Let me put what I said in a different way, Llywydd. I think Janet would envisage a lower number of councillors than we envisage. And I didn’t agree with her on that, because I think the role of the local councillor will be pivotal in assisting citizens in the future to navigate their way through a system in which some decisions are made at a regional level. I don’t think this is significantly different to the way that systems work currently. A local councillor is elected to represent their ward, but when they come to make decisions at a council level, they have to take into account what is right for the whole of that area, not simply what is right for their own ward. They’re always having to balance the tension between representing the very local electorate and knowing what is right for the whole authority that they represent, just as people come to the Assembly here representing a constituency but then speak up from the point of view of their party as a whole. What we will do is to require that way of thinking to be exercised on a regional level. We will make it absolutely clear that decisions are made by elected members drawn from the constituent local authorities, and we’ve set out a menu of choices that local authorities themselves will be able to draw on to make sure that they are able to scrutinise the decisions, and to be held answerable for them at that local authority level.

Let me turn, if I could, to the questions that Sian Gwenllian asked towards the end of her contribution. As far as regional working in the west of Wales is concerned, I want to build on the suggestions set out in the report produced under the chairmanship of Rhodri Glyn Thomas. I’ve already had discussions with local authority leaders in that part of Wales of ways in which they can work across their borders and regionally to take advantage of the connection between the Welsh language and economic development opportunities in that part of Wales. I think that there are opportunities to share resources, to draw on the way in which some local authorities have been able to strengthen services that they provide for those people who would choose to access local authority services through the medium of Welsh, and to deploy those resources in a way that is to the advantage of the future economic development of that part of the country.

As far as working with other Cabinet colleagues is concerned, not only have I discussed these matter with the Cabinet Secretary for the economy in relation to the economy strategy, but I’ve talked to my colleague the education Secretary in relation to education improvement and additional learning needs. I talked to my colleague the Minister for social services in relation to regional working in the health and social services sphere. Indeed, there is almost no Cabinet colleague who does not have an interest in how regional working of the sort set out in these proposals maps onto the responsibilities that they discharge as well.

We will continue those discussions, look forward to bringing a Bill in front of the Assembly, and understand that parties across the Assembly will want to see the detail of our proposals and will want to consider them carefully when they are published.