News

Officer ‘presiding over the ministry of cuts’ approved

Published

10 years ago

December 16, 2016

PEMBROKESHIRE C OUNTY COUNCIL has approved a new post entitled Head of Transformation.

However, at last Thursday’s council meeting (Dec 8), many councillors criticised the move while Cllr Jacob Williams said he did not support a ‘person presiding over the ministry of cuts’.

Some councillors said there was a need to change the way things were done and that the council was in need of a shake-up.

The Council also approved a new post of Deputy Chief Education Officer while a third post, Head of Adult Care, will be discussed by the Senior Staff Committee.

Council Leader Jamie Adams said: “Consideration has been given to the fact that there are demands being placed on officers within the council who perhaps go above and beyond the call of duty on some occasions.

“The Head of Transformation will enable capacity within the organisation. I believe that the ability is in council but I have questioned whether that capacity is always available to us and that’s as a result of significant budgetary cuts within senior management of the authority.

“We have before us the opportunity to consider a post which will lead that transformation agenda from within. We know our strengths and weaknesses, they’ve been well identified, externally by the report from PWC, but also are informed by our public engagement opportunities, engagement with stakeholders.

“We are half way through taking out between £80-100million of financial capacity within the organisation and we are still expected to improve standards and we are still expected to provide the services that people value in Pembrokeshire.

“We cannot simply continue to salami-slice our budget and there has been a fair acknowledgement of that in terms of members’ seminars and externally in discussions with Wales Audit Office. We are at a new juncture and I believe we do need focus and capacity in terms of ensuring that we have a lead role within the authority to take that forward.”

Cllr Tessa Hodgson said: “I spoke against this appointment for a Head of Transformation at the last meeting (of the Senior Staff Committee) and I’m afraid nothing since then has convinced me to change my mind.

“I think the people of Pembrokeshire will find it very difficult to understand why, in the face of deep budget cuts, the best that this administration can come up with is to appoint yet another highly paid manager, when they are facing cuts to their frontline services.

“We already have a team of highly paid directors, heads of service and departmental managers who should surely be tasked with making these savings in their departments. They are the ones who know best how their teams work, what their customer expectations are and where savings could be made or revenue increased.

“The salary advertised is up to £100,000; this is bad enough but when you add in the company car, pension, the admin team that a job of this stature comes with, the final figure will be much higher.”

Cllr Jonathan Nutting said: “I’ve got a certain feeling, yes there is need for more staff within the education side. We’re looking at two posts here, not just one, the Head of Transformation and a Deputy Chief Education Officer. We have to explain to our schools and our children how we are using our money and if it is transformational, the clue is in the name, then possibly, yes it has a place, but two posts at once seems to be a bit over the top to me and I would suggest one and see if the other is necessary.”

Cllr Keith Lewis added: “We meet in seminar to discuss a way forward in terms of the pressures that face this authority and we agree that we’ve come to the end of slicing bits off budgets and we say we need to think outside the box, we need to be inventive, and here we are with an idea before us, this is not a full term appointment, it’s for two years, where we create a situation where somebody can have oversight over the whole organisation, I think it’s a sound move.

“We can totally change the way in which Pembrokeshire Council County works, reducing our cost base and hopefully improving our level of service. Let’s adopt the same view in Council as that which we give to our officers in seminar. To identify and isolate this post as being a waste of money is very negative of us.”

Cllr Jacob Williams said: “I don’t think this sends out the right message. The suggestion that we could create over a £100,000 salary, I just don’t support. What it would be is a person presiding over the ministry of cuts. I don’t support the Head of Transformation creation and there are two entirely different roles and I think it’s been deliberately designed to bundle them all into one.”

Cllr Viv Stoddart pointed out that two roles, Heads of Housing and Revenue, where recently combined and asked why this wouldn’t be possible for the role of Head of Transformation.

Cllr David Simpson said the council needed a shake-up but said he didn’t want to spend £100,000 on creating a new post.

Chief Executive Ian Westley said that something radical had to change and that in his opinion this would be the best £100,000 the authority has ever spent.

Cllr Mike Stoddart added: “The leader said ‘we need somebody to think outside the box’. Is he suggesting that the present directors can’t think outside the box? The Cabinet should be driving this transformation process.”

Cllr Jacob Williams had tried to get each post voted on separately and also called for a recorded vote for the Head of Transformation but that was not supported.

After a lengthy debate, the two new posts were approved by a majority.

News

Record 34 candidates to contest Clacton by-election triggered by Farage

Published

10 hours ago

July 17, 2026

Tom Sinclair

Nigel Farage will face an extraordinary field of 33 opponents when voters in Clacton return to the polls next month

A RECORD 34 candidates have been confirmed for the Clacton parliamentary by-election, which will take place on Thursday, August 13.

The contest was triggered after Mr Farage resigned as the constituency’s MP before announcing that he would stand again for Reform UK.

He said the election would allow local voters to judge his conduct following intense scrutiny of his financial backing and two inquiries by Parliament’s standards commissioner.

Mr Farage has denied wrongdoing and maintains that gifts and other support he received were personal and did not need to be registered under parliamentary rules. He has described the by-election as a contest between the public and the political establishment.

Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party are among the larger parties that have declined to field candidates.

Their absence has left political satirist Count Binface and Reclaim Party leader Laurence Fox among the best-known names challenging Mr Farage.

The ballot paper will also feature three candidates from the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, several representatives of smaller political parties and a large number of independents.

Tendring District Council confirmed the final list after nominations closed on Friday.

The council said the field of 34 is believed to be the largest ever assembled for a UK parliamentary election.

