authority and firmly points the finger at those considerably higher up the political and executive food chain.

The report criticised the absence of an explicit accommodation strategy for people with learning disabilities and found that there was ‘little sense that the local authority has effective processes in place that will enable it to predict demand, plan for the future and deliver sustainable and preventative solutions’.

Noting that the Health Collaborative, of which the Council is part, and its regional statement of intent have ‘the potential to provide a sound basis for progress’, inspectors found that it had ‘only marginal impact in Pembrokeshire’.

The deficiencies in the Council’s approach to dealing with the learning disabled appear to be systemic and widespread, to the extent that even fundamental care issues are not being addressed appropriately.

The inspectors note a ‘lack of any case file audit process’ and that ‘language and communication needs were not well-represented in the files examined by inspectors’. In one case, a learning disabled Welsh-speaker was compelled to communicate in English because no carer could be found who spoke Welsh.

As of September 30, 2015, there were 129 reviews that were overdue, i.e. outstanding for a year or more. This amounts to 35% of the cases that were described by the authority as either ‘active’, ‘review only’, or ‘open to review.’

In one case, there was no assessment of need or care plan on file, but there was reference to a plan having been completed FIVE years previously. In another instance, the care and support provided for a service user had not been reviewed by the authority for more than TWO years between 2013 (when a major adult protection incident was investigated) and July 2015.

It can scarcely be surprising, therefore, that the report’s authors found that: ‘The authority is not delivering information, advice, assistance and care planning to a consistently acceptable standard. Consequently it cannot be confident about the quality of outcomes for people… Most of the case files examined showed at least some aspects of practice that was either poor or required improvement’.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Services, Health and Well-Being and Equalities, Simon Hancock, told us: “We accept the findings in the inspection report which we acknowledge revealed a need for significant improvement.

“Indeed, prior to the inspection last December, we undertook a self-assessment of Learning Disability Services and identified a number of areas which required attention.

“As a result of that awareness, the management team drew up a comprehensive improvement plan which they and the staff have been following since the beginning of the year in order to ensure that the necessary improvements are put in place.”

Among the actions identified in the improvement plan was to appoint a Champion for Learning Disabilities services in Pembrokeshire, and Councillor Hancock took up this position in January.

In order to ensure service users and carers are involved in agreeing priorities and are helping shape the service, a Learning Disability Partnership Board has been set up and a number of engagement events with service users and carers have also been held so that the voice of the customer is heard.

Councillor Hancock added: “The improvement plan will not only help ensure that the recommendations from the CSSIW inspection process are met, but that service improvement is sustained.

“I am passionate in my role of Learning Disabilities Champion for Pembrokeshire and am satisfied that we are on target to deliver the changes required.”

Crime

Driver sentenced for cannabis offences on Cleddau Bridge and in Wolverhampton

Published

3 hours ago

July 24, 2026

Court Reporter

A WOLVERHAMPTON motorist has been disqualified from driving after admitting two separate cannabis-driving offences, including one on the Cleddau Bridge.

Doel Lyons appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (July 23), where he pleaded guilty to both charges.

The first offence took place on December 22, 2025, when Lyons drove a Honda Civic along the A477 Cleddau Bridge at Pembroke Dock.

A blood test showed seven micrograms of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, per litre of blood.

The second offence occurred on March 30 this year, when Lyons drove the same Honda Civic along Tithe Croft in Wolverhampton with cannabis in his blood above the legal limit.

Magistrates imposed a 12-month driving disqualification for each offence and fined Lyons £233 on each charge.

He was also ordered to pay £85 in prosecution costs in relation to each conviction.

The court register does not specify whether the two periods of disqualification are to run concurrently.

Separate allegations that Lyons drove another vehicle while over the cannabis limit and without insurance in Staffordshire in September 2025 remain outstanding.

No pleas have been entered to those charges, which were adjourned for a plea hearing at Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court on July 29.

Crime

Pembrokeshire teenager given referral order after shoplifting spree

Published

3 hours ago

July 24, 2026

Court Reporter

A PEMBROKESHIRE teenager has been given a 12-month referral order after admitting a string of shop thefts and damaging a police vehicle.

The youth appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (July 23), where guilty pleas were entered to 11 theft offences committed between April and June.

The offences involved shops in Haverfordwest, Milford Haven and Neyland, with alcohol targeted in the majority of the incidents.

Items stolen included BuzzBall alcoholic drinks, vodka, cans of Red Bull, crisps, chewing gum and a sandwich.

The court heard that several of the thefts took place at retail parks in Haverfordwest and Milford Haven, while others occurred at stores in Neyland and Milford Haven town centre.

The individual also admitted causing £180 worth of damage to a Dyfed-Powys Police vehicle in Neyland on June 26.

Magistrates imposed a 12-month referral order, which will require the teenager to work with the Pembrokeshire Youth Offending Team and comply with a contract agreed with a youth offender panel.

Compensation totalling £336.77 was ordered in relation to the stolen property and damage to the police vehicle. The teenager’s guilty pleas were taken into account.

The court imposed reporting restrictions under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. Nothing may be published which could identify the youth.

