I'm grateful for this opportunity to speak on this latest set of proposals from the Welsh Government to reform local government. This document represents the third set of proposals in the last three years, and who knows, after the Cabinet reshuffle coming at the end of this year, it may not be the last.

Local government in Wales is in need of reform. The Williams commission set up to investigate local government reorganisation recommended merging councils into 10, 11 or 12 new authorities. However, after inviting local authorities to submit proposals for voluntary mergers, the Ministers at the time rejected plans to merge six local authorities into three. The Minister then published his own unilateral proposal to cut the number of local authorities to eight or nine. This plan proved controversial across Wales. The Welsh Government policy of deliberately bypassing the concern of local authorities, the WLGA and communities has created an atmosphere of considerable uncertainty that continues today.

Councillor Peter Fox, the great councillor of Monmouth, this week called the Welsh Government's plan—your plan—'unsettling'. That is his wording on the first page of the local newspaper. He went on to say that council leaders have already made great strides on working together. All the mergers would see would be modest financial advantages, but that would be minimal when compared to the cost of merging.

Cost is just one of the questions left unanswered by this Green Paper. Genuine concern has been raised about council tax harmonisation. Band 4 council tax payers in Monmouthshire and Torfaen could face paying up to £300 extra under the Cabinet Secretary's new plans. What level of financial support can local authorities expect from the Welsh Government to assist with mergers and to take into account the potential impact on the delivery of public services in the short term? Newport is one of the areas, Deputy Presiding Officer, for relocating asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants. There is an increasing demand on Newport to provide specific services to support these vulnerable groups. The effectiveness and ability of local authorities to deliver quality services in this field must be maintained.

How will the Welsh Government engage with the local communities themselves to ensure they are fully involved in the merger process? What reassurances will be given to the local authorities' workforce to provide them with the stability to deliver high-quality services when faced with an indeterminate scale of redundancies?

These questions need to be addressed, but any proposal to reform local government in Wales must also address the democratic deficit. Poor voter turnout is indicative of the lack of engagement between councils and the communities they serve. Black, minorities and ethnic people are significantly under-represented in the world of politics in Wales. A local government candidate survey in 2012 showed that only 1 per cent of councillors in Wales are from non-white backgrounds, and that's the figure.

As a result of last year's local elections, just over 28 per cent of councillors are women. The absence of any real diversity of gender, age and ethnicity in Welsh local government persists. Local politicians need to be able to relate to their constituents, understand their needs and to speak up about the issues that directly affect them. Deputy Presiding Officer, local government reform offers opportunities to rethink how council services are delivered and to renew our democracy. I urge the Welsh Government to consult and engage to maximise the benefit in terms of cost and service delivery, and not try to impose a top-down programme—and it's not fit for all, which is really what we need to look at. Thank you very much.