Reforming local government has been a rather fruitless endeavour since devolution – to the extent that a few years ago I added the absence of reform to a list of failures of devolution.
Despite dissatisfaction with the current unitary authority system – and the role of town & community councils – the system inherited from the UK Government in the 1990s remains stubbornly in place.
The issue go much deeper than the map, of course – all of which will be looked at in more detail here.
As mentioned in Part I and Part II, the most comprehensive examination of local government since devolution was the 2013-2014 Commission on Public Service Governance & Delivery, chaired by Prof. Paul Williams (hence “Williams Commission”).
I wrote a full summary of the commission’s report and the subsequent fallout on the old Oggy Bloggy Ogwr. At the time I said:
It was almost correct. There was an expectation on my part that at least a few of the Commission’s recommendations would happen. Looking back on it from 2022, it’s hard to think of many that made it beyond the report.
What happened after the Williams Commission report was published?
A lot of public discourse focused on map changes, with little regard given to the Commission’s recommendations on matters like scrutiny, performance management, reforms to regional bodies (like Fire Authorities) etc.
The reaction at Senedd level suggested that the Commission has revealed some uncomfortable truths about the patchy nature of public service delivery which the Welsh Government were forced to confront. Despite this, there was no agreement on a way forward.
Some Senedd Members accepted that reforms were essential; others were more critical of the Commission’s terms of reference or believed the process was being rushed. The then First Minister, Carwyn Jones, warned that the longer the process of reform dragged out, the more uncertainty it would cause councils.
As for the councils themselves, those who commented early on were largely critical of the merger proposals.
Meanwhile, the commentariat and civic society didn’t think the proposals went far enough on issues such as electoral reform, accountability or co-production (the latter being a core recommendation of the 2006 Beecham Review1).
In the autumn of 2014, the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) published their first formal response.
Whilst not rejecting reorganisation outright, the WLGA believed the loss of local connection and the costs involved made mergers undesirable. They put forward an alternative plan featuring regional collaboration instead which, as of 2022, lines up with the recently-introduced Corporate Joint Committees – another regional board joining a plethora of pre-existing regional boards (Part II).
The Welsh Government let councils come forward with voluntary merger proposals, but only three emerged: Conwy-Denbighshire, Bridgend-Vale of Glamorgan and Blaenau Gwent-Torfaen. These were all rejected by the new Local Government Minister, Leighton Andrews – who had developed a reputation of being a “reformer” in his time as Education Minister.
The proposals didn’t line up with the recommendations of the Williams Commission and reportedly failed to meet voluntary merger criteria set down by the Welsh Government. Despite the setback, the voluntary approach remained in the Local Government Act 2015 which set out the mechanics of council mergers (updated in 2021).
A further white paper was published setting out a deeper vision for local government reform including:
- Term limits for councillors and a power to recall them.
- Possible independent appointment of senior officers, granting councils the power to dismiss Chief Executives and more alignment/consistency on senior pay in local government.
- A ban on Senedd Members “double-jobbing” as councillors.
- Introducing a “general power of competence”.
- Reform and rationalisation of town and community councils.
- A community “Right to Bid” for local assets threatened with sale or closure.
- Greater Welsh Government powers to intervene in “failing” local authorities.
A few of these white paper proposals made it into the Local Government & Elections Act 2021, but many didn’t.
There was a dramatic turn of events later in 2015 when another proposed map of local government was published by the Welsh Government.
The map effectively proposed returning the 1972 Act county councils as unitary authorities – cutting the number from 22 to 8 (or 9) – going far further than the Williams Commission.
Councils were offered an ultimatum: put forward realistic voluntary mergers on your terms now, or a new Local Government Bill will be tabled after the 2016 Senedd election proposing compulsory mergers.
That never happened.
The Change of Heart
Following the 2016 Senedd election (and the shock loss of Leighton Andrews’ Rhondda seat), Mark Drakeford was put in charge of local government and the idea of compulsory mergers was dropped. The policy shifted in line with the WLGA – regional collaboration with the option of voluntary mergers.
Mergers briefly made it back onto the agenda in 2018 under yet another Local Government Minister, Alun Davies. Despite talking tough on forcing through mergers if councils didn’t come forward with voluntary proposals, within weeks the idea was dropped (again).
When the time came for local government legislation to be introduced at the Senedd in 2019-20, regional collaboration was the main reform – eventually becoming the Corporate Joint Committees.
1. Review of Local Service Delivery (June 2006). “Beyond Boundaries: Citizen-Centred Local Services for Wales” (p6-8). Available at: http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/documents/829/WAG%20-%20Beyond%20Boundaries%20%28Beecham%20Review%29%202006.PDF
