THE best teaching graduates in the UK should be offered to have their student debt written off or other significant financial rewards to work in Pembrokeshire, a senior councillor says.

Pembrokeshire County Council Labour group leader, Cllr Paul Miller, wants to see a £250,000 per annum fund in place to attract graduates to start their careers in the county.

The ‘Critical Skills Fund’ for Pembrokeshire would offer significant benefits to attract the “best and the brightest” to crucial jobs in the county, he says.

The Neyland county councillor believes the fund would go a long way to boosting students’ grades.

He said: "Percentages and statistics often dehumanise a debate but I feel there is something profound about the fact that in 2015, in Pembrokeshire, 62 16 year olds failed to get at least a G grade in five GCSE subjects, despite so many years of study.

"Some 633 young people in Pembrokeshire failed to obtain at least 5 A*-C grades including in English, maths and science, that’s more than half of our GCSE students.

“The sort of results we are generating are having profound effects on this county and its people. Economically, a skilled workforce is critical if a county like ours with poor connectivity, limited infrastructure and a small population is to compete.

“Even in terms of pure, short term, self-interest these results are having an effect on all of us. Attracting people to provide vital services is becoming ever more challenging. Part of the reason, I hear from prospective Withybush doctors, behind their reluctance to work in Pembrokeshire, is concern about school performance. I recognise that it very much only part of the picture, but a part we can and must address.

Cllr Miller said the Fund would be paid for by savings in senior county council positions, including the departure of the deputy chief executive.

The fund will offer selected individuals, taking up Critical Skills jobs either a post graduate qualification grant, a student debt write-off or a year on full pay to travel. Payment will be conditional on individuals working three years or more in a critical skills job in Pembrokeshire and will be linked to a new Leadership and Development Programme.

He added: "This Fund won’t be a quick fix and it won’t solve all our problems overnight but it is a key part of the wider Destination Pembrokeshire agenda. Our county has to be a destination, for work as well as for leisure."

“While the county has so much to offer visitors it’s critical it offers just as much to employers and wealth creators. Creating the right economic conditions, ensuring that we’re encouraging those people with the skills we need to settle here and preparing our children, this county’s future, as best we can to tackle the challenges of the modern world holds the key to our county’s future survival and success.”