The emergency regulations have obviously enabled vital business to continue and have supported the really heroic efforts made by most local authorities to combat the pandemic. Obviously, the regulations have made it possible for those who would otherwise not have been able to participate in meetings, due to the need for shielding, for example, to continue to do so. Obviously, most council chambers wouldn't have been able to support any kind of social distancing or COVID-19-secure working. So, as a result of that, it forced us to look really hard at the way we deliver services and the way we communicate with each other, and we've seen a really good effort, I think, from most local authorities to do that.

My officials have been in touch with local authorities across Wales in the last three or four weeks to understand where the challenges are, and there are challenges, of course. In some local authorities, there are specific challenges around broadband and so on, which I don't need to rehearse here in the Chamber, but which Members will be familiar with. There are issues in relation, in some cases, to equipment and levels of familiarity with remote communication, training issues and so on. But my officials are in touch with officials right across local government to understand those challenges and to ensure that all the arrangements are robust and in place.

I absolutely agree with you, Mark, that scrutiny is an absolutely essential part of the role that councillors play in any local democracy, and we've been specifically asking questions right across local government around when the scrutiny committees are able to meet, what the arrangements are to ensure that members have access to all of the right documents so that they can carry out their scrutiny function properly and that they've had access to training to enable them to do that. We've also asked local authorities who wish to go to a hybrid arrangement to conduct a robust risk assessment. We've actually cited the Commission as a good example of that, and we've agreed to assist them with those risk assessments should they wish. So, I seriously hope that that will have enabled all local authorities by the end of September to have conducted at least one round of scrutiny meetings, and we will be following it up with them afterwards.