Responding this evening to the tabling of the Amendment of the Local Government Measure, Cllr John Davies (Pembrokeshire), WLGA Leader said:
“The tabling of a 17 page Amendment of the Local Government Measure at the “eleventh minute of the eleventh hour” does fundamentally call into question the effective scrutiny of such an important piece of legislation both within the Assembly and by stakeholders.”
The Assembly government has written today to the WLGA and given assurances that: “This amendment does not provide the Minister with a practical solution to undertake a wholesale reorganisation of local government in Wales. As he has made clear previously, this is not an objective of the government as it would almost certainly involve disproportionate cost and an unacceptable impact on service delivery”.
Cllr Davies said:
“While this provides reassurance, it does bring into question why this did not form part of the extensive eighteen month policy debate and evidence gathering sessions on the Measure that have been undertaken within the Assembly on which the WLGA were asked to give evidence.
“Clearly this is not only a matter for the WLGA but for Assembly Members who from recent headlines have also expressed a significant measure of dissatisfaction in this process. It is concerning that legislation as fundamental as the future structure of authorities can be done without scrutiny and wider engagement or consultation.
“Local government in Wales is putting up hugely radical proposals in the big service areas such as education and social care to the Assembly in terms of the integration of functions across councils at a sub regional, regional and national level. The constant emphasis on local government boundaries in this context is meaningless.”