The previous record is understood to have been 26 candidates at the Haltemprice and Howden by-election in July 2008. That election was called after Conservative MP David Davis resigned and stood again to campaign over civil liberties.

Full list of Clacton candidates

The candidates standing on August 13 are:

Joseph 77, Independent
Adham Alkhatip, The Forward Party
Count Binface, Count Binface Party
Nick The Incredible Flying Brick, Official Monster Raving Loony Party
Tony Cane, Independent
Woke Trump Carrzee, Independent
William Stuart James Clouston, Social Democratic Party
Rees Cowne, Independent
Glenn Charles Cummings, Independent
Martin Davies, Freedom Alliance – Real People, Real Alternative!
Andy Erlam, Independent
Nigel Farage, Reform UK
Attieh Fard, Independent
Laurence Fox, The Reclaim Party
Tony Francis, Independent
Robin Green, Independent
Abi Hookway, Independent
Howling Laud Hope, Official Monster Raving Loony Party
Stephen Richard Ingram, Independent
Amy Morris, Independent
Derrick Norbert Morris, Independent
Michael Noel O’Keeffe, Independent
Martyn OBrien, Independent
Nick Pelas, Independent
Ketankumar Pipaliya, UK VOICE safer and stronger UK
Daniel Pocock, Independent
James Ransley, Consensus Party Candidate
Gerry Smith, Independent
Kai Stephens, British Democrats
John Stevens, Rejoin EU
Baron Von Thunderclap, Official Monster Raving Loony Party
Pamela Walford, Independent
Marcus White, Everyone is God Party
Marc Wilkinson, Independent

Almost 80,000 people are eligible to vote across the constituency’s 51 polling stations.

Residents who are not already registered must apply by July 28. The deadline for postal vote applications is 5pm on July 29, while applications for proxy votes and free Voter Authority Certificates must be submitted by 5pm on August 5.

Mr Farage first won Clacton for Reform UK at the 2024 general election, receiving 21,225 votes and securing a majority of 8,405 over the Conservatives.

The seat has officially been vacant since July 8 following his resignation.

Charity

Forever 11 water safety programme reaches nearly 2,000 Pembrokeshire pupils

Published

10 hours ago

July 17, 2026

Rieve Nesbitt-Marr

A CHARITY established in memory of 11-year-old Zac Thompson is helping almost 2,000 Pembrokeshire schoolchildren learn potentially life-saving skills in and around the water.

Forever 11 was founded following Zac’s death in 2022, when he was swept into the sea.

The charity began delivering water safety programmes in 2023, initially working with one school. It now supports pupils at 13 primary schools across Pembrokeshire, with around 2,000 children expected to take part in its sessions this year.

Forever 11 chair Carli Newell said the charity believes water safety should be treated as an essential life skill for children growing up in a coastal county.

She said: “Every child in Pembrokeshire deserves the right to have water safety sessions.

“Especially where we live, it should be as important as being able to read.”

Working alongside organisations including PaddleWest, Activity Pembrokeshire and Windswept Wales, the charity provides practical kayaking, paddleboarding and sea kayaking sessions.

Pupils are also taught important safety advice, including the RNLI’s Float to Live guidance, while some children have the opportunity to gain nationally recognised Paddle Safe and Swim Safe qualifications.

The programme was originally aimed at pupils in Years 5 and 6, but it has since been extended to children in Years 3 and 4.

The charity hopes that introducing younger pupils to the water will help them build confidence and develop essential skills before reaching the age group most at risk of accidental drowning.

Forever 11 trustee Lucy Garett said national drowning figures are reviewed each year to help shape the programme.

She said: “The trends are all the same every year.

“It’s mostly children aged between 10 and 19 who are at risk of accidental drowning.

“We want children to have at least one or two sessions in the water before they reach that higher risk group.”

The sessions are offered to schools free of charge, with the costs covered through fundraising and public donations.

This means children can participate regardless of their family’s financial circumstances.

Forever 11 estimates that it has delivered more than 10,000 hours of water safety education since its work began.

Ms Garett said the response from schools, parents and pupils had been extremely positive.

She added: “Some parents have told us their child had been completely scared of going in the water, but afterwards they said it was one of the best days they’d ever had at school.”

The charity now hopes to work with more watersports providers, allowing the scheme to reach additional schools throughout Pembrokeshire.

Its long-term ambition is for every primary school pupil in the county to finish school with the knowledge and confidence needed to stay safe around the water.

The charity said: “We want every primary-aged child to know what to do to keep themselves and others safe in and around the water.”

Forever 11 will continue raising awareness and funds at Pembroke Regatta on Saturday, July 25, followed by its annual Forever 11 Fun Day on Sunday, July 26.

News

Three kayakers rescued after getting into difficulty near Skomer

Published

12 hours ago

July 17, 2026

Tom Sinclair

Coastguard teams and two RNLI lifeboats were called after the group was pushed south while attempting to pass through Jack Sound

THREE kayakers were rescued after getting into difficulty while returning from Skomer Island through Jack Sound.

Watchkeepers at NCI Wooltack Point had been monitoring the group as they attempted to make the crossing, but the kayakers were pushed south and eventually disappeared from view from the station.

One watchkeeper continued searching from the lookout while another went outside to try to locate them. The kayakers were eventually spotted from the cliff-top path in a nearby bay, where it was confirmed that they required assistance.

HM Coastguard was alerted and both Angle RNLI lifeboat and Little and Broad Haven RNLI lifeboat were tasked to the incident.

The rescue was successfully completed, with NCI Wooltack Point praising the teamwork between Pembrokeshire’s search and rescue agencies.

The kayakers later made a donation to the station in recognition of the assistance they had received.

Photo: NCI Wooltack Point watchkeeper Charles