PUBLIC services must come before second home owners, Unison urged today in response to Pembrokeshire County Council’s budget consultation.

The union called for a higher council tax, including on long-term empty properties, and the subsidy for second home owners scrapped to fund Pembrokeshire’s £34.1 million gap.

Unison criticised the reduction of the second home tax premium from 200 to 150 per cent, describing it as “deeply disappointing” and estimating the £1.2m loss in the change of plans could close 60 per cent of libraries and day centres.