Minister, do you accept that Wales does not need 22 separate local authorities and that previous Ministers' attempts to solve the issue without actually reorganising local government has led to massive waste and bureaucracy? 

On Monday, I met with a group of headteachers from my region to discuss the funding crisis in education, and one of their primary concerns was with the extra tier of governance added by the regional consortia and the waste it introduced. Minister, do you agree with the Williams commission that Wales would be better served by fewer, larger councils, doing away with the need for regional consortia?