COUNCIL workers, carers and school support staff in Pembrokeshire could be drawn into a growing UK-wide pay dispute after GMB members rejected a 3.3 per cent local government pay offer.

The offer, made through the Local Government Association as part of the national NJC “Green Book” pay negotiations, covers local authority workers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including school support staff, care workers, refuse and recycling staff, highways workers and other council employees.

GMB said almost 150,000 school staff, carers and council workers were balloted, with members voting to reject the 2026/27 offer.

The union said the deal failed to address long-running concerns over grading for school support staff working with children with special educational needs and disabilities.

That issue is particularly relevant in Wales, where councils have repeatedly warned that schools, additional learning needs and social care are among the biggest pressures on local authority budgets.

In Pembrokeshire, the dispute comes only months after the county council approved its 2026/27 budget, including extra funding of £4.7m for schools and £5.9m for social care.

Council tax in Pembrokeshire is rising by £1.46 per week for a Band D property this year, with council leaders saying the increase was needed to protect key services.

But any improved pay offer would add further pressure to council finances unless additional funding is provided by government.

Unions argue that low-paid public service workers have seen living standards squeezed by rising bills and years of pressure on local services.

GMB National Officer Kevin Brandstatter said: “GMB members have massively rejected this meagre offer.

“With international crisis leading to rising bills, hard working public servants deserve better.

“Staff are fed up with being undervalued and overstretched.

“The LGA has shown complete and utter contempt for workers doing their best to deliver services despite insufficient resource.”

UNISON has also rejected the 3.3 per cent offer and is preparing an industrial action ballot in England and Cymru/Wales between July 9 and August 6.

If strike action is eventually supported, disruption could affect schools, council offices, social care support, refuse collection, highways, libraries, leisure services and other local authority functions.

The political difficulty for Welsh councils is that they are caught between two pressures: unions demanding higher pay for essential workers, and local taxpayers already facing higher council tax bills.

Welsh Government ministers have acknowledged that councils are under significant financial pressure, particularly in education and social care.

The Welsh Local Government Association has also warned that local authorities across Wales face hundreds of millions of pounds in budget pressures, with social care, schools and additional learning needs among the most serious challenges.

For Pembrokeshire, the issue is likely to be watched closely by parents, council staff and residents who rely on frontline services.

A prolonged dispute could place further strain on schools already dealing with budget pressures, while any disruption to care or waste services would quickly become visible across the county.

GMB’s Local Government and Schools Committees are now expected to meet to decide the union’s next steps.

£141.6m scheme could transform education in the town

A MAJOR step forward has been taken in the long-awaited Milford Haven Schools Redevelopment project after Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet approved the Outline Business Case for the £141.6 million scheme.

The decision, made on Wednesday (May 27), means the business case can now be submitted to the Welsh Government for consideration.

The ambitious project would see a new combined campus built on the current Milford Haven School site, bringing an English-medium primary school together with the secondary school, with some shared facilities.

The plans also include a 40-place Flying Start centre and a specialist Learning Resource Centre for 24 pupils with additional learning needs.

A new Welsh-medium primary school is also planned for Milford Haven, providing Welsh language education in the area.

Alongside the schools redevelopment programme, a new leisure centre will be created. Thornton Sports Hall is set to be demolished as part of the wider changes.

The next stage will be for the council to submit a Full Business Case to the Welsh Government before final approval can be given and construction can begin. Contractors are expected to be on site next year, with the new school buildings due to open in 2030.

The scheme has been discussed for many years, with local families, pupils, staff and the wider community waiting for meaningful progress towards modern education facilities for the town.

There has also been criticism locally over the slow pace of the process, including concerns about Welsh Government bureaucracy and the requirement for repeated business case approvals before funding decisions are finalised.

However, the Cabinet decision marks a significant milestone for one of the largest education projects ever proposed in Pembrokeshire.

If delivered, the redevelopment has the potential to transform education, childcare, Welsh-medium provision, additional learning needs support and leisure facilities for future generations in Milford Haven.

PLANS to turn a former joke and fancy-dress shop in a Pembrokeshire seaside town to office space for an estate agent have been given the go-ahead.

In an application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Giles Birt of Birt and Co, through agent David J P Morgan RIBA Architect, sought permission for a change of the of the former Griggles shop, Ventnor House, Warren Street, Tenby to office use.

The application included a new first floor office space, replacement windows and shopfront, and repairs to fabric.

Griggles, a joke and fancy-dress Mecca in the town for decades, closed back in 2019 when Roland Grigg retired after running the shop since 1970.

Tenby Town Council supported the change of use proposal, but Tenby Civic Society had raised concerns that timber windows would be preferable within the conservation area, and asking for a potential restriction of working hours to protect residential amenity, and also raising concerns about a potential increase in parking issues.

After amended plans were produced, the Civic Society said: “The additional detail to front shop windows and reduction to first floor rear extension are welcome. The latter is still somewhat dominant to the two adjoining properties amenity; careful site inspection is needed and may well have produced this amendment.

“We remain enthusiasts for wooden windows here particularly for the characterful front elevation, including the upper floor. We note however that these upper floor dormers are not suited to sash format, and are common to other adjoining properties. Detail changes fit character and location and are welcome.”

An officer report recommending approval said: “Further to [an] objection received in terms of potential loss of privacy and light, revised plans have been received. The existing ground floor has been set back some 500mm from the southern boundary with Fern Cottage and conventional windows and a door substituted for the former patio windows.

“At first floor level, the proposed full-width extension has been set back by some 2.2 metres and a single window set off-centre to the west to avoid overlooking the rear windows and garden of Fern Cottage.

“The resultant stepped elevation is not regarded as overbearing and the exposed flat roof at first floor level is to be accessed only for maintenance so as to avoid potential for loss of amenity for neighbours.”