Assembly Member calls for transparency on local government reform

12.00.00am GMT Fri 23rd Nov 2007

A paragraph in a new Act of Parliament has quietly given the Assembly government the power to scrap Wales' 22 councils and replace them with new bodies.

Such a re-organisation has yet to appear on any public document, but was threatened as part of Labour's response to the Beecham Review of local government.

After discovering the power had been devolved, Peter Black, Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for South Wales West, has called on the government to state whether they plan to use these powers.

"I would not be in favour of a whole scale reorganisation of local government." said Mr Black. "There may be a case to make some changes where clear economies of scale could be achieved, however there is no evidence that that sort of saving is possible. Past experience shows that reorganisation of this nature rarely, if any, produces substantial savings."

"There is also evidence to show that a public body facing merger or re-organisation can take three to five years to recover and there will inevitably be an impact upon service delivery. The Government must be honest about their plans for local government in order for there to be a full debate on this issue."