The leader of Pembrokeshire County Council, Clr. Maurice Hughes, has pledged that the authority will improve the consistency of its Social Services.

This follows the publication of an independent Joint Review of the council's Social Services by the Audit Commission in Wales and the Social Services Inspectorate for Wales.

The review found that Social Services in Pembrokeshire are serving some people well, but have room for improvement.

Clr. Hughes commented: "The review provides an independent and professional evaluation of our services and I wish to thank the inspectors and their team for the hard work they put in.

"We intend that our services in Pembrokeshire should be among the best in the country, and we have used the recommendations of the Joint Review report in developing our Action Plan to take our services forward."

The council, he added, had already started to make changes which would show as genuine improvements in service delivery.

Describing the review as 'about middle of the road', Clr. Hughes said: "Some reports have been much worse, and some, it must be said, have been much better, but we are deeply committed to continuous improvement.

"Some of the issues covered in the report are challenges not only for Pembrokeshire, but also for authorities all across the country, but it is clear that in some areas, much remains for us to do," he said.

Clr. Hughes also called for an apology from Assembly Member Dr. Richard Edwards who had forecast in an Assembly debate that the report "could be the worst in Wales."

Clr. Hughes said: "The report is certainly not the worst in Wales, nor is it the best and we are not burying our heads in the sand.

"The report has identified ways in which Pembrokeshire can improve its Social Services. We shall be using it in that way."

He said much of the "ill-informed publicity" in advance of the publication of the report had been about the Social Services budget.

"There are three main points. Firstly, spending more money does not necessarily ensure better services; secondly, the review acknowledges we have made significant increases in spending since local Government reorganisation in 1996, when we inherited a deficit from Dyfed; and thirdly, comparisons of spending with Welsh authorities gives only part of the picture.

"Many of the English Unitary Authorities and 30 of the 34 shire counties spend less than Pembrokeshire. That covers virtually all of rural England and authorities with which we have more in common than, say, Cardiff and Swansea," he added.

The council has produced a draft Action Plan which is based on the matters raised in the Joint Review and will now start a consultation with its partners and stakeholders on the plan.