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‘Terrible piece of legislation’ says councillor

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Outspoken: Cllr Reg Owens

Outspoken: Cllr Reg Owens

AT THURSDAY’S children and families overview and scrutiny meeting, members discussed issuing penalty notices for unauthorised school absences. 

A number of councillors had questions on the subject. Cllr Reg Owens was the most outspoken of the committee on the subject and raised a number of questions. He said: “This system would have been completely unnecessary if, a few years ago, parents of particularly bad attending children were prosecuted. To pile on a £60 fine is just going to add to the misery to some of these families. The decision on issuing a notice should be made by a three-person committee from this committee but we should have a say as members on whether or not that fine should be issued.”

Council officer Jake Morgan added: “That may require a constitutional change. We would be better off in providing detailing scrutiny on fines that have been issued. We are not envisaging vast numbers of fines being issued. This is part of a whole range of issues that are designed to improve attendance. This system is relatively untested and how we implement it is all-important. We encourage people to have dialogue with us before-hand. If a child has two weeks away in every school year, that’s six months they will have missed, that is quite significant.”

Cllr Owens responded: “We’re presuming that the biggest reason for low attendance is kids being taken out of school. Some parents aren’t strong enough to enforce their child to go to school. This is a terrible piece of legislation and to treat it as a doubleyellow line fine is ridiculous.” Discussions then turned to military personnel with Cllr Owens asking: “Why is it an exception for military personnel, why can’t the mother take the child out on holiday?” Jake Morgan replied: “It wouldn’t be appropriate to draw a list of circumstances. This could be one of the scenarios and it would be up to us to decide”.

Cllr Guy Woodham said: “Schools may receive complaints about penalties being issued; is there any guidance on how schools can cope with this?” The committee also discussed discretions that may be given in some cases. Cllr Steve Yelland added: “I’m glad we’re going to show a little bit of discretion in various circumstances”. Cllr Rhys Sinnett added: “Discretion can be good but we have to have some consistency. We are entering in to a mine field and I hope the document gives fairly robust advice.”

Lastly, Cllr Owens asked: “If a parent says that their child is ill, how can you verify that? Something like this will knock down attendance.” Assistant leader for behaviour and attendance, Cara Huggins, said: “There may be some exceptional circumstances, we cannot always verify an illness. We can ask for GP appointment cards and for parents to ring in or provide medical evidence.” Speaking after the meeting Cllr Pat Davies said: “It’s going to be quite a controversial thing and Reg was quite right really, there are some families who have behaviour issues with their children and they try their best to do things with their children.

When I was in school, you called it truant then, they didn’t go to school and there will always be those types of children and that’s for the authority to work with those families and try and help and support to encourage and engage those young people to come to school. I think that’s where the issue may be, not so much middle class families taking their children out on holiday to Spain for a fortnight, that’s one issue but families that are struggling and struggling with young people trying to get them into to school that’s another issue.”

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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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Welsh Water has increased sewage discharges into waterways ‘by 40%’

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NEW figures released by the Environment Agency have shown that Dwr Cymru discharged sewage into waterways for a staggering 23,354 hours last year, a 40% increase on 2022. 

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are now calling for tougher action against sewage dumping in Welsh waterways.

The party has also called for a halt on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage into waterways.

Conservative MPs have consistently voted against measures which would have helped to tackle the crisis.

The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said: “It is a complete scandal that filthy sewage is being pumped into our nation’s rivers and waterways without consequence.

“It’s beggars’ belief that both the UK Conservative Government and the Welsh Labour government are allowing water firms to get away with this environmental vandalism.

“We as a party are calling for tougher action to stop sewage being dumped in local waterways. We have also called for a halt on bonuses for water company fat cats whose firms have pumped filth into our waterways.”

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New bus services announced by Pembrokeshire County Council

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A NUMBER of changes to local bus services will be introduced in the coming weeks as a result of a shake up to bus funding. 

From April 2024, the funding which has been provided directly to bus operators by the Welsh Government to keep services going in the wake of the Covid pandemic will cease. 

Additional funding will instead be provided to Local Authorities to support their local bus network.

