News

Lottery to claw back £182k grant cash

Published

10 years ago

August 16, 2016

WEDNESDAY’S (Jul 27) routine meeting of the County Council’s Corporate Governance Committee, called to approve last year’s accounts, moved beyond the humdrum when Councillor Mike Stoddart raised questions about an item showing that £182,000 will need to be repaid to the Heritage Lottery Fund because of irregularities in a grant scheme in Pembroke Dock.

‘THINGS HAVE NOT GONE RIGHT’

The Meeting began with Chief Financial Officer, Jon Haswell, outlining the annual returns of the past year. He stated: “The council still does not have a commitment to future school funding.” He also briefly discussed the effects of Brexit on the Welsh economy, outlining that: “Whilst Brexit may pose a risk—it may also be an opportunity.”

Chairing the Committee, Councillor Ken Rowlands said: “It’s good to hear this is a positive report – we are leading the way for others to follow.”

However, Ian Westley, Chief Executive, had a different view of the Council’s financial returns and told the meeting: “There is an acknowledgement that things haven’t gone quite right.”

Head of Finance, Jon Haswell, raised issues relating to Cleddau Bridge, informing the meeting that problems have still not been resolved relating to toll funding.

Mr Haswell told members of the Committee he anticipates that in the next financial year, the Council will move forward with plans to improve the existing toll structure, stating: “Things haven’t been corrected where they might have been in the past.”

Councillor Bob Kilmister expressed concerns that the council had opted to bank an extra £3.6m in school reserves and also questioned why Council funding had been reduced, with a shortfall of £137M within the coming year.

Cllr Kilmister asked: “I’d really like someone to explain how things have gone so wrong.”

MORE GRANT TO BE RETURNED

Raising the question of the funding clawback, Councillor Stoddart suggested that not everything was as Councillor Hall made out, and pointed members to a short paragraph at the foot of page 99 of the accounts which informed members: ‘A review of the Pembroke and Pembroke Dock Townscape Heritage Initiative (PDHLI) grant scheme by the Heritage Lottery Fund has identified the potential for grant claw back of up to £182,000 due to ineligible expenditure having been included in the claim’.

He asked for more details and Jon Haswell explained that this was the grant money that was currently the subject of a police investigation and that the Council was taking steps to recover irregular payments from the developer.

However, Mike Stoddart, who has spent the past three years uncovering flaws in the authority’s administration of various grant schemes, disputed this.

After he pointed out that the recovery of money referred to by Mr Haswell concerned the Commercial Property Grant Scheme funded by the Wales European Funding Office (WEFO) and the PDHLI funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund was an entirely separate issue, Mr Haswell conceded that he had been wrong to suggest that they were in any way connected.

Cllr Stoddart suggested that the confusion had arisen because the irregular payments (over £180,000 in each case) were similar.

“This means that my efforts have saved the taxpayer a total of £360,000 ,” he claimed.

He also had some harsh words for the Wales Audit Office (WAO), which he accused of sitting on its hands as the grant fiasco has unfolded.

Cllr Stoddart told the Committee that, more than a year ago, he had spent half a day at WAO’s base at Penllergaer explaining to officers how these grant irregularities arose, but nothing had been done.

He accused the WAO of being happy to turn a blind eye to this sort of thing because they consider £180,000 to be ‘petty cash’ and ‘beneath their dignity’.

TIME TO GET A GRIP

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Stoddart told The Herald: “It is time the council got a grip of this grant business. Following the complete failure to properly administer the CPGS scheme in Pembroke Dock, we now have the Heritage Lottery Fund seeking to claw back £182,000 from THI in the same town.

“It is ironic that this THI scheme was controlled by a committee chaired by Cllr Brian Hall, who was so keen to tell members how wonderful things were. And, only last week, I identified apparent flaws in the administration of a Property Developments Fund grant for an office block in Johnston.

This is public money, in one form or another, and the council has a duty to see that it is handled with the utmost probity,” he said.

Community

Tudor women’s lives explored in upcoming Pembroke history talk

Published

3 hours ago

February 22, 2026

Tom Sinclair

PEMBROKE & MONKTON Local History Society will welcome a leading Tudor historian to its next meeting on Saturday, March 7, promising a fascinating insight into the lives of women in the sixteenth century.

Guest speaker Melita Thomas will present a talk titled The Life and Times of Tudor Women, drawing on research from her acclaimed book 1000 Tudor People. The talk will explore the social, legal, political and economic challenges faced by women during the Tudor period, while also examining how some were able to carve out their own paths in areas such as trade, literature and even warfare.

Organisers say the event will offer a fresh perspective on whether Tudor women’s lives were as restricted as often portrayed, highlighting both the hardships and opportunities of the era.

Melita is the founder of the popular Tudor Times website and a member of the Tudor Players performance group. Alongside researching and writing books, she is currently undertaking a PhD at University College London.

Doors open at 10:00am for coffee, with the talk beginning at 11:00am. The event takes place at Pembroke Town Hall, where the Pembroke Museum and Council Chamber — located on the first floor — will also be open to visitors. A lift is available for disabled access.

The society has also announced that Pembroke Museum has reopened following its winter closure. The museum is open from 10:00am to 12:30pm Monday to Friday, with hours extended until 3:00pm from Easter. Entry is free.

For more information, visit www.pembrokeandmonktonhistory.org.uk or follow the society on Facebook. Enquiries can be sent to [email protected].

Local Government

Candidate who withdrew from Hakin race will still appear on ballot paper

Published

3 hours ago

February 22, 2026

Tom Sinclair

Election law means Labour hopeful’s name cannot be removed after nominations close

THE LABOUR candidate who withdrew from the Hakin county council by-election yesterday will still appear on ballot papers when voters go to the polls next month.

