Left to right: Cllr Neil Prior, Cllr Paul Miller, Cllr Phil Baker, Cllr Bob Kilmister, Cllr David Simpson, Cllr Cris Tomos, Cllr Tessa Hodgson, Cllr Pat Davies, and Cllr David Lloyd.

THE FIRST meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s new Cabinet takes place today (Jun 12).

Councillor David Simpson, the new Leader of the Authority, has appointed eight Cabinet members to direct policy and make decisions on key issues.

They are all new faces to the Cabinet apart from Councillor David Lloyd, who served as Cabinet Member for Education under the previous administration.

Councillor Simpson said he was excited about the combination of knowledge and breadth of experience possessed by the Members.

“I’m very happy with the Cabinet because I have picked them on their ability and nothing else” he said.

“I’m especially pleased about the new cabinet role of Transformation and IT, which I’ve introduced because of the impact that I feel Transformation will make to the Authority.”

He has not appointed a Deputy Leader, as all Cabinet Members will be expected to deputise for Councillor Simpson if necessary.

The Cabinet Members are as follows:

Councillor David Simpson, Lampeter Velfrey (Unaffiliated)
Cabinet Member for Corporate Matters

David has been a magistrate for 20 years and a County Councillor since 2004. He retired from business in 2000. David moved to Pembrokeshire in the early 90s, after having a holiday home in Neyland.

A Duke of Edinburgh Gold award holder and a staunch supporter of the scheme, he lives in Clynderwen and is married with four children and seven grandchildren.

Councillor Neil Prior, Llanrhian (Unaffiliated)
Cabinet Member for Transformation and IT

Neil’s family moved to Pembrokeshire over 30 years ago and he himself returned home two and a half years ago having worked for blue chip companies including O2 and Microsoft.

During his career he has worked with over 100 local authorities across the UK, helping them to make the most of technology to provide services more efficiently and effectively. He is looking forward to bringing this experience to help the County Council respond and adapt to the challenges it faces.

Councillor Paul Miller, Neyland West (Labour)
Cabinet Member for Economy, Tourism, Leisure, and Culture
First elected in 2012 representing the Neyland West Ward, Cllr Miller has led the Council’s Labour Group for the past five years.

Paul’s professional work has seen him lead major capital development and regeneration projects across the UK and this experience will be key as the new administration takes a more proactive approach to regeneration and development across Pembrokeshire.

Councillor Phil Baker, Saundersfoot (Unaffiliated)
Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Assets

Since 1982, Phil has worked both for Civil Engineering Consultants and Civil Engineering Contractors in Pembrokeshire and across the UK. Projects have included reclamation schemes, Local Authority and Private Development infrastructure installations, Water Utilities Asset Management Capital investment Programmes and for the last 12 years Welsh Government Highway Improvements.

Phil has represented Saundersfoot as County Councillor since 2008 and has been a Saundersfoot Community Councillor since 1998. He is the County Council appointee on Saundersfoot Harbour Commission and Governor at Saundersfoot C.P. and Greenhill School.

Councillor Bob Kilmister, Dinas Cross (Liberal Democrat)
Cabinet Member for Finance

Bob lives on a smallholding near Llanychaer with his wife of 40 years Nikki. He worked for J Sainsbury Plc for 30 years mainly running large supermarkets in the West Midlands. These had an annual turnover of up to £18 million and employed over 300 staff. He finished his career working as the link between the Distribution and Retail arms of the business.

He has always been interested in politics, and was a District Councillor in Worcestershire for eight years being elected first at the age of 25.

Councillor Cris Tomos, Crymych (Plaid Cymru)
Cabinet Member for Environment and Welsh Language

Cris has over 25 years’ experience of working with social enterprises and charities to develop sustainable non-grant dependent income. He has developed and helped set up several community benefit cooperatives in West Wales. The majority of the new cooperatives are community asset based, where redundant buildings are bought by the community to allow new social enterprises to trial their services.

Cris was named Wales Co-operator of the year in 2012, and Wales Social Enterprise Champion in 2013.

Councillor Tessa Hodgson, Lamphey (Unaffiliated)
Cabinet Member for Social Services

Councillor Tessa Hodgson grew up in Milford Haven where she attended the grammar school. She has a background in business and marketing and currently owns and runs a B&B and holiday cottage complex near Lamphey.

She is a mum of three teenagers who are all educated locally. Since being elected in 2012 she has served on the Older Persons Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Senior Staff Committee.

Councillor Pat Davies, Fishguard North West (Unaffiliated)
Cabinet Member for Regulatory Services and Housing

Pat has for many years been involved and had concern around social issues and she intends to bring her experiences into her new role. She says she is delighted to have the opportunity to work with a new team of Cabinet Members under the new and vibrant Leadership of David Simpson.

“We start, I feel, with fresh innovative ways of working in a professional manner to bring about a progressive and inclusive County Council,” she said.

Councillor David Lloyd, St Davids (Unaffiliated)
Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning

David is a Pembrokeshire man who has been involved in community action for the past 50 years. He was a Dyfed County Councillor in the eighties during which time he moved the creation of the Economic Development Committee. In the nineties, he campaigned for the National Eisteddfod to visit St. Davids for the first time in 2002.

He has been a County Councillor and Chair of Governors at Ysgol Dewi Sant since 2012, leading the campaign to save the school from closure in January 2016.