In total, Pembrokeshire County Council and the Welsh Government will provide over £3million in support for bus services in Pembrokeshire during the coming year.

As part of this process, all Pembrokeshire’s local bus services have been re-tendered. 

A public consultation, receiving over 300 responses, helped to inform decisions about which services should be prioritised. 

Councillor Rhys Sinnett, Pembrokeshire County Council Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services said: “I am delighted to be able to report that we are able to maintain the whole of Pembrokeshire’s current local bus network in the coming year.

“We have also secured key improvements such as reinstating an hourly service on the 349 route between Haverfordwest and Tenby via Pembroke Dock, and the popular Strumble Shuttle and Puffin Shuttle coastal bus services during the summer.”

The changes will also see two key services, the 302 Haverfordwest to Milford Haven and 349 Haverfordwest to Tenby via Pembroke Dock, brought under Council oversight for the first time. 

This will give the Council greater oversight of service operations and fares.  Pembrokeshire residents will also benefit from a new fare structure on all First Cymru services, due to be introduced from 1 April 2024. 

This will use Tap On Tap Off to allow passengers to pay the cheapest fare depending on the number of journeys they make or distance travelled, and will cap the maximum adult fare at £3 single and £5.40 return. 

More information about these fares can be found on the First Cymru website

A number of additional service changes and improvements are being considered for introduction during the course of the coming year in response to feedback received from the public consultation.  

The following bus service changes have been confirmed:

From 23 March 2024:

  • The Celtic Coaster (403) on the St Davids peninsular will restart for the 2024 season on Saturday 23 March and will run until Sunday 29 September. This is an hourly service, increasing to half-hourly during the whitsun half term and school summer holidays. There will be no service departing Caerfai Road at 13.00 and 13.30.
  • The 351 (Tenby to Pendine via Amroth) will return to its summer timetable.

From 1 April 2024

  • An hourly service will return on the 349 (Haverfordwest to Tenby via Pembroke Dock) service (April to September only).
  • The 356 (Milford Haven to Monkton) service will no longer call at Waterston and Hazelbeach due to operational issues caused by the narrow lanes in this area. The Fflecsi service will still be available.
  • A Saturday service, between 07:30 and 18:30, will be reintroduced in the Fflecsi Mid Pembrokeshire zone (formerly known as Bwcabus). This zone covers the area between Letterston, Crymych, Clunderwen and Wiston.  Passengers can also travel from this zone to Fishguard and Haverfordwest. 
  • The 302 (Haverfordwest to Milford Haven) and 349 (Haverfordwest to Tenby via Pembroke Dock) services operated by First Cymru will come under Pembrokeshire County Council control, giving the Council greater oversight of service operations and fares.
  • The 322 (Haverfordwest to Carmarthen) and 381 (Haverfordwest to Tenby via Narberth) services will be run by First Cymru. The 322 timetable will remain the same. The 381 timetable will remain the same from Haverfordwest to Tenby but journeys from Tenby to Haverfordwest will depart slightly earlier (37 past the hour instead of 45).
  • The X22 and X61 services which provided journeys at the start and end of the day between Pembroke Dock and Kilgetty, and Pembroke Dock and Haverfordwest will be withdrawn.
  • The 410 (Fishguard Town) and T11 (Haverfordwest to Fishguard via St Davids) services will be operated on a commercial (T11 part commercial) basis by Richards Bros. An improved connection with the ferry at Fishguard Harbour will be provided at 12.30.

From 19 May 2024

  • The Tenby Coaster service between Tenby and Saundersfoot will return for the summer season.

From 25 May 2024

  • The 400 Puffin Shuttle and 404 Strumble Shuttle services will return to the coast between Marloes and St Davids, and St Davids and Fishguard. These services will operate 7 days a week until 29 September 2024.  The Fflecsi service is also available in this area throughout the year.
  • The 387/388 Coastal Cruiser service around the Angle Peninsula will also return to its summer timetable, operating 7 days a week until 29th September 2024.

Further information about all Pembrokeshire bus services can be found on the Council’s website.

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