Agenda item

To consider a report by the Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services (copy attached) on the changes and proposals to reform Welsh local government’s legislative framework.

A copy of a report by the Democratic Services Manager (DSM), on the changes and proposals to reform Welsh Local Government’s legislative framework, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

The DSM introduced the report and explained that Welsh Government had been reviewing how the Welsh local government should operate and making proposals and new legislation including the Power to Local People White Paper, the new Local Government (Wales) Act 2015 and the draft consultation Local Government (Wales) Bill.   The DSM explained that the report summarised some of the key issues from the reforms.

The provisions of a new Local Government (Wales) Act 2015, which had been passed on the 25^th November, 2015, allowed for preparatory work to enable a programme of local government mergers and reform and include provisions for the voluntary early merger of two or more County or County Borough Councils by April, 2018.  The Act amended the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011 in relation to the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales, which set allowance payments for Members, and the survey of Councillors and unsuccessful candidates, as well as the Local Government (Democracy) (Wales) Act 2013 in respect of electoral reviews.  A link to the 2015 Act had been included in the report.

Welsh Government was currently consulting on a draft Local Government (Wales) Bill, with comments to be returned by the 15^th February, 2016.  The objective of the draft Bill was to complete the programme of local authority mergers and set out a new and reformed legislative framework for local authority democracy, accountability, performance and elements of finance.  It would also establish a statutory Public Services Staff Commission.

Reference was made to the interest in the proposed mergers of County and County Borough Councils, which had been set out in Part 1 of the Bill.  Even without those proposals, Parts 2 to 8 of the Bill would see the most significant reform of Welsh local government since the Local Government Act 2000, which introduced the executive/scrutiny model of governance.  Appendix 1 provided a summary of some of the main points.  A link to the full consultation documents and instructions on how to respond to the Welsh Government’s proposals had been provided.

The DSM provided a detailed summary of the following areas which had been included in his PowerPoint Presentation:-

·                 Local Government Reorganisation

·                 Denbighshire County Council Preference

·                 Timeline

·                 Transition Committee

·                 Public Participation

·                 Community Area Committee

·                 Access to Meetings

·                 Electoral Qualifications

·                 Cabinet and Chief Executive and Functions

·                 Assets

·                 Improvements in Governance

·                 Community Councils

The officers provided the following responses to questions and issues raised by Members:-

-               Concerns expressed that although Welsh Government had advocated the introduction and use of remote attendance they had not adopted the use of such systems.  The DSM explained that there were technical problems with the use of such equipment.

-               Coucillor W.L. Cowie highlighted the negative aspects of introducing mandatory training for members of the public who undertake duties on a voluntary basis.

-               Councillor W.L. Cowie questioned the impact of future decisions taken, in respect of Local Government Reorganisation, with regard to work currently being undertaken.  The DSM confirmed that no decision had been taken with regard to the future plans and the map to be adopted.  He referred to the challenges facing the future Authority, with regard to the decisions to be made and the work to be undertaken by the Shadow Authorities.  The Scrutiny Coordinator referred to the decision taken by the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee to endorse the work being carried out, between Denbighshire and Conwy Councils, to proceed with the formation of a Joint Public Service Board.  She explained that any work undertaken, which related to the joint Corporate Plan, could be amended to concur with the introduction of any future alternative arrangements introduced by Welsh Government.

-               Concerns were expressed regarding the possible duplication of work, and staffing resource provision, during the period of a Shadow Council.

-               The Chair expressed concern, and questioned the reasons, for the failure to clarify the proposed future Local Authority boundaries for North Wales.

During the ensuing discussion the Chair thank the DSM and his staff for the information provided.

RESOLVED – that the report be received and the information imparted noted.