News

Hancock: Board must regain public trust

Published

12 years ago

August 5, 2014

THURSDAY’S meeting of the Health Board’s executive committee took place against a background of simmering resentment in Pembrokeshire at the fate of health services. New chairman Bernadine Rees told the meeting: “I am happy to be back and I understand the challenges. I want a meaningful engagement with the public.” Chief Executive Karen Howell added: “We want to determine what more can be done. We want to secure the long term sustainability of health services in Wales.” Members of the Board expressed concern that the Board had failed to communicate adequately with the public. Don Thomas said: “We need to listen, listen and act on the important issues. We’re keen to listen and understand what our residents are going through.” Local authority placeman Simon Hancock said: “It’s so important for us to understand how services on the ground are doing.” Independent member Eifion Griffiths said: “We have to make sure we are providing services for the population. We have to work with the whole of Wales. The local population will want to hear about what we are providing for them. Paul Hinge from the CHC added: “These changes have to be deliverable and you have to show them you have the ability to deliver them in a seamless manner.” Don Thomas said: “I hope there is an emerging recognition of the position we are in. The structural deficit in this board does need to be recognised and rectified.” IPPG nominee Simon Hancock drew attention to the serious service deficit in Tenby, the cause of major concern ahead of the main summer tourist season. He added that he was desperately concerned for Tenby describing the situation as critical. Simon Hancock’s concern on the issue highlights the fact that assurances given by the Board before the closure of Tenby’s purpose-built Minor Injuries Unit have been shown to be worthless, as local GP’s failed to sign up to the Board’s service model. Phil Kloer, interim director for primary care, community and mental health replied: “The important question is, why we have only got three GPs in the area.” Orthodontic and community dental care was another cause of concern. Orthodontic services were withdrawn from Withybush by the Board in 2010. It seems that centralising services has failed to deliver improvements. Paul Hinge told the meeting: “There is still an 18-month waiting list for orthodontics, this is unbelievable. They have to wait a long, long time and they are then offered a paying service to jump the queue: that part of it has got to stop. The amount of people who are moving out to other areas just to get a service is unbelievable.” Simon Hancock said: “It is important for this board to regain public trust.”

Health

Welsh Ambulance Service to hold extraordinary board meeting

Published

32 seconds ago

June 8, 2026

Tom Sinclair

THE WELSH AMBULANCE SERVICE will hold an extraordinary Trust Board meeting later this month.

Members of the public will be able to watch the meeting online via Microsoft Teams on Thursday (Jun 25), from 9:30am to 10:00am.

Board members are expected to receive and approve the Trust’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2025–26.

Colin Dennis, Chair of the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “Our Board meetings play a vital role in ensuring transparency and openness in everything we do, and we would invite anyone with an interest in the Trust’s work to join us virtually to find out more.”

A link to watch the meeting will be available through the Trust, but viewers are advised it will only work from 10 minutes before the meeting begins.

An agenda will be published on the Trust’s website in the days before the meeting.

Finance

1.5 million taken to court over council tax debt, GMB investigation finds

Published

2 hours ago

June 8, 2026

Tom Sinclair

AT LEAST 1.5 million people were taken to court over unpaid council tax last year, according to a new investigation by the GMB union.

The union said the figures showed a council tax system “completely broken”, with cash-strapped local authorities forced to pursue residents through the courts to recover unpaid bills.

The findings, released ahead of GMB’s annual congress in Blackpool on Tuesday (Jun 9), were based on Freedom of Information requests sent to all council tax-collecting local authorities in Britain.

Almost 200 councils replied within the statutory deadline.

The responses showed that 1,430,726 people were summoned to court in the financial year 2024/25. However, because many councils did not respond, GMB said the true figure was likely to be far higher.

The investigation also found that at least 4,593,838 council tax accounts were in arrears, while debt management proceedings had been launched against 3,231,480 accounts.

In total, at least £4.6bn is owed to councils in unpaid council tax.

In Wales, the figures showed £110,884,885 was owed, with 31,452 accounts in arrears, 14,792 facing debt management proceedings, and 34,437 people taken to court during 2024/25.

Broken system

Rachel Harrison, GMB National Secretary, said: “These horrifying figures show our council tax system is completely broken.

“Not only is the banding system woefully out of date, but forcing cash-strapped councils to pursue one and a half million people through the courts just to make ends meet can’t be the right way to do business.

“Austerity left deep scars on all our public services, which will last a generation or more.

“Meanwhile the lack of authority funding often means low pay for the people we rely on to look after our loved ones, to take our rubbish, to keep our towns and cities running.

“To fix all this, we need more guaranteed central government funding, progress on council tax reform so the richest pay their share, and changes to business rates so that authorities get more to regenerate our high streets.”

The highest regional total was recorded in Scotland, where £989m was owed and 245,294 people were taken to court.

London councils reported £625m owed, with 258,732 court summonses issued, while the West Midlands recorded 239,116 court cases and £490m in unpaid council tax.

News

Electricity network upgrades across Pembrokeshire to support homes, businesses and future demand

Published

2 hours ago

June 8, 2026

Cerys Lafferty

NATIONAL Grid Electricity Distribution runs the local electricity network in Pembrokeshire and is strengthening it to support how people live and work now and in the future.

Demand for electricity in Pembrokeshire is increasing rapidly, particularly as more people switch to electric cars and heat pumps, and more clean, home-grown generation comes online.

Henry Tufnell MP met with engineers in Milford Haven to see how these upgrades are increasing capacity for local communities.

Henry Tufnell MP said: “It was great to visit the site in Milford Haven and see first-hand the work being carried out to strengthen the local electricity network.

“Investment like this is important for supporting communities and businesses across Pembrokeshire and making sure the area is ready for future growth and cleaner energy.”

Steffan Jones, Operations Manager of West Wales Major Projects at National Grid Electricity Distribution, said: “Demand is growing as people use more power in their everyday lives at home and at work.

“We are upgrading our network across Pembrokeshire to support local communities, enable new connections and power future growth.”

The upgrades will help provide more capacity for local communities, making it easier to connect new homes, support businesses and enable technologies such as electric vehicles, heat pumps and solar energy.