For the last decade or so, most of the focus on local government reform in Wales has centred on the 22 unitary local authorities/counties.
However, the tier of local government below them often gets sidestepped.
I’ve looked at local government as part of posts relating to independence back in 2013 and it’s something I’m actively considering returning to in the future – maybe as early as next year if I can bother to keep going.
If town and community councils are expected to take on more responsibilities, then the natural question is whether they’re up to it and if not what can be done – structurally- to enable them to take on a bigger role?
That could mean a combination of mergers, waiting to see if the requirement for properly qualified clerks improves the administration of community councils or introducing special measures for community councils that consistently fall foul of minimum standards.
Merging community councils sounds like a simple solution of paper – Bridgend has 20 town and community councils but could probably get by with fewer than 10 – but bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better, whether that’s at community council level or county level.
I would look to the likes of Barry Town Council as a template to replicate elsewhere: it represents a sustainably large enough electorate to provide a decent tax base and sizable budget, the number of councillors is kept at a reasonable level compared to the population (roughly one councillor for every 2,200 people) , while they employ a few dozen staff of their own.
At that sort of scale, you can consider handing down additional responsibilities as standard (libraries, public toilets, parks), granting the town & community council sector extra statutory powers (i.e. some kind of veto on planning and licensing applications) and reworking how council tax and business rates function so community councils get a fair share.
For those town and community councillors hell-bent on generating bad publicity or wasting time and money, they ought to be made aware of how easy it is to abolish a community council.
Firstly, a petition needs to be signed by at least 50 electors calling for a community meeting within two months of the petition being submitted to the community council. Then, at least 300 electors need to attend the community meeting.
At that meeting, two-thirds of those present have to vote in favour of a local referendum. Finally, in that referendum at least two-thirds have to vote in favour of abolition.
In 2006, residents voted by 89.9% – 10.1% to abolish Dunvant Community Council after they proposed a significant increase in the precept to pay for a new playground. Similarly, there were moves to abolish Holyhead Town Council in 2016 but it didn’t go anywhere.
