Thank you. I wish, on behalf of Plaid Cymru, to move our amendments on the reform of local government in Wales. There’s a great deal to be said about the subject, but today I will focus on two specific aspects that were included as part of Plaid Cymru policy during the Assembly election in May. That is, first of all, the need for Welsh Government to act to implement single transferrable votes for future local government elections, and, secondly, the need for any reform in the future to include regional authorities in order to give a strategic direction to local authorities and to share best practice across the various authorities.

Like any other nation, Wales requires regional leadership to give strategic direction that reflects a set of priorities throughout Wales, together with strong local government to secure local accountability and co-ordination at community level. We want to do this in a gradual way, using the current structures to create new leadership at the regional and community levels. Also, as we alluded to in the debate we held in the Chamber earlier, we wish to see much more purposeful and sensible integration between health and social services. One obvious advantage of doing that is to create accountability in the health sector as well as improving the provision for our people.

Plaid Cymru is of the view that we need to create comprehensive regional authorities out of the local authorities that already exist. We need to forget about the map and consult on how this new regional vision would look and what exactly the duties would be on that level.

Our amendments to this debate today focus on the need to introduce a new electoral system, namely a single transferrable vote, STV, in order to secure equitable representation for each political point of view.

The Sunderland report was published in 2002. Yes, that’s quite some time ago, but it was a very thorough report and it concluded that the single transferrable vote is the most appropriate to meet the diverse needs of local people from the point of view of a local electoral system. And, that was after the commission tested seven other electoral systems.

In my view, the introduction of STV into local government elections in Scotland is one of the most positive developments in the age of devolution. In Scotland, the local elections are much more lively and interesting. Many more people are competing for the seats there and local government itself, following on from that, is intertwining itself much more closely to the desires of the population.

The Government here have had an opportunity to implement the recommendations of the Sunderland report in the past. And, as a nation, if we truly believe that every citizen is equal, then we should also believe, and therefore ensure, that every vote is equal. As far as I can see, there is no good reason for not introducing STV for local government elections in Wales. Therefore, we ask you to support the amendments. Thank you.