News
Badger enjoys the sweet smell of ‘success’
It worries Badger that an administration so committed to cutting public services is headed by a man who finds remembering to file his expenses on time difficult and is a self-confessed bad book-keeper. All those alleged efficiency savings and service improvements (a.k.a. ‘cuts’) swimming around in the head of a man who forgot to claim £4649 in expenses; it cannot be easy for him, poor dab!
All the talk of those supposed service improvements, alleged efficiency savings and being kind to our environment cannot obscure the fact that Pembrokeshire County Council has embarked on a course of slashing low paid workers’ pay while preserving the obscene salaries paid to upper management as a reward for their collective past and continuing failure; on a policy (cutting bin collections) that will ensure that Pembrokeshire households will be regular stopping off points for Badger’s woodland chums Ratty and Foxy; and a policy that means that if you are caught short in a public place, you will be doing your bit for the environment by wearing reusable nappies.
How lucky we are then that the Council was this week able to announce that ‘Latest figures show that Pembrokeshire County Council’s performance improved again last year and was well above average when compared to other local authorities in Wales … Pembrokeshire’s performance was particularly positive in adult and children’s social care.’
Now that is good news, to an extent. If success is going to be measured as not failing as badly as everyone else, Jamie Adams’s breast must be swelling with pride.
We can all be proud of the Council’s achievement in closing a library before finding out how much it would cost to replace it and then having to back track on its plans for it; that its own estimate of capital works required to the education estate was wildly incorrect; that the Council’s view of success is maintaining ‘the lowest Council Tax in Wales’ by slashing public services and showering European grant money on a few private landlords and property speculators.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the figures that escaped Cllr Adams’s attention:
Cllr Jacob Williams’s motion about traveller pitches in Pembrokeshire and the need for the Council to ensure its procedures were appropriate rightly received widespread attention. The Council now has the chance to right a wrong and put its money where its mouth is. When the Council has an estimate for a requirement for expenditure of £1m in this financial year and has since the start of it spent £6,000, the need for rapid review instead of mere lip service is underlined.
Pembrokeshire County Council takes 78.6 days to discharge its primary duty to households determined to be homeless. That is 78.6 working days. Add in the weekends, because people don’t stop being homeless on Saturday and Sunday, and Pembrokeshire is proud to keep the homeless without a permanent roof over their heads for over four months. That is against a Welsh average of 128 working days and a target of 66 days. Hurrah. We are not the worst!
The Council’s desired ‘Key Outcome 1’ is that ‘Children, young people and families in Pembrokeshire have the opportunity to lead healthy, happy and fulfilling lives.’ Not if you are a child with special needs, however: for those children, Pembrokeshire’s performance is woeful. Out of 23 statements of Special Educational Needs, only 3 – 13% – were issued within 26 weeks. For the sake of clarity, the same period last year produced an 88% performance against the same target. Success, indeed, then! No explanation is given for this pathetic failure in the papers recording the Council’s performance for special educational needs assessments other than that reports are ‘awaited’ from Health and Social Care.
Still?
Rocking on for six months after the end of the year to which those figures relate, the Council is STILL awaiting an explanation? Perhaps there is only one manual typewriter in County Hall and the typist is on long term leave.
Perhaps best value for money in education could be achieved by making an effort to recruit the best available permanent staff for Pembrokeshire’s schools instead of the below, a response to a Freedom of Information Act request:
SCHOOLS PAYMENTS FOR TEMPORARY / SUPPLY STAFF IN THE 2012/13 FINANCIAL YEAR:
Staff on fixed term contracts 7,014,631.23
Supply staff 1,546,187.07
Agency staff 119,098.76
Total 8,679,917.06
Mind you, Social Care and Education are responsible for every Compromise Agreement the Council confirms entering into since 2009. Think of those agreements as ‘we pay you to go away, not make a fuss and keep your lip zipped’ ways of ending employment. Note the startling figures for the current and immediately past financial years.
01/04/13 2 @ £48,720 + Payment in Lieu of Notice
01/04/12 – 31/03/13 2 @ £35,200 + PILON
01/04/11 – 31/04/12 0
01/04/10 – 31/03/11 1 @ £7,000 + PILON
01/04/09 – 31/03/10 1 @ £3,672 + PILON
Three of those agreements were in senior management positions.
We can all take comfort in the thought that scarce resources are being spent wisely and well and not ploughed into rewarding failure and mediocrity.
Something smells sweet around Jamie Adams and the IPPG. Perhaps it is success, after all.
Business
Port of Milford Haven now official ‘a great place to work’
THE PORT of Milford Haven has been officially accredited as a Great Place to Work-Certified™ organisation. As the first Port Authority in Britain to secure this Certification™, it is a significant achievement.
