News

Cabinet recommends 5% Council Tax rise

Published

5 years ago

February 13, 2020

AT ITS meeting on Monday this week, the Council’s Cabinet decided to recommend a Council Tax rise of 5% for the next financial year.

If the Full Council meeting agrees with its suggestion at its meeting on February 27, the rise will add £1.04per week to the average Band D household Council Tax bill.

Band D is the marker used by Councils across Wales to represent the average home.

Opening budget discussion, Cabinet Member for Finance Cllr Bob Kilmister, praised the level of scrutiny by Council committees and public engagement. The Facebook Live webcasts were particularly successful, the second reaching a record audience for such an exercise. Cllr Kilmister reported one engagement event at Llanteg produced high-quality questions, which demonstrated how the public had engaged with the process and the issues behind the Council’s budget. Cllr Kilmister also expressed satisfaction about engagement with the trades unions, whose written budget submissions are included in the consultation report for the first time.

Discussing the proposed Council Tax rise, Cllr Kilmister said where scrutiny committees expressed a preference, it was for a 5% rise. That figure also received the most support from the public who engaged in the consultation process. The unions wanted a 10% rise to preserve frontline services and avoid staff cuts.

He outlined amendments to aspects of the budgets had been made following committee scrutiny. However, he also reported a potential £1m item of additional expenditure due to the closure of Asian markets to recycling from overseas. The pressure, Cllr Kilmister reported, was UK-wide and resulted from a global reduction in recycling capacity.

Bob Kilmister said he accepted one particular request for amendment, which came from the Council’s Policy Overview Committee and related to funding climate change initiatives, but difficulties existed about the funding commitment without specific projects to which it could be allocated.

Accordingly, the Cabinet approved an amendment to the budget statement resolving to provide sufficient funding necessary to enable progress to be made and will make full use of any external funding opportunities. Sufficient resourcing will include the consideration of suitable Capital Bids and feasibility funding in line with the Capital Programme managed by the Capital Board and if necessary, revenue resource in the coming financial year, if it is necessary to support the work of becoming a Net Zero Carbon County by 2030.

Bob Kilmister underlined the Council’s commitment and his commitment but said a considered approach was needed. He was adamant he would not agree to the diversion of resources from core services, such as education and adult social care. He said projects needed a clear business plan and had to show how benefits would accrue from capital investment and revenue use. Cllr Kilmister said he suspected extra money would come forward once the UK Government set the budget in March, possibly – although not certainly – through grants from the Welsh Government. He cautioned against depending on those grants.

The cost of adult social care and the budget for it was the subject of an impassioned intervention from Cllr Tessa Hodgson. Cllr Kilmister responded that ‘we are at a crisis point in adult social care’. Proposals for funding had to come from central government and come quickly. The current funding model for social care, he said, was not working; central government knew it didn’t work; had known it didn’t work for some time; had done nothing about it.

Making a political point at the end of the discussion, Cllr Paul Miller noted last year, when Pembrokeshire had a poor budget settlement, Conservatives had rushed to condemn the Welsh Government. He cynically observed this year, when Pembrokeshire had one of the best budget settlements, there hadn’t been a positive response to the announcement.

Council Leader David Simpson wound up the debate with some strong words about those of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committees which refused to give the Cabinet a steer on its budget for the coming year. He reflected upon the lack of consultation before budgets under the previous administration where councillors were given information the day before cuts were due to place.

David Simpson said he was frustrated that Council committees and their members, presented with information, sat on their hands when offered the chance to input into the process of budget-setting positively. He made it clear that a steer given at the consultation stage was not a commitment to support the budget in the chamber but a response to the information given to the committee during its questioning of Cabinet members and officers about the coming year’s budget.

The Council Leader took time to single out Cllr Brian Hall for congratulations on seizing the chance as Chair of the Corporate Overview of Scrutiny Committee to give Cabinet a steer by asking members of his Committee to vote on a recommendation to give to Cabinet based on the information they had before them on the day they met. That was the sort of response the Cabinet wanted to help it set priorities for the budget.

Cllr Simpson said democracy was in a chamber of sixty people and not just to be doled out by Cabinet. The budget, he said, ‘is not a Cabinet decision’ and found councillors’ reluctance to participate when invited to do so ‘strange’.

‘That’s life!’ Cllr Simpson observed bitterly to close the discussion.

Crime

Youths failed to stop, then crashed into Milford Haven home

Published

1 hour ago

December 28, 2024

Tom Sinclair

POLICE in Milford Haven have arrested two male youths following a fail-to-stop incident that ended with their car crashing into a residential property on Hamilton Terrace.

The incident occurred at 10:50pm on Friday (Dec 27). According to officers, a black Mercedes failed to stop on North Road before speeding along The Rath and turning back onto Hamilton Terrace. As the car continued down the road, it was met by a second police vehicle approaching from the opposite direction.

In an attempt to avoid the oncoming police car and another pursuing from behind, the vehicle tried to drive up Francis Street against the one-way system. However, it failed to make the turn and crashed into a residential property.

The occupants then fled on foot, with one officer pursuing on foot and another driving against the one-way system towards The Trafalgar Public House.

The property sustained damage to a wall, and the vehicle was left undrivable and is now being recovered. Fortunately, no injuries were reported during the incident.

