Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:21 pm on 18 June 2019.
I have a copy of the report with me in the Chamber this afternoon. I’ve had the opportunity to read the report in detail over the weekend. A number of recommendations are contained in the report, and as Government we have time, now, to consider the recommendations and respond to them. The majority of the recommendations aren’t directed towards Welsh Government; they’re recommendations to the local authorities themselves to consider. There are a number of points in the report that demonstrate where local authorities can do things to deal with the financial problems that they face: to actually claw back more of the costs when they do work on behalf of third parties and also—this is vitally important, I think—to work together on a regional basis in the future to create a new service in this field. That is part of the work that Julie James has done, and she will be making a statement to the Assembly on that work during the afternoon. So, there are many lessons in the report, some for us as a Government, and we will consider what we can do with those, but the majority are for the local authorities themselves—things for them to do.