“We are very proud to be Great Place to Work-Certified™,” said Vidette Swales, HR Director at the Port of Milford Haven. “It means so much that our employees have reported a consistently positive experience with their colleagues, their leaders and their jobs. Offering a positive employee experience is not only beneficial for the people who work with us but is also key for our continued business success.”
Tom Sawyer, CEO at the Port of Milford Haven added: “Our team is operating the UK’s leading energy port, and it is of the utmost importance that we do that safely, responsibly and effectively. We’re striving for excellence and aim to provide a world class service to our customers as well as supporting sustainable coastal communities for the prosperity of future generations. Our employees are clearly at the centre of this which is why I’m delighted that they feel supported in their role. I’m especially proud that this Certification™ demonstrates our core values of Safety, Excellence, Collaboration and Sustainability so perfectly.”
“We congratulate the Port of Milford Haven on achieving their Certification™,” said Benedict Gautrey, Managing Director of Great Place to Work® UK. “Organisations which put the employee experience at the heart of their business gain their employees’ trust and, in turn, are truly able to build a great workplace culture that delivers outstanding business results.”
Find out more about careers at the Port of Milford Haven here: www.mhpa.co.uk/about/careers-at-the-port/.
News
Fresh questions over fire that ravaged Manorbier school
A senior Pembrokeshire councillor is to be quizzed on what progress has been made in recouping a £200,000 insurance excess paid by the council following the 2022 fire at a Manorbier school.
Manorbier Church in Wales VC School and its adjoining schoolhouse was severely damaged by a fire on October 11, 2022, which broke out in the school roof space.
Pupils and staff were successfully evacuated with no injuries, and a “school from school” was set up in Jameston Village Hall, after a brief period of sanctuary at the nearby Buttyland caravan site.
Pembrokeshire County Council’s insurers have previously said the fire was accidentally started while “hot works” were being carried out by contractors to renew an adjacent flat roof, but, as has previously been stressed, no liability had been accepted to date.
Councillors have previously heard the majority of costs were likely to be met from the council’s insurers, with the caveat of the unknown issue of liability and its effect on the £200,000 insurance excess.
A submitted question, by Councillor Aled Thomas, to be heard at the full council meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council on May 9, will ask Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language Cllr Guy Woodham “to update the chamber on what progress the Cabinet have made in recouping the £200,000 insurance excess paid following the devastating non-fault fire at Manorbier school”.
Councillors have previously been told by Cllr Woodham: “The legal issues are not straightforward but will be robustly taken forward.
“At this stage it’s still subject to legal discussion. The excess will be covered by a fund the council holds for insurance excess.”
He said that, if liability was found or accepted, the council would “pursue for the full maximum claim of the costs associated with the fire”.
Crime
Dafydd Llywelyn retains his post as our local commissioner
THE result of the election for the Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner election has been declared.
Plaid’s Dafydd Llywelyn retains his role as commissioner. He has held the role since 2016.
The result of the election is as follows:
- Justin Mark Griffiths (Lib Dem) 7,719
- Ian Harrison 19,134 (Con)
- Dafydd Llywelyn 31,323 (Plaid)
- Philippa Thompson (Lab) 18,353
Before the election, Dafydd Llywelyn promised: “As your current Commissioner, operational, front-line policing has, and always will come before party politics. I have a strong track record of delivering on my promises and of listening to the communities of Dyfed Powys. I am proud of what I have achieved since 2016, but there is still so much to do.
“I am an approachable individual and I believe in listening to all members of the community in order to shape a successful police force.
“Since 2016, I have increased resources whilst also retaining the lowest council tax levels in Wales. During that time, we’ve seen:
150 more Police Officers;
- 150 more Police Staff;
- A CCTV system that is monitored 24/7 by police staff;
- A dedicated rural crime team;
- A focus on county lines drug dealing to target organised crime;
- Investment in Youth Offending Teams to divert young people away from crime;
- A new Offender Diversionary Scheme to reduce re-offending.
If re – elected:
- I will safeguard Neighbourhood Policing resources retaining a visible local policing presence;
- I will invest in the Communications Centre to ensure an accessible service;
- I will continue to put the victim at the heart of the service and develop a truly victim led service;
- I will work with operational staff to keep local police stations open;
- I will invest in a new and refreshed School Police programme to deliver early intervention and preventative work;
- I will prioritise working in partnership with organisations and agencies to safeguard the most vulnerable in society.
“Your safety is my top priority. I want to ensure that the Dyfed Powys Police Force remains one of the safest places to live in Wales and England.”
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