Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services – in the Senedd at 1:38 pm on 28 February 2018.
Thank you very much. I have had an opportunity to read your blog, where you discuss local government reform, and I was very pleased initially that you mentioned that the blog was some sort of response to a question that I posed to you in this place a few weeks ago in terms of the kind of style you are going to adopt in dealing with local authorities. I'm very pleased that I have inspired you to at least think about that.
The debate about local government reform has been quite fiery at times, and has been going on over many years without any resolution. In reading your blog, it appears that you are willing to put any progress made by your predecessor, Mark Drakeford, to one side, and that you are thinking of starting the whole process once again. So, can I ask: over the past four years, as your Government has attempted to reform local government, what exactly has been achieved?