Diolch. Thank you. Amendment 136 introduces a new provision to allow local town and community councils to be invited to be party to a panel performance assessment. The Bill, as drafted, requires each principal council to appoint a panel at least once during each electoral cycle to assess its performance. In written evidence to the Equalities, Local Government and Communities Committee, One Voice Wales, representing town and community councils, said that they would welcome further discussions on the role that community and town councils could play regarding membership of the panel assessment process. It added that it advocates the potential for community and town councils to support the scrutiny endeavours of principal councils.

As principal councils and town and community councils often collaborate on issues, this will allow town and community councils to provide feedback on their experiences of working with the principal council, as well as providing recommendations to improve local involvement within the decision-making process. This thereby would strengthen all parties involved.

During Stage 2 proceedings, the Minister stated that while the provisions in the Bill will give the Welsh Ministers powers to make regulations in relation to the appointment of panel members, their intention is actually to cover this through guidance in the first instance. However, such a provision does not guarantee that all principal councils will invite their local town and community councils onto a panel assessment, and it's important for real engagement and good governance that all local public bodies have opportunities to formally submit their views on the performance of a principal council, including town and community councils, who are representative of the communities that they're elected to represent. I hope the principle behind this will be acknowledged, therefore, and the opportunity to support this to strengthen this Bill.