Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and the Minister for the Constitution – in the Senedd at 2:29 pm on 20 October 2021.
I can assure you I listened very carefully to what you had yesterday, and I didn't hear the words, 'devolution to regions and local authorities' at all. You talk about the empowerment of people and communities, but isn't it the truth that you’re simply after a power grab from local authorities and a power grab from the UK Government and that really is what the independent commission on the constitutional future of Wales is all about?
Can I ask you to ensure that, as an important part of the work stream of the independent commission, because it is not in the remit that you published yesterday—the very broad remit, if I might say so—? Can I ask that you specifically ask them and task them with looking at where appropriate powers should lie, including whether there should be that further devolution to Welsh local authorities, which are much closer to the people on the ground that they serve than this remote Welsh Labour Government, which has been centralising powers since 1999?