Nicola Harteveld announced she was stepping back from the race after nominations had already closed, meaning election officials are legally unable to remove her name from the ballot or allow Welsh Labour to nominate a replacement candidate.

Under UK election rules, once the deadline for nominations passes and candidates are formally confirmed, the ballot paper is fixed except in very limited circumstances, such as the death of a candidate. Withdrawal after that point does not change the ballot.

As a result, Harteveld will remain listed as the Welsh Labour candidate for the Hakin ward when voting takes place on Tuesday, March 17, even though she is no longer campaigning.

***The First Minister gave Nicola Harteveld her endorsement earlier this week in a social media video***

Potential confusion for voters

One elector in the ward told The Herald the situation could lead to uncertainty at the polling station.

“This will cause confusion, and technically means she could still be elected, when in reality she doesn’t want to be,” the resident said.

Any votes cast for Harteveld will still be counted in the election result, as there is no mechanism to invalidate votes for a candidate who has voluntarily withdrawn after the close of nominations.

If a withdrawn candidate were to receive the most votes, further procedural steps could be required, potentially including a fresh election depending on the circumstances at that stage.

Background to withdrawal

Harteveld stepped back from the contest after reporting verbal abuse directed towards her son, in a development that also led to political controversy after the First Minister visited the ward to support her campaign on the same day she did not attend and later confirmed her withdrawal.

Because nominations had already closed by that point, Labour was unable to field another candidate, leaving the party without an active campaign presence in the contest.

Election context

The Hakin by-election was called following the death of long-serving Independent councillor Mike Stoddart.

The remaining active candidates are:

Derrick Abbott (Independent)
Sam Booth (Wales Green Party)
Lee James Bridges (Independent)
Duncan Edwards (Independent)
Brian Taylor (Welsh Conservative)
Scott Thorley (Reform UK)
Sam Warden (Welsh Liberal Democrats)

Polling stations across the ward will be open from 7:00am to 10:00pm on March 17.

Local Government

First Minister left red-faced as Labour candidate pulls out during Hakin campaign visit

Published

20 hours ago

February 21, 2026

Tom Sinclair

Candidate says withdrawal follows ‘abuse’ towards candidate’s son and backlash over Withybush Hospital downgrade plan

THE FIRST MINISTER was left in the embarrassing position of arriving to campaign in the Hakin ward without an active candidate. Labour’s by-election hopeful withdrew from the race on the same day as a high-profile visit to support her campaign.

The visit had been organised to support Labour candidate Nicola Harteveld, but she failed to appear, leaving party activists canvassing in the ward without her and apparently unaware she was about to pull out of the contest.

Harteveld later confirmed she had been considering her position before announcing her withdrawal shortly afterwards.

The former Labour candidate confirmed she was stepping back from the Pembrokeshire County Council by-election following verbal abuse directed towards her youngest son, bringing an abrupt end to the party’s campaign after nominations had already closed.

The development meant Welsh Labour could not field a replacement candidate, leaving the party effectively without representation in the contest despite a scheduled campaign visit by First Minister Eluned Morgan MS and party activists.

***First Minister: Eluned Morgan MS, made a video statement backing Nicola Harteveld on Thursday***

‘Abuse’ towards child

In a video statement released on social media, Harteveld said the decision followed an incident in which her son was allegedly shouted at by two men while walking home from volunteering.

“My youngest was walking home… and two men on the opposite side of the road shouted across ‘tell your mother she’s a Labour loving c***’,” she said.

She said her son was “absolutely devastated” by the incident.

“My family comes first. I am not prepared to put them in the line of fire to be targeted because of something that I’m doing,” she added.

Final decision

Harteveld, who currently serves as a town councillor, said she had spent several days reflecting on whether continuing in the election was compatible with her personal values before the incident involving her son became “the final straw”.

“My morals, my views and my values will not allow me to take this by-election any further,” she said.

She explained that she had wanted to stand in order to take residents’ concerns directly to County Hall, rather than relying on others to represent them, and believed standing as a Labour candidate would have allowed her to raise issues more directly with decision-makers.

First Minister visit confusion

Earlier the same day, First Minister Eluned Morgan MS and Labour activists were canvassing in the Hakin ward in support of Harteveld, apparently unaware she was considering withdrawing from the race.

Campaign photographs were later shared on social media showing the First Minister and party members canvassing locally. However, observers quickly noticed the absence of the candidate herself, prompting repeated questions online about her whereabouts.

Multiple commenters asked “Where is the candidate?” beneath the post, with the situation attracting significant criticism from some social media users.

Shortly afterwards, Harteveld confirmed she was withdrawing from the election.

A post by the First Minister praising what she described as a “great response in Hakin for Nicola Harteveld & Welsh Labour” while also addressing concerns about Withybush Hospital services was later deleted after attracting a large number of comments, many of them critical of Labour and Welsh Government health policies.

Healthcare tensions backdrop

The by-election campaign has taken place against the backdrop of continuing anger across Pembrokeshire over decisions affecting Withybush Hospital, which Harteveld acknowledged had “rocked our community”.

She described personal experiences of travelling long distances for medical appointments with her partner, saying such situations contributed to frustration among residents.

The hospital controversy has become a dominant political issue locally, with strong emotions expressed during campaigning and on social media.

Political impact

Because Harteveld withdrew after the legal deadline for nominations closed, Welsh Labour cannot substitute another candidate. Her name may still appear on ballot papers depending on printing arrangements, although she is no longer campaigning.

The sequence of events left Labour campaigning in the ward without an active candidate and represents a significant setback for the party locally, particularly given the personal involvement of the First Minister in the visit.

Election background

The by-election, scheduled for Tuesday, March 17, was called following the death of Independent councillor Mike Stoddart, who had represented the Hakin ward for many years.

The remaining candidates are: