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Council announces budget plans

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THE CABINET MEMBER for Finance presented his draft budget to Council members on Thursday, December 19.

In a key announcement, he said because of extra Welsh Government cash the Council could hold the line on services and make modest increases in spending.

A Council Tax of 5%, he said, would add £1.04 per week to the average Council Tax bill.

Cllr Bob Kilmister played up to the public perception of him as ‘Mr Doom and Gloom’ by a neat piece of self-mockery, saying: “This speech is going to confuse a few people as I outline what I believe is a very good news story.”

Cllr Kilmister began, however, by outlining to members that the budget before them was, necessarily, very much a draft.
Praising Director of Finance, Jon Haswell, and his staff, Bob Kilmister explained that he had only a total of thirty working hours to prepare the budget. The short time was because the Welsh Government provided details of the budget settlement for Pembrokeshire at noon on Monday.
Warning members that the budget might be affected by any changes Westminster made in its budget, he also said that – regardless of the good news on spending – austerity was far from over.

A series of options will now be presented to members to examine through the scrutiny committee structure. A public consultation will also take place.
Cllr Kilmister reminded councillors the budget required their approval by Feb 27. Providing options meant that both councillors and residents had the chance to propose amendments to the draft expenditure plans.
He told members that cost pressures on the budget are ‘very real’ and that not all services were hit equally by inflation, demographic and legislative pressures.
To illustrate his point Bob Kilmister pointed out that Adult Social Care, Children’s Services and Education have combined pressures amounting to £14.1 million just to stand still.
Combined with other cost pressures, the Council needs to find a further £3.1m for its budget to meet other demands.
The extra money from the Welsh Government will help ease those pressures, which means with a proposed 5% Council Tax rise the Council will have extra money to allocate to services.
It was not all good news: Cllr Kilmister announced a further round of restructuring, potentially shedding 66 full-time-equivalent jobs to save £2m.
With an extra £18.75m to spend, Cllr Kilmister set out the draft spending priorities.
Addressing a hot topic arising from a recent Education Scrutiny meeting, Bob Kilmister said the Council would NOT be charging for sixth form school transport.

EDUCATION
• £ 3 million to meet the pay and pension pressures on Individual school budgets.
• £ 2 million increase for Individual school budgets on top of the pay & pensions.
• £2 million on the Central Education budget which includes the Youth Service, Inclusion and intervention.
• £1 million to tackle Key stage 4 underperformance.

SOCIAL CARE
• £1.2 million to ease pay pressures for Adult Social Care staff.
• £ 2 million to ease pay pressures in contracted Adult Social Care staff.
• £ 1 million to ease pressures on Children’s out of County care.
• £ 800,000 to recruit new Social Workers and retain them.

ROADS
• £1 million for road safety schemes where currently no funds are earmarked, funded by the Programme for Administration reserve.
• £600,000 on Highways cost pressures.
• £500,000 on fixing potholes and poor road surfaces, funded by the Programme for Administration reserve.
• The cost of changing street-lighting to LED bulbs funded by the invest to save reserve.
FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
• £500,000 for Holding accounts which will still require 50% to be found in cost reductions.
• £500,000 on IT
• £500,000 extra contingency ‘as we face such uncertain times’.

Among the other significant announcements on planned spending, Bob Kilmister announced £120,000 for repairs to historic buildings.
He explained the line of expenditure was part of a scheme to reduce the massive capital costs the Council faced on basic maintenance for historic buildings after years of neglect. Cllr
Kilmister remarked pointedly the budget he inherited was £6,400 per year.

Bob Kilmister also announced £100,000 for Public Toilets to prevent any further closures unless vandalism causes closures.

Addressing the problem of fly-tipping, Cllr Kilmister observed that the service had struggled for some time before recent changes to household waste collections. The service had suffered from ever-tightening budgets over many years. To ease the pressures, Bob Kilmister announced a £100,000 increase in funding to ease pressures on the service.
For the first time, the Council will have a specific budget line for major events, which it previously funded via grants. The £70,000 announced is not extra money but is allocated as a share of existing resources.
Public consultation on the draft budget will start on January 6 and end on January 27. There will be two Facebook live sessions and a Public Meeting during the day at County Hall which it is hoped will be webcast.
Cllr Kilmister urged residents to take part in the consultation exercise.
On Council Tax, Bob Kilmister said the Cabinet believe this should rise by 5% which is £1.04 per week for a Band D property or £54.60 per annum extra. He anticipated it will be one of the lowest cash rises in Wales.
He concluded: “In the last two years it has been very clear that residents have paid more for less.
“This year we believe they will pay a “little bit more but get a lot more”.

News

Rugby Weekly – Tenby’s promotion push continues

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It’s crunch time for all rugby clubs around the county, whether promotion is their aim or fighting relegation or even just trying to improve their league position, it’s now or never. 

