The penultimate part of this series on local government and independence looks at how local democracy and community spirit could be enhanced – in many respects without even needing independence.
Wales has a problem with engagement in local politics (let alone elections) and effective scrutiny. Any moves to reform local government in Wales have to address these issues as much as the map or cutting costs.
At the heart would be the constitutions of the elected bodies (councils & assemblies). As mentioned in Part IV, current council constitutions are complicated and prescriptive to the point of being impenetrable despite efforts to improve public accessibility.
The Danish municipality of Roskilde’s governing statute is just 15 pages long, while Bridgend County Borough Council’s Constitution is closer to 200 pages.
So to start, a new model/template constitution would need to be devised that’s as concise and simple as is practical – maybe capped at no more than 30 pages. This would include the structure of committees and boards, managing personal interests, drafting and maintenance of standing orders and the appointment of key positions.
Every council and province would have the same rules post-reform, after which they can modify them however they see fit subject to the general principle of conciseness.
Options to Improve Civic Engagement (other than electoral reform)
Embrace technology and crowd-sourcing – Some councils do this better than others, but there are platforms out there (Fix My Street – pictured above – What Do They Know, They Work For You, Commonplace, social media) which allow the public to access information, give their views or report problems directly to a council without having to go through a formal referral process or customer services.
Representation by councillors for a community/ward is important, but more of their time should be dedicated to scrutiny, training (for newly-elected members) and policy-making than dealing with basic queries.
Qualified privilege for elected members – Elected members at the municipal (and, under devolution, provincial) level should have qualified privilege relating to their public comments in a council chamber or committee. That would offer protection from being sued for defamation.
Draft minutes as standard – Unless you watch meetings in full, you often don’t get a written summary of what happens in a local government meeting until the full minutes are confirmed. This is usually the next scheduled meeting – which can be a month or more away. Some town & community councils publish draft minutes and that should be standard procedure now. Larger authorities may be able to go down an automated transcription route – which would be expensive but save time.
Voting records – All votes should be recorded and results published in full – to the same standard as the Senedd. This doesn’t usually happen at local government level until minutes are published.
Reform to “commercial sensitivity” rules – I can understand why certain information is kept off the record. However, selective redaction of information would be a compromise between a free for all that could harm a local authority’s reputation and transparency (replacing company and supplier names with ‘Company A’, for example). Anything involving the use of public funds should be made public as a matter of principle. It’s the figures and reasoning behind decisions that matter, not who does it.
Whistleblowing – If it isn’t so already, it should be a requirement for all public bodies to have a whistleblowing policy.
Power of summons – Municipal councils, provincial assemblies and their committees could have the power to issue summonses for people to appear before them. There would need to be a good reason to do so, of course, and given that distant working has become an accepted norm, a virtual summons would be as good as face-to-face.
Co-production – It’s a bit of a buzzword in Welsh political circles, but it essentially means that the public should have equal say in how services they use are delivered as the authorities that deliver them.
Local referendums – Municipalities and provinces should be able to hold local referendums on issues that fall within their jurisdiction. The rules for local referendums on elected mayors already exist, but they could be expanded for more general referendums.
Naturally, there’s an expense attached and there can’t be a “free for all” where referendums are held on every topic under the sun – there would need to be restrictions (no referendums on quasi-judicial matters like planning or licensing applications, for example) and a “trigger” (i.e. a minimum of 10-20% of the registered electorate in a municipality signing a petition calling for a referendum).
Welsh language services – There ought to be an expectation of bilingual working by now, including – at the very least upon request – simultaneous translation during meetings and an ability to receive most local government services through the medium of Welsh if demand exists. In a small number of cases, it may be the opposite and bilingual services would be needed to protect access for English speakers. With the abolition of town & community councils and the creation of a smaller number of municipalities, full bilingual working at local government level may be more practical than it is now.
A Local Government Commissioner?
This is optional, but an independent Local Government Commissioner – appointed by the Senedd – could replace the local authority “watchdog” role undertaken by the Public Services Ombudsman.
The office of the local Local Government Commissioner could be responsible for:
- Investigating complaints relating to services provided by local government that for whatever reason haven’t been resolved satisfactorily. Where applicable, the Commissioner would seek to put things right.
- Handling whistle-blower reports from within local government.
- Assisting Audit Wales in the auditing of non-financial aspects of local government services (i.e. governance and general service delivery).
- Reviewing the effectiveness of local government legislation, local bylaws and legislation passed by the provincial assemblies (under devolution or federalism).
- Deciding whether to refer complaints about elected local government members and officers to a Standards in Public Life Tribunal (A Welsh Justice System XII: A Welsh Court System).
- Publishing an annual report to the Senedd.
The other option is, of course, to maintain the Public Services Ombudsman office that we have now – and there’s a strong argument to do so. It’s just determining whether the Ombudsman’s remit is too broad and whether there’s a need for a “watchdog” specifically focused on local government in itself.
An office similar in size to the Children’s Commissioner would have an annual cost of around £1.7million1 – though some of this could be redirected from the budget for the Public Services Ombudsman.
Role of the Media
Last but not least, reporting on local government. I’ve looked at the media before and it’s something I’ll probably end up coming back to in the future – you can read some of what’s been done already here:
There’s now a legal requirement for council meetings to be broadcast online – which is good news, even if it’s not a must-watch 99% of the time. You would expect this to be maintained – funded directly by the Welsh Government or via a top-slicing of revenue grants if necessary.
There’s a neverending debate about the strengths and weaknesses of the Welsh media, as we all know. Amateur “citizen journalists” like myself fill a gap with the likes of Oggy Bloggy Ogwr and Carmarthenshire Planning Problems, while some locally-focused online outlets are far more professional and able to access public funding opportunities or advertising (Caerphilly Observer, Wrexham.com, Deeside.com).
The recent introduction of the BBC-backed Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has resulted in a noticeable uptick in stories about local government. So in that respect, it’s doing what it was set up to do and you can’t complain.
What’s often happening though is that the same story – sometimes reading like a regurgitated press release – is published across multiple outlets word-for-word under the LDRS. A lack of local knowledge is sometimes clear and some stories are rarely put in the context of local politics. One interpretation is that it’s subsidised content creation for commercial providers like Reach and Newsquest. None of that is the fault of the reporters, more the terms and conditions they’re publishing under.
In an ideal world, every local government area would have maybe two or three portals – Wrexham.com is perhaps the overall standard hyperlocal online publications should aim for – publishing different perspectives on the same stories or working on different stories at the same time. That’s why media plurality – particularly in the English language – is important.
1. Children’s Commissioner for Wales, “Annual Report & Accounts 2021-22” (p106). Available at:https://www.childcomwales.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2021-22-v2.pdf
