Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:00 pm on 28 September 2022.
Thank you for your initial response, Minister. As I’m sure you’ll recognise, councils are often at the front line with many pressures that communities are currently facing, which, of course, have a knock-on effect to pressures within councils. I’m sure you would have taken note of the BBC article over the weekend, where the WLGA and council leaders were highlighting some of the pressures that they're facing. Now, some of these, of course, are financial, but some of these pressures also present themselves in other ways, whether it be through difficulties around recruitment at times or around housing pressures—we're seeing a significant increase in demand in those areas. But all of this is whilst local authorities are having to deal with a new legislative programme, often causing more pressure and demand on officer time. And I’m sure, Minister, you would agree that there needs to be a clear balance between need and capacities for local authorities to deliver, and I know there is some concern within local authorities that the amount of new legislation that they're having to deliver is causing significant pressure in them delivering their vital services. So, in light of this, Minister, is there any immediate action that you'll be taking within the legislative programme to make sure our councils do have the capacity to deliver the services that we all rely on?