MORE than 100 military family homes in Wales have been refurbished in time for Christmas as part of a UK-wide drive to address the poorest conditions in forces housing.

The work forms part of a programme to overhaul the 1,000 worst service family homes across the UK, a target that has now been met ahead of schedule. The scheme has also been expanded, with a further 250 properties set to receive priority upgrades by the spring.

The programme, known as Raising the Minimum Standards, has delivered extensive improvements to service accommodation across the country, including properties in Wales.

The upgrades include replacement boilers and heating systems, new flooring, repairs to leaking roofs, and the installation of new kitchens, bathrooms, windows and doors. In many cases, homes have undergone comprehensive refurbishment to address long-standing maintenance issues.

The work represents the first phase of the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Housing Strategy, which aims to modernise, refurbish or rebuild more than 40,000 service family homes over the next decade. The strategy is backed by £9bn of investment and follows a deal agreed last year to bring 36,000 military homes back into public ownership.

Defence Secretary John Healey said the improvements would allow more military families in Wales to enjoy Christmas in safe and decent accommodation.

“Our Armed Forces and their families sacrifice a great deal for the country,” he said. “The least they deserve are homes that are fit to live in. Completing upgrades to the worst properties means more families can spend Christmas together in decent conditions.

“This is only the beginning of a much larger programme to address decades of underinvestment in military housing.”

Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens said the improvements marked a positive start but acknowledged further work was needed.

“Military families in Wales deserve high-quality accommodation, and this is an important step towards improving homes that have been in need of modernisation,” she said.

David Brewer, chief operating officer of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, said the work would continue beyond the initial phase.

“We have made improvements to the worst-performing homes, but this is just the start of a generational renewal,” he said. “Our aim is to see the vast majority of service family homes brought up to an acceptable standard.”

The refurbishment programme is one of several commitments made under the Consumer Charter launched earlier this year, which sets minimum standards for military housing. Other measures include improved move-in conditions, clearer maintenance standards, and the introduction of a named housing officer for every service family.

According to the MOD, early feedback from service personnel suggests satisfaction levels with military housing are beginning to improve, although wider upgrades remain ongoing.

AS 2025 draws to a close, The Pembrokeshire Herald’s reporting tells the story of a county under sustained pressure — socially, economically and institutionally — but also one marked by resilience, civic engagement and a strong sense of community identity.

Across the past twelve months, our coverage repeatedly returned to a handful of defining themes: crime and public safety, strain within health and social care, political and economic tension in rural Wales, and the enduring strength of local communities. While many of the year’s biggest stories were troubling, they were frequently balanced by moments of progress, collective action and determination to bring about change.

More than anything, 2025 demonstrated the continuing importance of local journalism — not just in reporting events, but in prompting scrutiny, amplifying community concerns, and, in some cases, helping to drive tangible outcomes.

Crime and public safety: Unease — and accountability

Crime was an unavoidable feature of the news agenda throughout 2025. Court reports, police appeals and community warnings reflected widespread concern about violence, drugs and safeguarding, particularly where alcohol misuse or exploitation of young people was involved.

Among the most shocking cases was the jailing of a woman who stole £245,000 from a Pembrokeshire charity — a crime that went beyond financial loss to represent a profound breach of trust. Elsewhere, stories of youth drug dealing, sexual offences, domestic abuse and organised fraud painted a picture of communities grappling with harm that often occurred behind closed doors.

At the same time, the reporting also highlighted accountability. Investigations into rogue traders, sentencing for repeat offenders and renewed focus on safeguarding failures demonstrated the role of the courts and regulators in restoring public confidence.

One of the most significant long-running stories was the confirmation that the Criminal Cases Review Commission continues to actively review the conviction of John Cooper. That ongoing scrutiny, rooted in earlier investigative reporting, stands as a reminder that justice is not static — and that persistent journalism can play a role in ensuring historic cases are not immune from challenge.

Taken together, the crime coverage of 2025 reflected a sense of unease, but also a demand — from residents and victims alike — for transparency, responsibility and reform.

Health and social care: Under strain, held together by people

Health reporting this year exposed a system stretched to its limits. Emergency departments across Wales recorded some of the worst waiting times on record, with clinicians openly warning that services were “beyond breaking point”.

Behind the statistics were human stories: exhausted staff, patients left waiting in pain, and unpaid carers describing distress as a routine part of life rather than an exception. These accounts illustrated the real-world consequences of under-resourced services and delayed reform.

Yet the coverage also highlighted dedication and progress. Awards recognising frontline staff, the launch of research addressing long-standing gender health inequalities, and continued efforts by Hywel Dda health leaders to celebrate workforce resilience all showed a system held together by commitment as much as funding.

Importantly, some of the most hopeful stories came from community-level solutions. The expansion of grant funding supported by second-home council tax premiums offered practical support for local health, care and accessibility projects — modest interventions, but ones with immediate impact.

Politics, farming and the rural economy: A year of contention — and concessions

Politics in 2025 was defined by tension between national policy and rural reality. Few issues illustrated this more clearly than farming.

Months of protest eventually led to a major shift in inheritance tax policy, with the threshold for agricultural property relief increased to £2.5 million. For many farming families, this was not just a financial issue but one of survival, succession and identity — and the concession was widely seen as a hard-won victory.

