PEMBROKESHIRE LEARNING CENTRE has been placed in special measures after inspectors raised serious concerns about standards and leadership at the pupil referral unit.

The Centre is a pupil referral unit (PRU) run by Pembrokeshire County Council and operates across three sites in the county:

• Neyland (main site)
• Penally
• Pembroke Dock

It provides education for pupils aged five to sixteen who are unable to attend mainstream school, often due to exclusion, anxiety, or complex additional learning needs.

Estyn confirmed the decision following a recent inspection of the centre, which supports pupils who are unable to attend mainstream school. The move means the provision will now be subject to increased monitoring, with inspectors returning to assess progress.

Pembrokeshire County Council said it has accepted the inspection findings in full and has begun implementing urgent improvement measures.

The council and school are required to submit a detailed post-inspection action plan to Estyn by February 5, 2026, setting out how each recommendation will be addressed. Work on the plan is already underway.

According to the council, immediate actions include increasing staffing across Pembrokeshire Learning Centre to strengthen leadership and classroom support, along with urgent planning to resolve site condition issues highlighted by inspectors. Governance arrangements are also being reinforced through the appointment of additional members to the centre’s management committee.

The council said these early steps are intended to ensure pupils are educated in a safe, supportive environment and receive teaching that meets their needs.

Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language, Guy Woodham, said the authority had acted swiftly following the inspection.

“Our priority is the wellbeing and success of every pupil,” he said. “We have moved quickly to strengthen leadership, improve facilities and enhance governance, and we will continue to work closely with Estyn to raise standards at Pembrokeshire Learning Centre.”

While identifying significant weaknesses, Estyn also highlighted areas of strength within the provision. Inspectors noted that leaders promote a clear vision centred on pupils’ wellbeing, supported by a trauma-informed approach, and that many pupils who attend regularly report feeling safe due to positive relationships with staff.

The inspection also found that the qualifications offer for older pupils has improved since the previous visit, helping learners progress into further education, training or employment.

Pembrokeshire Learning Centre, based in Neyland, plays a key role in supporting some of the county’s most vulnerable learners. The council said parents, carers and the wider community will be kept informed as improvements are implemented.

Further details of the post-inspection action plan are expected to be published in the coming weeks.

What went wrong at Pembrokeshire Learning Centre?

Inspectors have identified serious weaknesses at Pembrokeshire Learning Centre following a critical inspection that resulted in the pupil referral unit being placed in special measures.

The inspection found that leadership oversight across the Centre’s three sites in Neyland, Penally and Pembroke Dock has been inconsistent, limiting leaders’ ability to ensure standards are applied evenly. Senior leaders were largely based at the main site, reducing their visibility and impact at other locations.

While leaders were praised for setting out a clear vision centred on pupils’ wellbeing and trauma-informed practice, inspectors concluded that this vision has not been translated consistently into classroom practice. In many lessons, expectations were found to be too low, with pupils insufficiently challenged and making uneven progress.

Teaching quality was reported to vary widely. Inspectors said only a minority of lessons were well-planned, engaging and effective, while most lacked pace, clarity and appropriate challenge. As a result, too many pupils were not making the progress expected of them over time.

Curriculum planning was also highlighted as a major weakness. The Centre was found to lack overarching schemes of work, meaning teaching is often driven by individual staff rather than a consistent, centre-wide approach. This has led to fragmented provision and unequal learning experiences for pupils.

Attendance remains a significant concern. Inspectors found that attendance levels are too low, with inconsistent monitoring of reduced timetables and Pastoral Support Plans. Fixed-term exclusions were described as unacceptably high and have increased sharply compared with the previous year.

Learning environments were another area of concern. Inspectors said that many areas are not fit for purpose and in some cases do not provide safe learning spaces. At one site, public access to the grounds means pupils have no secure outdoor learning environment.

Safeguarding systems and reporting processes were generally found to be in place, but inspectors raised specific safeguarding and site management concerns during the inspection, which were formally reported to the local authority.

Support for pupils with additional learning needs was described as variable. While Individual Development Plans contain detailed information, inspectors found that these plans are not always delivered effectively in practice, limiting the support some pupils receive.

Despite these shortcomings, inspectors also identified positive aspects of the provision. Many pupils who attend regularly reported feeling safe, supported by strong relationships with staff. The qualifications offer for older pupils has improved, helping many move on to education, training or employment.

However, inspectors concluded that insufficient progress has been made since the previous inspection in 2017, and that urgent and sustained improvement is now required.

As a result, Pembrokeshire Learning Centre will be subject to regular monitoring visits, with inspectors returning to assess whether leadership, teaching standards, attendance and learning environments are improving.

Authority faces difficult decisions ahead of 2026/27 budget

CARMARTHENSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL has launched a public consultation on its plans to address significant budget pressures, as it works to close a £25 million shortfall in its draft budget for 2026/27.

Like councils across Wales, Carmarthenshire is facing mounting financial challenges driven by inflation, rising demand for services and funding constraints. More than three quarters of the Council’s net revenue budget for day-to-day services such as social care and education comes from grants provided by the Welsh Government, which itself receives a block grant from the UK Government.

