Well-being Objective 3 - Our Community - Pembrokeshire County Council

Well-being Objective 3 - Our Community

Caring for people, and enabling active, resourceful and connected communities

Assessment of current performance – how well are we doing?

Each year the Director of Social Services produces an Annual Report. The most recent version, focused on the 2024-25 financial year, was taken to Cabinet in October 2025. The draft report for the 2025-26 financial year will be considered by Cabinet in autumn 2026. It notes that:

Staff have improved carer awareness and promotion and have increased the visibility of services and opportunities for unpaid carers of all ages.
Social Care has developed their own key priorities to help support the delivery of the Council’s well-being objectives:

Enhancing a preventative approach across the Directorate.
Working towards sustainable accommodation solutions.
Developing our workforce.
Using digital as an enabler when it adds value.

A review of the ‘Adult Care front door’ has been established to look at the role of the Contact Centre and Community Hub in providing information, advice and assistance to customers. This work has been successful in reducing the number of new contacts into Adult Services and the amount of people waiting for assessments. Key objectives include:

Developing an efficient process so people are receiving timely and appropriate support to their enquiries.
Minimising hand-off between partners and ensuring the ‘front door’ is located within the appropriate agency.
Utilising a strength-based approach to improve outcomes.
Supporting the delivery of strategic goals for Strengthening Communities and Preventions agendas.
Utilising digital tools and technology to drive efficiency and future sustainability.

Recruitment within Children’s Social Care and Adults Mental Health continues to be a challenge. The services are strengthening their employment offer to attract and retain high-quality candidates.
A wide range of training is provided to staff to improve workforce development. These training activities ensure that Social Care staff have the skills and knowledge needed to support residents effectively.

The Social Services and Housing Directorate Scorecard is reported quarterly to Cabinet, alongside the Corporate Scorecard. The 2025-26 scorecard update was presented to Cabinet on 1^st June 2026. For Adult Care:

The number of adults awaiting a social services and well-being assessment decreased significantly over the course of the year – 302 adults waiting in March 2025 to 134 by March 2026. This is partly due to changes in the Adult Care front door, a new approach to ensure people are given the appropriate information and support at the right time.
There was a substantial reduction in referrals of people that, following assessment, we determined had no eligible needs – decreased from 507 in 2024-25 to 147 in 2025-26. This is also due to improvements in the front door, helping the Council to better manage demand and ensuring that less social worker time is being spent on assessments that do not result in a benefit for customers.
The amount of time adults waited for their assessments to be allocated reduced throughout the year – 66% of adults were waiting 91+ days in March 2025, whereas only 35% were waiting 91+ days by March 2026.
The number of adults waiting for domiciliary care fluctuated throughout the year, although 2025-26 did see an overall increase when compared to the previous year – 44 people were waiting for domiciliary care in March 2025, compared to 51 people waiting by March 2026.
The number of people in receipt of domiciliary care increased during the year – from 728 in March 2025 to 773 by March 2026 (6% increase). Going forward, in-house domiciliary care will be refocused, with one service covering the whole of Pembrokeshire.

It has been another challenging year for homelessness and prevention services, whilst presentations have reduced there remains a steady level of cases particularly for applicants requiring 1 bedroom and 4+ bedroom accommodation. Staff capacity and retention remain concerns for the service. A range of solutions such as the Leasing Scheme Wales, Transitional Accommodation Capital Programme (TACP) and the Housing Development Programme have made some impact on moving customers through their homeless journey.
The Integrated Housing Team is firmly established as a core preventative component of the homelessness system, intervening earlier and reducing escalation to crisis and statutory responses.
Both the number of homeless people being supported by the housing team, and the number of people being recorded rough sleeping have remained relatively stable throughout the year.
The Migrations team have continued to support Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC), as well as families within the Ukrainian, Syrian and Afghan resettlement schemes. Dedicated housing officers are supporting all migrants to ensure they are offered suitable, settled, affordable accommodation. This accommodation can be sourced anywhere in the country.

445 people have been supported under the Ukrainian Resettlement Scheme since its introduction, with 182 people remaining in the county at the end of 2025-26.
29 Afghan people are being supported under the Afghan Resettlement Scheme.
22 Syrian people are still living in Pembrokeshire following their arrival over 5 years ago under the Syrian Resettlement Scheme.
The Migration team and Children’s Services are supporting 64 UASC under the age of 25. The teams are working collaboratively to move more people into independent living accommodation.