News

Burnham’s first week – what it means for Wales

Published

4 hours ago

July 24, 2026

James Sinclair

ANDY BURNHAM’S first week as the UK’s Prime Minister has brought changes to VAT on domestic energy bills, business rates for pubs and a cap on bus fares. Yet due to the devolution of powers, many of these changes do not reach Wales, leading to calls for the Welsh Government to follow suit.

When Burnham walked into Downing Street on Monday, he began a steady stream of policy announcements that lasted throughout the week. He began Tuesday by announcing that VAT would be scrapped on people’s energy bills, going from 5% to 0% from October onwards. This is estimated to save £45 for households annually. The new Prime Minister said that this would help to ‘put more money in people’s pockets and bring back hope.’

This was followed by an announcement on Wednesday that single bus tickets in England will be capped at £2 from January 2027. In a statement to Parliament that same day announcing the plans, Rail Minister Lord Hendy said that this was part of the government’s commitment ‘to ensuring that buses remain affordable, reliable and accessible.’

Business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues were also slashed by 20% on Thursday, being estimated to save the average pub over £1,000 next year. However, at a time when almost two pubs are closing a day in the UK, these changes will not be introduced until April next year.

The message is clearly one of affordability for this new government. ‘Growth in every postcode’ is what Burnham pledged this week, aiming to provide room for families to deal with the cost of living and prosper.

Will this help the people of Wales?

But does this really help the people of Wales struggling with the affordability crisis?

First of all, the plans themselves have received criticism from opposition parties and even within the Labour party itself. Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch simultaneously criticised the plans for not going far enough whilst also warning that these expensive policies will lead to a rise in taxes. The cut in VAT is only estimated to save a household £45 a year, which Badenoch criticised for not being sufficient to tackle the scale of the affordability crisis.

Darren Jones, a close Keir Starmer ally, also criticised the funding of the VAT cut since the Digital ID scheme that was cut to fund it was not actually fully funded.

Hitting back at this, the UK Government has stated that the policies are fully funded. They maintain that the VAT cut will be funded by scrapping the previous Starmer government’s Digital ID scheme, generating an estimated £1.8 billion, whilst the £2 bus cap will be funded through reorganising the foreign aid system.

The cut in VAT to energy bills will also directly apply to the people of Wales. This is because the UK Government sets VAT rates across the whole of the UK.

But a lot of the other measures that Burnham announced this week come under the powers of the Welsh Senedd and not the UK Government. Business rates and bus fare caps are in the hands of Cardiff Bay rather than Westminster. Therefore, they only apply to England.

This has led to Reform UK and Welsh Labour both calling separately for the Welsh Government to follow Burnham and introduce a bus fare cap. The Welsh Conservatives had previously called on the former Welsh Labour Government to implement an immediate £2 bus fare cap. Whilst caps do already exist in Wales for 5-21 year olds and over 65s receive free bus travel, a universal £2 bus cap does not exist.

Nor, does it currently appear likely to be adopted. The Plaid Cymru Government maintained its position that ‘Wales is leading the way on affordable accessible transport,’ whilst not mentioning implementing a cap when questioned on the matter.

The Director of CAMRA Wales, a leading consumer organisation for British pubs, also urged the Welsh Government to match Burnham’s 20% business rate cut. In a statement, they said ‘pubgoers are crying out for the First Minister and Welsh Government to match the new Prime Minister’s pro-pub stance and to protect and promote our pubs as vital community hubs.’

Pubs and other food and drink hospitality businesses do already receive a 15% business rate relief scheme in Wales. However, Burnham’s plan exceeds this with an extra 5% cut, raising the question of whether the Welsh Government will match this or not.

The future of devolution

This kind of fragmentation across the UK looks set to increase as another central tenet of the Burnham government appears to be greater devolution of power away from Westminster to the regions of the UK. Whilst the specifics of this have yet to be established, Burnham spent the first Friday of his premiership working in the new Number 10 North in Manchester. This set the tone for an administration that seeks to give the regions of the UK more power to make decisions for themselves, meaning that these kinds of regional differences we have seen between Wales and the rest of the country could only increase.

Whilst Burnham’s plan for Wales is yet to be defined, the new Secretary of State for Wales, Stephen Kinnock, stated on Wednesday that he was ‘not entirely convinced’ of the Plaid government’s request for new powers over policing, justice, rail and the Crown Estate. However, given Burnham’s pro-devolution agenda and the Plaid Cymru government’s request for more devolved powers, they will likely be able to find common ground.

The Plaid Cymru First Minister, Rhun ap Iorwerth, met Burnham in Glasgow on Thursday for the opening ceremony of the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Speaking afterwards, Iorwerth struck a cautiously optimistic tone. He said that it was ‘too early’ to know what approach Burnham would take to granting Wales more powers, but did state that Burnham is ‘serious about having those conversations’ in ‘a positive and open spirit.’

As Burnham’s first week draws to a close, many of the changes he has introduced will not make it to Wales. Yet as Burnham and Iorwerth met this week to discuss what the future for Wales might look like, there is potential for agreement to be reached. We are only one week into what Burnham promised on Monday was a ‘ten year plan’ for the UK. There is therefore lots of space for the position of Wales and the power it holds to radically transform in the coming months.