Only 17% of the Council’s income is generated through Council Tax.

In November 2025, the Welsh Government announced a provisional funding settlement for Carmarthenshire of 2.3%. To help bridge the gap, the Council has identified more than £9.5 million in operational savings and has also applied a recurrent £5 million saving through a reduction in employer contributions to the Dyfed Pension Fund.

Despite these measures, and a proposed Council Tax increase of 6.5%, the Council still faces a remaining shortfall of £3.5 million in its draft budget.

Since those figures were prepared, the Welsh Labour Government reached a budget agreement with Plaid Cymru on 9 December 2025. This could result in an overall funding increase of 4.1% for Carmarthenshire in 2026/27. The deal will be voted on by the Senedd on 20 January 2026.

However, until the final funding settlement is confirmed, the Council is consulting residents based on the original 2.3% provisional increase.

Savings proposals

The Council has a legal duty to set a balanced budget, ensuring that income from sources such as the Revenue Support Grant, Council Tax, paid-for services and grants meets its expenditure.

Last year, spending reductions of more than £8 million were delivered, including savings in educational transport, public conveniences and some cultural and leisure services. Building on this, the Council is proposing a further £9.5 million in operational savings for 2026/27.

Proposals focus on Integrated Services, Adult Services, Children’s Services and Environmental Infrastructure. Measures include expanding in-house care services, supporting greater independence where possible, extending the Families Together programme to reduce the need for children to enter care, increasing local fostering provision, and identifying efficiencies across highways and transport.

A significant element of the budget strategy is the reduction in employer pension contributions. Strong investment performance has allowed the Dyfed Pension Fund to reduce the Council’s contribution rate from 16.2% to 12.5% between April 2026 and March 2029. This delivers a recurrent £5 million saving with no service reductions, job losses or impact on pension benefits.

Cabinet member’s comments

Cabinet Member for Resources, Alun Lenny said the financial outlook remained extremely challenging.

He said: “Carmarthenshire County Council, like all local authorities across Wales, is facing very difficult budget decisions due to factors largely outside our control, including inflation, nationally agreed pay settlements and the level of funding provided by the Welsh Government.

“Demand for services continues to grow. Social care is under particular pressure due to an ageing population, rising commissioned care costs, Foundation Living Wage increases and capped client contributions.

“Children’s Services are also experiencing significant pressures, with more children requiring specialist residential placements, higher fostering payments and increasing complexity of need.

“Education faces challenges from school overspends, inflation and pay awards, as well as rising levels of additional learning needs, elective home education, attendance issues and behavioural pressures.

“Even after identifying £9.5 million of operational savings, we are still facing a significant budget gap. That is why it is vital that residents, businesses and stakeholders have their say on how we address these challenges.”

Have your say

The Council is inviting residents, businesses and voluntary and community organisations to comment on the proposed savings. Feedback will be considered by councillors as part of the final budget-setting process, ahead of approval by Full Council in March 2026.

Views can be shared online via the Council’s website or in person at customer service Hwb centres in Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford.

The consultation closes on 1 February 2026.

A PREVIOUSLY refused call to change holiday accommodation near a Pembrokeshire village which was not meeting the criteria to avoid the second homes council tax premium, to a residential care home, has now been allowed.

In an application to Pembrokeshire County Council, Ian Parker sought permission for a change of use of The Sycamores, Gelli Hill, Llawhaden, on the site of a former farm complex, from an eight-bedroom holiday let capable of supporting 16 guests, to a residential care home of six residents and 10 staff.

A previous application was refused by county planners in 2024 on the basis it had failed “to provide justification in order to support an identified need for a residential care home at this location”.

A supporting statement, through agent H.B. Tribe Chartered Engineer, said its previous use as a holiday let was available for 140 days and actually let for 70 days in any one year, below the-now 182-day level to avoid incurring a second homes council tax premium.

“Recent local press reports indicate that a number of providers of holiday accommodation have left the industry as they cannot meet this target and, if they continue, are therefore liable for a huge increase in taxation, putting up the rate for holiday makers who are unlikely to pay the additional sums. Demand will therefore fall.

“In 2023 The Sycamores did not meet this new threshold and therefore faced the increased cost of having to pay council tax, (with the premium as a second home) so hard business decisions had to be taken. The property cannot continue as a holiday let.”

It said the applicants, together with a third director, own and operate three care homes in Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion specialising in the care of adults with learning disabilities, employing some 95 staff as the clients require 24-hour care and some need one-to-one supervision at all times.

It concluded: “It is known that nationally the care system is struggling to meet the increasing demands that are being asked of it. This is no less true for those with learning disabilities as any other group of the population. Evidence has been submitted to show that there is a demand for further residential and respite care spaces in West Wales.

“The application property exists and will remain as it is. There is no new visual impact on the countryside.”

An officer report recommending approval for the latest application said: “The applicant in addressing the previous refusal of planning permission has provided information to demonstrate that there is substantial demand for the provision of new residential care beds from within Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.

“It is considered that the building is appropriate for the proposed use, given its current use as holiday accommodation.”

It also said concerns about potential increases in foul water drainage were already met by the potential capacity of the existing tourist accommodation.

The application was conditionally approved.