Last weekend saw an important win for Fishguard in division two west which should put any relegation fears to bed completely. James Griffiths added an impressive 18 points for the Seagulls as they defeated Nantgaredig 33-19. 

Elsewhere in the second division, Milford were beaten 32-8 by a good Lampeter outfit. The Mariners are still a little too close for comfort with the drop zone but should have enough quality to see them safe. 

At the other end of the table Tenby sit in second place and have played fewer games than leaders St Clears and third place Lampeter. They won impressively again last weekend, beating Pontyberem 64-19 at Haywood Lane. Fletcher Broadhurst impressed with two tries as did Hywel Baker who also grabbed himself a brace. Another excellent performance in an outstanding season so far in which promotion would be the absolute icing on the cake. 

In Division Three West, Pembroke were well beaten by Laugharne 74-15 in which the outstanding Liam Price and Nico Setaro both crossed the whitewash 4 teams a piece. The latter also added 7 successful conversions. 

There was a local derby at Pill Parks where Llangwm hosted Pembroke Dock Quins and it was an exciting clash. The visitors won narrowly 28-23, Craig Barnett and Gethin Bradney both scored two tries for the Quins. The Wasps battled hard and will be proud of their performance, Gethin Thomas impressed for the hosts with two tries of his own but it wasn’t enough to secure the points. 

St David’s hosted the high flying Cardigan outfit and were unable to score in reply to the visitors 20 points, with it ending 20-0. The Saints however won’t be losing too much sleep over it as they have had a great season so far. 

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Stephen Crabb leads inquiry on retaining community bank services  

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PRESELI Pembrokeshire MP, and Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee Stephen Crabb is leading an inquiry in Parliament that will investigate the closure of high street banks in Wales, as well as access to cash.

In November 2023, Pembrokeshire saw the closure of Lloyds Bank in St Davids, and in the coming months both Barclays Bank and Halifax in Haverfordwest are set to close. In recent years, Wales has experienced a rapid decline in the number of high street banking services available to the public. Already in 2024, 23 high street bank closures have been announced in Wales, while automated teller machines (ATMs) declined by nearly a quarter between 2018 and 2023.

The Committee willconsider how declining high street banking services are impacting vulnerable people and small businesses across Wales, who are often more reliant on cash than digital banking. It will also examine how Wales is being affected by the loss of high street bank services, and whether the problem is worse in Wales than other parts of the UK.

Mr Crabb is a staunch advocate for retaining community banking facilities, especially in rural communities like Pembrokeshire where many local branches remain the only source of face-to-face banking provision for miles.

Recently Mr Crabb challenged Barclays Bank senior management on their decision to close the bank branch in Haverfordwest– a move that will see Barclays not only pull out of the county town, but means they won’t have a branch left anywhere in Pembrokeshire. He has also engaged with LINK – the UK’s largest cash machine network – and continues to campaign on the basis that a Banking Hub is established and that ATM machines should be retained or installed, especially in areas worst affected by the closures.  

Following the launch of the inquiry, MP Crabb added: “It is really sad to see so many banks across Wales closing as online banking grows in popularity. Despite the advantages of online banking, for a rural community with an ageing population like Pembrokeshire, bank branches hold huge importance as they offer face-to-face customer service.”

“I am acutely aware of the inconvenience that the bank closures locally have already caused following hundreds of replies from constituents to my ‘online banking survey’ ”

“I am looking forward to gathering further evidence on this subject through the committee’s inquiry, and will continue to put pressure on the relevant stakeholders to ensure that adequate alternative provisions are made through the establishment of banking hubs as well as the instalment of ATM machines where necessary.”

“In this inquiry, we are particularly keen to hear from those likely to be directly affected by the shift away from cash and physical banks. I encourage anyone with first-hand experience of losing banking services to give evidence to the Committee”

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Trains resume between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock as works end

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TRAIN services resumed this morning (Thursday 28 March) after ten days of essential round-the-clock work to upgrade track and drainage between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.

The railway was closed from Monday 18 March to Wednesday 27 March to allow Network Rail teams to replace more than 200 metres of track and 300 tonnes of ballast (track stones) between Pembroke station and Pembroke Dock.

Work to improve the drainage between Narbeth and Kilgetty stations was also completed at the same time.

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director, said: “This essential work in Pembrokeshire demonstrates our commitment to improving the reliability of the service we provide to passengers along our route.

“We know that replacing the track can be disruptive and very noisy, so I would like to thank the residents of Pembroke for their patience while our team carried out this crucial work.”

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “We’re pleased that our colleagues in Network Rail have completed this essential work and that Transport for Wales rail services resumed today.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work has progressed and look forward to welcoming passengers back in time for the Easter weekend.”

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