7. 6. Statement: Local Government Reform

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:19 pm on 18 July 2017.

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Photo of Hefin David Hefin David Labour 5:19, 18 July 2017

Llywydd, Neil McEvoy gives half his salary to Plaid Cymru—I knew there was a reason why they kept him in the group. Well done.

With regard to the White Paper, section 2.56, which you’ve already touched upon, Cabinet Secretary, in response to Sian Gwenllian, identifies three arrangements for scrutiny: one is to stick as you are, two is to establish a standing regional committee, or three, to set up task and finish groups. Scrutiny has come a long way in the last 10 years, as I know from my own experience in 10 years in local government. But also, reading Wales Audit Office annual improvement reports and special reports on scrutiny, you can see that things have improved. There’s a lesson to be learned from the landscape of scrutiny that exists now, compared to what it was over the past 25 years of local authorities as they are. What dialogue will the Cabinet Secretary have with the Wales Audit Office, who have played a creditable role in some of this? Will the Wales Audit Office advise on governance arrangements? And, particularly, how can you ensure that scrutiny and the standards that have been reached so far are maintained and will continue to be improved upon, given the freedom the councils will have to establish new arrangements for scrutiny?