FUNDING of more than £213,000 for a Pembrokeshire community transport charity group, which supports some of the county’s most vulnerable residents, has been backed by senior councillors.

At the April 28 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet members were asked to continue offering financial support to Pembrokeshire Association of Community Transport Organisations (PACTO) to support their work to develop and support community transport services in Pembrokeshire over the next five years.

The current funding arrangement with PACTO, of £175,968 over a five-year period, came to an end on March 31. 

It was recommended to award a five-year grant at a cost of £40,170 in 2025/26 (£213,268 over five years, including an annual inflationary increase estimated at three per cent.

Over the past five years, PACTO accounts show the council £175,968 core funding has enabled it to secure a total income of £1,439,205.  

PACTO is currently in the second year of a major three-year project funded through the Motability Foundation, valued at £1 million. 

In a report presented by Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services Cllr Rhys Sinnett, who described PACTO as “the glue that knits community transport providers together,” members heard local registered charity PACTO supports and represents the Pembrokeshire’s community transport sector, run by the third sector on a not-for-profit basis to support some of our most vulnerable residents. 

“Community transport services in Pembrokeshire currently provide around 50,000 passenger journeys each year, helping to fill gaps in the public transport network, support community groups with their transport needs and assist elderly, disabled and other vulnerable people who struggle to access mainstream public transport,” the report said.

It added: “PACTO does not directly operate community transport services.  Its role is to provide support to community transport operators to improve and extend the services they offer, to work with communities and community groups towards addressing unmet transport needs, and to provide information and advice to service users about the services that may be able to assist them.

“Pembrokeshire County Council has provided core funding to PACTO since 2004.  The funding has enabled PACTO to provide a range of support and development activities.”

It said the withdrawal of funding could lead to the risk of a loss of many of the services supported, as well as a knock-on effect on council budgets through some of the services enabled.

Cllr Sinnett said, of the option of withdrawing funding: Whilst it would save that £40,000 it would leave us very vulnerable to either stepping in in support of our community transport providers with our limited staff time,” adding: “And PACTO do things we can’t do.”

Members unanimously backed the award.

PACTO, on its website, describes its services as: “Pembrokeshire’s Community Transport services help people and groups who don’t have access to their own transport and who don’t have or can’t use conventional public transport services.”

Local services

Local services provided by third sector operators and community groups include the following.

Royal Voluntary Service, who run the Pembrokeshire Country Car service.

Green Dragon Community Transport, who run dial-a-ride and town rider minibus services across the county and operate wheelchair accessible cars.

Pembrokeshire Voluntary Transport, who operate the Fflecsi service in north west Pembrokeshire and provide wheelchair accessible minibuses and cars for community groups and disabled individuals.

Narberth and District Community and Sports Association, who operate the Bloomfield Dial-a-Bus services for villages around Narberth.

Manorbier Community Transport, who provide a community minibus for local community groups.

VC Gallery, who use a community minibus and car to help service users access their projects and activities.

TWO senior members of Pembrokeshire County Council are to step down from their Cabinet positions this May, members of the council’s Cabinet heard.

At the April 28 meeting, members heard that Cabinet Member for Communities, Corporate Improvement and the Well-being of Future Generations Cllr Neil Prior and Cabinet Member for Corporate Finance and Efficiencies Cllr Joshua Beynon were to step down from their Cabinet roles.

Members were told both councillors were stepping down for personal reasons, with their replacements expected to be announced in May.

Cllr Beynon, who took mover the finance role from Cllr Alec Cormack last year, has since posted on social media: “After a year serving in the Cabinet at Pembrokeshire County Council, I’ve decided the time is right for me to step back from my role as Cabinet Member for Corporate Finance and Efficiencies.

“Serving in this position has been a real privilege — helping to improve services, strengthen the council’s finances, and always striving to do what’s best for Pembrokeshire. It hasn’t been without its challenges, especially in a council without a majority, but I’m proud of what we’ve achieved through collaboration and determination.”

“This hasn’t been an easy decision.

“Public service demands a lot, and I want to be honest about the personal toll it can take. I believe if you can’t give 100 per cent, it’s right to make space for someone who can bring fresh energy to the role.

“I’m incredibly grateful to my Cabinet colleagues, fellow councillors, and most of all the brilliant staff at Pembrokeshire County Council — the real backbone of our public services.

“Although I’m stepping back from Cabinet, I’m not stepping away. I’ll continue to serve from the backbenches, standing up for high-quality public services and for the people of Pembrokeshire.

“Thank you to everyone who’s supported me so far — it means a lot.”

The work of both Cabinet members was praised at the meeting by Leader Cllr Jon Harvey.

THE START of a formal consultation of a potential federation of two Pembrokeshire schools has been backed by senior councillors.

At the April 28 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet members were asked to note the decisions of St Florence VC School and Penrhyn VC School to commence consultation on establishing formal federations for the two schools, and to obtain Cabinet’s approval for the Director of Education to commence consultation on behalf of the two schools.

A report for members said the two schools had been in an informal ‘soft federation’ since September 2022, with the headteacher of St Florence acting as Executive Headteacher.

“Prior to this period, the Headteacher at Penrhyn VC School was a longstanding appointment since the school opened in September 2017 and subsequently leaving the authority in August 2022,” a report for members said, adding: “In order to ‘formalise’ the collaboration that is currently taking place, the governing bodies of both schools have considered establishing a Federation. The initial soft federation was set up due to challenges in recruiting a headteacher at Penrhyn VC School.”

In the report given by Cabinet member for education Cllr Guy Woodham, it was stressed the federation is “not an amalgamation, a take-over or a route to closure,” but a partnership of the two schools “sharing a joint vision for a venture that would serve the interests of pupils, staff and both school communities”.

The schools would remain as separate establishments; they would be funded and inspected separately, produce separate accounts and report their assessment results separately.

The report concluded: “Both schools will now work with local authority officers to undertake the appropriate consultation. As a school-led federation, determination of whether to proceed subsequently will rest with the two governing bodies.  The local authority and Diocesan Director of Education (Church in Wales) endorses the decisions of the governing bodies to proceed to consult on this matter.”

Members unanimously backed the recommendation, moved by Cllr Woodham.