The Strategic Commissioning Plan 2025-2035 was developed and approved by Cabinet in June 2025. This details the supply and demand pressures for Social Services over the next 10 years and sets out an action plan to help mitigate these. The Plan notes that early intervention and prevention is critical, but growing Pembrokeshire’s range of statutory services is a priority to ensure the most appropriate interventions are available to people when they require it.
The Public Services Board (PSB) Strengthening Communities Sub-Group has continued to support communities across Pembrokeshire to be more resourceful and sustainable. Membership of the group includes colleagues from Health, Social Care, Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services (PAVS), MAWW Fire and Rescue Services, PLANED and Welsh Government. The sub-group provides an update on its work at each PSB meeting, and key pieces of work throughout 2025-26 have included:

The launch of the Volunteering Strategy in June 2025. The strategy was developed by PAVS, with input from Pembrokeshire Volunteer Organisers’ Network (PVON), town and community councils, local communities, Pembrokeshire County Council and other PSB members. The PSB approved the strategy in May 2025, and Cabinet agreed to support the strategy at its June 2025 meeting. The Strategy sets out eight strategic objectives to support volunteering initiatives and recognise volunteer contributions. It highlights the importance of co-production, collaboration and partnership working across all sectors when working with communities.
Pembrokeshire Community Hub and Connectors – The Hub dealt with 6,094 enquiries in 2025-26, a 25% increase from the previous year. The enquiries were in relation to support with accessing activities and groups (18%), food (14%), living independently at home (14%) and social connections (14%). Throughout the year, Community Connectors also supported 1,171 individuals across Pembrokeshire with a range of issues such as transport, carer support, financial support and social connections.
The Lifestyle Medicine project, delivered in partnership with Hywel Dda UHB, Pembrokeshire County Council Leisure Services and the PAVS Community Connector Service. This project offers 9-week courses, providing emotional support to people who would benefit from improving their lifestyle and addressing the underlying causes of people’s health conditions.
Additional funding was secured in 2025-26 from the Regional Integration Fund to further develop the Most Significant Change (MSC) programme of work, including training. 93 individuals received training from a range of voluntary, community and statutory organisations, including different departments within Pembrokeshire County Council. 30 stories have been collected and submitted, focusing on the themes of communities, children and young people, and health and wellbeing. There is ambition to expand MSC into other organisations and teams, and this will remain a key area of work going into the next financial year.

An Age Friendly Communities Strategy was developed throughout the year and was adopted by Cabinet in May 2026. The strategy aims to create a foundation for improving the well-being of older people across Pembrokeshire, developing a community suitable for later life that benefits all ages and abilities. Following engagement with older people, organisations and statutory services, a number of key themes were identified, and partners will bring together an action plan to support these moving forward:

Transport and physical access
Information, communication and digital exclusion
Health and care access
Housing, home adaptations and cost of living
The built environment – safety, accessibility, lighting and public toilets
Social connection, activities and community spaces.

The Enhancing Pembrokeshire Grant has allowed PCC to work in partnership with communities and organisations to mitigate the impact of second homes on the local area. £196,000 total funding was raised through the grant for the 2025-26 financial year, with up to £15,000 allocated per community project. By the end of March 2026, 331 projects had been supported by the fund. A full list of projects supported can be found on the Pembrokeshire County Council website. Examples from 2025-26 include:

Aberjazz – inclusive, high-quality workshops year-round to support disabled participants, develop local musicians, and engage young people through educational partnerships like the Pembrokeshire music service.
Blue Horizons CIC –an enhanced, inclusive surf therapy programme (You, Me and the Sea), supporting people in Pembrokeshire with complex additional needs.
Newport Memorial Hall –improving the hall conditions and facilities through an upgrade of chairs, sound and lighting equipment, and refurbishment of the stage floor and surrounding walls.

The Unpaid Carers Strategy was refreshed and relaunched in 2025 by the West Wales Regional Partnership Board. Membership of the Board consists of regional partners, including the Health Board, the voluntary sector, those with lived experiences, and Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire County Councils. An update report on 2025-26 progress towards the Strategy was presented to Social Care O&S Committee in June 2026. It outlined a number of projects undertaken to support carers throughout the year, including:

Scolton Manor Carers Pass – free parking pass and refreshments (291 passes issued).
Bluestone Breaks Offer – delivering breaks to Bluestone for unpaid carers and up to five of their family members (6 lodges booked for mid-week breaks in May-June 2025).
Respite Project – supporting carers to book residential respite (2 respite beds funded for 2025-26).
Timeout for Carers – grants to voluntary and community groups to provide breaks for unpaid carers, in partnership with PAVS (482 individuals supported across 13 projects).

Evidence - how do we know?

Improvement actions – what can we do better and how?

Increase timelier access to community reablement provision through further developments of the front door of adult services.
Develop further, a plan for an Integrated Wellbeing Centre.
Continue to embed the collaborative communications approach across social care, health and the voluntary and community sector, to support timely transfers of people from hospital, back into their communities.
Increase the availability of Personal Assistants to deliver care for people with a Direct Payment.
Continue to improve the front door of Adult Care, promoting best practice for access into services and enhancing the skills of social care teams. This will help to further reduce the number of new contacts and ensure teams can focus on assessments that will provide the most benefit to customers.
Support the public consultation for the Regional Learning Disability Strategy and develop an associated action plan for implementation.
Continue collecting and submitting stories for the Most Significant Change process through the PSB Strengthening Communities Group, broadening participation and embedding it into other organisations and teams.
Develop a partnership action plan for the implementation of the Age Friendly Communities Strategy.
Support the development of the next PSB Well-being Assessment in preparation for its publication in 2027.

Annual Self-Assessment 2025-26

Well-being Objective 3 - Our Community

Assessment of current performance – how well are we doing?

Evidence - how do we know?

Improvement actions – what can we do better and how?