Paul Murphy MP, the former Welsh Secretary, today warned of the financial dangers of possible local government reorganisation.
Speaking in the Welsh Grand Committee in the House of Commons, he questioned whether reorganisation would pay for itself.
The MP for Torfaen said:
“I have lived through two local government reorganisations and they cost a lot of money and a lot of jobs. It is estimated that 15,000 jobs could go and that anything between a quarter and half a billion would have to be spent”.
He questioned the merits of spending on reorganisation at a time when the Welsh Grant is due to be reduced by the UK Government by £1.7 billion between 2010 and 2015, meaning less money to spend on front line services.
