About us
Pembrokeshire is a unique and beautiful county. Besides the 125,000 people who live and work here, we also welcome around 2.4 million staying visitors per year.
Pembrokeshire County Council provides a diverse and wide reaching range of services to meet the needs of its residents and visitors.
These include education, social services, housing, transport, leisure, library facilities and planning to name just a few.
Our refuse and recycling service, has been named the best for recycling in Wales in for the last three years.
The Council is the biggest employer in the county, with around 6,100 employees and every employee has a key role to play in helping us achieve our vision: Working together, improving lives.
Facts and figures
We:
Collect waste and recycling from over 62,000 households
Maintain approximately 2,500 kilometres of road, 650 bridges and 15,000 street lights
Provide 96 car parks with in excess of 7,500 spaces
Are responsible for 61 schools, providing education for more than 17,200 pupils
Own and manage more than 5,600 homes
Process around 1,200 planning applications a year
Provide a wide range of public protection services, including environmental health, trading standards and licensing
Help maintain Pembrokeshire's award winning beaches, including Blue Flag and Green Coast Awards beaches.
Manage the county's leisure facilities, and its libraries, museums and archives
How the council works
Pembrokeshire residents are represented by 60 members called County Councillors.
These 60 members represent 59 wards (areas) across Pembrokeshire.
County Councillors are elected for a five-year term. The last election was held on May 5th, 2022.
The current political make-up of the Council is:
Not affiliated to any group: 19
Independent Group: 17
Welsh Conservative Group: 10
Labour Group: 10
Plaid Cymru Group: 2
Welsh Liberal Democrat Group: 2
Councillors determine the policies of the council, while officers (council staff) are employed to give advice, implement these decisions and deliver council services.
The Leader of the Council is Cllr David Simpson (not affiliated to any group).
The Leader of the Council appoints a Cabinet with Cabinet Members having specific responsibilities relating to areas of the Council’s work.
The Leader and the Cabinet form the Executive.
The Cabinet
Cllr David Simpson Leader
Cllr Paul Miller Deputy Leader, Cabinet Member for Place, the Region and Climate Change
Cllr Michelle Bateman Cabinet Member for Housing and Regulatory Services
Cllr Alec Cormack Cabinet Member for Corporate Finance
Cllr Jon Harvey Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery
Cllr Tessa Hodgson Cabinet Member for Social Care and Safeguarding
Cllr Neil Prior Cabinet Member for Corporate Improvement and Communities
Cllr Rhys Sinnett Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services and Leisure
Cllr Guy Woodham Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language
To balance the Executive’s powers, Overview and Scrutiny Committees are responsible for holding the Executive to account.
This includes, if necessary, examining and questioning decisions made by the Cabinet.
Pembrokeshire’s Overview and Scrutiny Committees also monitor performance, contribute to policy development and review and investigate matters, which affect the County and its residents.
There are five Overview and Scrutiny Committees:
Schools and Learning
Corporate
Social Care
Policy
Services.