Elsewhere, debates over livestock protection, climate policy, hunting, greyhound racing and rural traditions exposed deep divisions over how Wales balances environmental ambition with economic viability.

Economic pressures were felt far beyond agriculture. Rising business rates, stalled house prices and warnings about town centre decline all featured prominently, reinforcing the sense that many communities are operating close to the edge.

Against that backdrop, practical improvements mattered. One of the most positively received stories of the year was the repair and prevention of tens of thousands of potholes across South West Wales — a reminder that infrastructure investment, however unglamorous, has an immediate effect on safety and daily life.

Community, sport and environment: The county’s backbone

If crime and crisis dominated the hard news, community stories provided the emotional counterweight.

Sport, in particular, offered moments of pride and unity — from local football success to Pembrokeshire’s connections with elite motorsport. Ironman Wales once again placed Tenby on the world stage, combining athletic achievement with fundraising and economic benefit for the area.

Charitable efforts, often small in scale but large in heart, ran throughout the year: festive initiatives for children, support for the homeless, funding for local causes and quiet acts of generosity that rarely seek headlines.

Environmental reporting reflected both beauty and vulnerability — flooding, coastal concerns and wildlife management sparked debate, but also prompted action. Motions brought forward by councillors to address flood risk demonstrated how local pressure can translate into policy attention.

Looking ahead

Taken as a whole, The Pembrokeshire Herald’s coverage of 2025 tells a story of a county facing real and sometimes uncomfortable challenges — but one that continues to respond with resolve.

Fraud, violence, health system strain and economic uncertainty all tested communities this year. Yet so too did we see farmers defend their livelihoods, volunteers step in where systems faltered, and local voices push institutions to act.

As Pembrokeshire moves into 2026, the lessons of the past year are clear: strong communities need strong scrutiny, local solutions matter, and progress is most often driven not by grand promises but by persistent effort.

It is in that space — between challenge and change — that local journalism continues to matter most.

THE UK GOVERNMENT has increased the inheritance tax relief threshold for farmers from £1 million to £2.5 million, following months of pressure from the agricultural sector and widespread protests across the country.

The change marks a significant retreat from reforms first announced in Labour’s initial Budget last year, which had proposed limiting full inheritance tax relief on agricultural and business assets to the first £1 million.

Under the revised plans, due to take effect from April, individuals will be able to pass on up to £2.5 million in qualifying agricultural or business assets without paying inheritance tax. For married couples and civil partners, the combined allowance will rise to £5 million.

Assets above that level will attract 50% relief, meaning an effective inheritance tax rate of up to 20%, rather than the standard 40%.

According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the revised threshold will reduce the number of estates affected by inheritance tax from around 2,000 under the original proposals to approximately 1,100, with the impact largely confined to the biggest farming operations.

The original plans sparked widespread anger within the farming community, including tractor protests outside Parliament, criticism from rural Labour MPs, and warnings from Baroness Minette Batters, the former NFU president, who said the proposals had caused severe distress among farming families.

Announcing the change, Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said ministers had “listened closely” to concerns raised by farmers and rural businesses.

“Farmers are at the heart of our food security and environmental stewardship,” she said. “We are increasing the individual threshold from £1 million to £2.5 million, which means couples with estates of up to £5 million will now pay no inheritance tax.

“It is only right that larger estates contribute more, while we protect the family farms that underpin rural communities.”

The National Farmers’ Union welcomed the announcement. NFU president Tom Bradshaw said the move would be a “huge relief” for many farming families and acknowledged the pressure placed on elderly farmers by the original proposals.

In Wales, the change was also welcomed, though concerns remain about longer-term pressures on the sector.

The Welsh Deputy First Minister with responsibility for rural affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies, said the Welsh Government had repeatedly raised concerns with Westminster.

“Small and medium-sized family farms play a crucial role in Wales’ economy, culture and language,” he said. “We welcome this announcement and will continue discussions with farming unions and the UK Government on its impact here in Wales.”

Farmers’ Union of Wales president Ian Rickman described the move as a “welcome early Christmas present” after months of uncertainty.

“The initial proposals caused untold anxiety and damaged confidence across the rural economy,” he said. “While we remain frustrated by how these reforms were handled, the revised threshold provides much-needed relief at a difficult time for Welsh farming.”

Opposition parties, however, said the changes did not go far enough.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described the move as a “huge U-turn” and said other family businesses remained exposed. Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick called the concession “hard won” but warned that many farms would still struggle financially, adding that his party would continue pushing for the tax to be scrapped entirely.

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said the climbdown did little to undo “a year of anxiety” for farmers, while Plaid Cymru’s Llyr Gruffydd MS said the episode highlighted “chaos” within the UK Government and accused ministers of causing unnecessary harm to family farms.

Welsh Conservative Shadow Farm Minister Samuel Kurtz said the policy shift came “too late”, adding that wider issues — including bovine TB, nitrate regulations and uncertainty over the Sustainable Farming Scheme — continued to place pressure on Welsh agriculture.

While the revised threshold has eased immediate concerns for many farming families, the debate over inheritance tax, farm succession and the long-term sustainability of British and Welsh agriculture is far from over.