The police were seen searching the crashed vehicle, and took several paper bags full of potential evidence from the scene.

Community

Milford Haven mum gives birth to triplets amid medical emergency

Published

1 hour ago

December 28, 2024

Tom Sinclair

PREGNANCY is often a challenging experience, but for Ellie Davies from Milford Haven, it became even more stressful when she found herself facing a 140-mile round trip away from home during labour.

Ellie was initially admitted to Carmarthen’s Glangwili Hospital with pre-eclampsia, a condition causing dangerously high blood pressure. However, due to a lack of available neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) beds, staff arranged her transfer to Singleton Hospital in Swansea, nearly 30 miles away. Thankfully, accommodation was also provided onsite for her fiancé, Craig Butland.

RENAL FAILURE COMPLICATIONS
Ellie explained: “I had pre-eclampsia and was taken to Glangwili. My blood pressure was going up and down, and they had to ring around hospitals with a NICU to see if they had any spare beds – Singleton was the only one with space.”

On November 12, Ellie was transferred to Swansea, where she remained on the antenatal ward. However, her condition worsened. “On Sunday 17, my kidneys became affected by the pre-eclampsia, and I was going into renal failure,” she said.

In the early hours of Monday, November 18, Ellie underwent an emergency C-section, delivering triplets Mia, Isla, and Elsie two months prematurely.

BRIEF FIRST MEETING
“I only met Isla, the middle triplet, for around two minutes before she was taken to neonatal to be with her sisters,” Ellie shared.

Mia was born weighing 2lb 9oz, Isla at 2lb 10oz, and Elsie at 2lb 8oz. All three girls initially required breathing support and spent nine days in the NICU. Now, over three pounds each, they are receiving care at Glangwili’s special care unit and are reportedly “doing really well.”

SUPPORT FROM NHS STAFF
Reflecting on their experience, Ellie praised the hospital staff: “The midwives Louise and Emily were amazing, answering every question we had and supporting us through everything. Dr Sree Nittur, who was there during the delivery, followed up daily. The neonatal nurses were absolutely fantastic, and we can’t thank them enough for their care and dedication.”

A PLACE TO STAY
For Craig, the availability of accommodation at Cwtsh Clos, a row of five houses on the Singleton Hospital site, was a significant relief. Without it, he would have faced daily commutes between Milford Haven and Swansea.

“Craig spent a week in Cwtsh Clos, and I joined him for the final night,” Ellie said. “It was a huge help having Craig so close. It’s one problem you don’t have to think about, and it gives you a space to gather your thoughts.”

The couple is now supporting Swansea Bay Health Charity’s Cwtsh Clos appeal, which aims to raise £160,000 to refurbish the homes for future families in similar situations.

‘TRIPLETS ARE A RARITY’
Lisa Harris, interim matron for neonatal services, said: “We are delighted to hear the girls are doing well. Cwtsh Clos allows parents to stay close to their babies, which is so important during such critical times.”

NICU consultant Kate Burke added: “Triplets are a rarity for us. We serve families across south central and south west Wales, and often, we’re the unit they turn to when pregnancies are more complicated. It’s wonderful to see families like Ellie and Craig’s returning home with their babies healthy and thriving.”

The family recently celebrated their first Christmas together with Mia, Isla, and Elsie, expressing heartfelt gratitude to all who supported them through their journey.

Support the Cwtsh Clos Appeal: Donations can be made via the Swansea Bay Health Charity website.

(Pic: Swansea Bay University Health Board)

News

Christmas Eve sign-off for Pembrokeshire over-55s housing scheme

Published

4 hours ago

December 27, 2024

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

THE FINAL sign-off for a scheme to build 24 affordable homes for the over-55s at the “eyesore” site of the former Motor World building in Milford Haven has been given the go-ahead.

W B Griffiths & Sons Ltd, on behalf of Pembrokeshire County Council, in an application before the council’s November planning committee, was given approval for the construction of a new residential redevelopment of 24 affordable apartments for over-55s at 70A-80A Charles Street.

It is planned to build 21 one-bed apartments and three two-bed apartments, along with associated works.

***How the building looked before it was demolished***

The former Motor World site, previously described as an “eyesore,” was cleared in 2018 to enable redevelopment, with planning permission granted on the site for the development of 15 affordable apartments for over-55s in 2020 but the previous contractor was put into administration under what was described as, ‘significant financial stress’.

The application, submitted through agent DPP Planning, followed a public consultation earlier this year.

At the November meeting, approval was proposed by Cllr Alistair Cameron, seconded by committee chair Cllr Simon Hancock, who said: “We need to achieve regeneration of our town centres by repopulating them, and they will be much more sustainable in the future.”

He was supported by Cllr Mark Carter, who said: “I like developments like these; I think this is the way forward for communities, we’ve got a site here that as far back as I’ve been a councillor has attracted questions about when it will be built.”

A sticking point for the application was it was subject to a Welsh Government Holding Direction where planning permission could not be fully granted until an awaited vehicle Swept Path Analysis has been approved demonstrating that a turning area can be provided within the site for the largest type of vehicle that would serve it.

Members backed delegated authority for the council’s head of planning to approve the application following resolution of the issue.

The application was formally conditionally approved by planning officers on December 24, a Welsh Government response saying it “as highway authority for the A4076 trunk road does not issue a direction in respect of this application”.