4. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the savings anticipated as a result of the Welsh Government’s new model for local government? OAQ(5)0147(FLG)

Well, Llywydd, as I said in an answer to an earlier question from Janet Finch-Saunders, the associated costs and benefits of the new model of local government will be published in the regulatory impact assessment that will accompany the proposed local government Bill, on introduction. The First Minister announced in last week’s legislative programme statement that a local government Bill would be included in the Government’s programme for the second year of this Assembly term.

I thank the Cabinet Minister for that answer. But, following on from a number of comments you’ve made earlier, do you not agree that there have been many attempts to reform local government in Wales, including the aborted attempt to institute the Williams commission recommendations, and that the present arrangement of 22 local authorities has proved to be financially and strategically unacceptable? Quite apart from the fact that we have 22 chief executives on highly inflated salaries, with, of course, 22 sets of attendant staff, the authorities are not large enough to institute any infrastructure projects because their budgets are inadequate. So, does he not agree that we need real change to local government, not the incohesive arrangements now in place?

Well, the Member is right enough in the history that he set out about attempts to reform local government in Wales. I think he’s over-harsh on the extent to which local government in Wales has been able to live within its means and has been able to contribute, together, to some major strategic programmes. But, quite certainly, the need to come together in order to be able to discharge strategic responsibilities on a wider footprint is what lies behind the 10 local authorities that came together to form the Cardiff capital city deal and the four local authorities that have succeeded in getting a city deal for Swansea. By coming together in that way, they are undoubtedly able to work better across their borders, to create budgets to which they are all able to contribute, draw on money from central and Welsh Government budgets, and do a better job of the sort of responsibilities that the Member identified.

The Wales Audit Office has previously highlighted the spend by public bodies on external consultants—£56 million last year—and noted that if they do not manage consultancy services effectively, they can be an expensive way to deliver our public services. Meanwhile, the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership—NWSSP—achieved over £20 million in procurement savings in 2015-16, over £27.5 million in 2014-15, and £26.9 million in 2013-14. Given the scale of those savings, which are exemplary, one can only imagine what could be achieved at local government level across Wales. So, therefore, Cabinet Secretary, how will you seek to encourage the roll-out of best practice within the NWSSP across local authorities through your own reform proposals?

Llywydd, well, I completely agree with what the Member said: that NHS shared services have been a conspicuous success story. Members here will be aware that it took 10 years to move from the original pattern, in which almost every health organisation in Wales provided all these services for themselves, to a point where we have a single shared services organisation for Wales. Part of the reason why it took that length of time is because there are people involved in working in all of these services, and you have to take account of the perspective of the people who work in these services. In our White Paper, we specifically asked the question as to whether or not there was more that NHS shared services could do to work for local authorities in this area, or whether it was better that local authorities develop their own model of shared services. There is some reluctance in local government in Wales to move down the shared services route, and there is a need for the message to be heard clearly by our local government partners that the move to shared services is a journey on which they are all embarked. I will be prepared to be understanding and pragmatic with them about the length of time it will take to reach the point where there is greater shared working, but no local authority in Wales should be in any doubt at all that we are all on this journey and they are on it too.