Thank you very much, and thank you for the opportunity to discuss the Green Paper on local government reform, which is the result, of course, of an unexpected u-turn by this Government. ‘Strengthening Local Government: Delivering for People’ is the title of the latest document, and I agree entirely with the need to strengthen our councils. Local government that is resilient and sustainable, that provides support for the most vulnerable in our communities, is important in a nation where fairness is one of our core values. But I am not entirely convinced that introducing expensive reorganisation at a time of austerity is the most effective way of strengthening local government. 

The services that are provided by local government are creaking following years of cuts that stem directly from the objectionable ideology of the Tories in Westminster. Our councils have already had to trim their budgets to the bone, and the councils are in the process of finding millions upon millions in savings again in order to be able to set budgets for the next financial year. I heard yesterday that Ceredigion council had lost 700 jobs already, so it’s a huge challenge, and the focus of leaders, heads and councillors is understandably on how to maintain services with a shrinking budget. Plaid Cymru councils are trying to do this in a way that protects those who most need support, while also supporting staff who provide the support often.

Even at a time of austerity, I am pleased to see that Gwynedd Council has introduced the living wage, or higher, for all staff and eliminated zero-hours contracts entirely. But by now, it’s not always possible to protect groups with needs from cuts as the austerity policies really start to bite. No wonder, therefore, that there is no appetite for reorganisation among Welsh council leaders, as the Cabinet Secretary found when he recently attended the lion’s den at the Welsh Local Government Association.

A great deal of efficiency savings have already been made, and it is now a question of how much additional savings can be made by merging councils, given the significant costs involved in the process itself. The councils have already established regional arrangements in many areas, and the evolutionary approach of the former Cabinet Secretary was proceeding smoothly in many parts of Wales.

Although the current Cabinet Secretary has claimed that local government leaders have told him that they did not want to move forward with the suggestions and proposals relating to regional working, I think the mandatory element was the bone of contention, not the regionalisation itself. What the councils did not like was that Mark Drakeford's White Paper was taking the councils into regional arrangements through legislation in three areas, and this is an example of one of the ongoing tensions that exist between local government and central Government, of course. But not liking being forced to work regionally has turned into real anger regarding this u-turn, regarding the attempt to return to the unsuccessful proposals of the previous former Cabinet Secretary, who raised the hackles of everyone, of every political stripe. Maintaining constructive relationships and collaboration between the Welsh Government and local authorities is at the heart of improving services.

Any reform or reorganisation needs to happen for a purpose, and Plaid Cymru has set out a number of core principles that should be at the heart of any reform, namely making the services provided by local government more effective for users, strengthening local democracy, moving towards the integration of health and care, and strengthening the Welsh language.

Just to mention, in closing, one of those principles, there’s a lot of good practice happening in terms of integrating health and care for the elderly, and it is best done if it happens from the bottom up and happens entirely naturally if the needs of the person for whom the service is provided is given priority. In Gwynedd, there are five integrated teams for older people working across the county, where social workers and community nurses and so on—people from both sectors—work together putting the person at the heart of everything they do. At a regional level, the councils are commissioning social services jointly.

Therefore, there is change happening. The councils are working together and working to be more sustainable, and I’m afraid that this new Green Paper is not very welcome.