Welsh Local Government proposals

[Georg Ebner]

Nov 5, 2016 17:07:20 GMT East Anglian Lefty said:

Nov 5, 2016 13:13:10 GMT Penddu said:

Ps....i am not sure your micro-region next to Merthyr (Dowlais?) is viable...

I was assuming this was to honour its special place in history as the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

TwynCarno would be broken up and taken to SE/Gwent and S/EastGlamorgan.

[Penddu]

Back to reality and another set of council mergers announced - this time with 10 councils. The main difference this time is splitting Gwent in two with a clumsy Newport and Caerphilly seat and a clumsier Monmouth, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent. Can't see it happening...

[Deleted]

Here's the map

[Chris from Brum]

So, they're putting Dyfed back together then? And pretty much going back to South/Mid/West Glamorgan. Astonishing.

[Lord Twaddleford]

Mar 22, 2018 9:03:14 GMT Chris from Brum said:

So, they're putting Dyfed back together then? And pretty much going back to South/Mid/West Glamorgan. Astonishing.

These are just proposals at the moment, and some pretty dire ones at that.

I don't think these proposals will really solve anything. They seem more like a distraction than any real possible solution. In my opinion, the local government reorganisation of the mid-1990s never should've taken place, and that the only Welsh local authorities that have any real business being full unitaries are Cardiff, Newport, and possibly Swansea, but alas that particular horse has long since bolted...

[J.G.Harston]

Mar 22, 2018 16:32:47 GMT Lord Twaddleford said:

Mar 22, 2018 9:03:14 GMT Chris from Brum said:

So, they're putting Dyfed back together then? And pretty much going back to South/Mid/West Glamorgan. Astonishing.

I don't think these proposals will really solve anything. They seem more like a distraction than any real possible solution. In my opinion, the local government reorganisation of the mid-1990s never should've taken place, and that the only Welsh local authorities that have any real business being full unitaries are Cardiff, Newport, and possibly Swansea, but alas that particular horse has long since bolted...

They do seem rather obsessed with having a single uniform system across the whole country when, as you point out, some bits may be best served with a different structure.

[greenhert]

Wales does not need any council mergers of its existing councils, especially given most of its councils cover rural areas and therefore need to be small and suited to community identities.

[cibwr]

Well we have gone since 1972 from 37 district and 8 counties to 22 counties and no districts, now proposed 10 counties. We also have two city region boards, 4 education consortia, 7 health authorities,3 fire and rescue authorities, 4 police authorities and assorted other joint boards, nothing co terminus. No wonder people are confused as to where responsibility lies. As said before I think we need a rationalisation with a regional tier of bodies directly elected to do the strategic and big ticket stuff (5 in all three based on Cardiff, Newport and Swansea, two based on mid and west Wales and North Wales) and about 26 or so districts with lesser responsibility and fewer but stronger communnity councils taking care of grass root functions.

[Harry Hayfield]

I asked Simon Thomas AM (Plaid, Mid and West Wales) yesterday what Plaid's position was and he stated that their preferred model was as outlined in their manifesto for the 2016 Assembly election. That model was 6 councils along the lines of the metro mayors in England with a directed elected mayor overseeing everything. However I could not see any reference to an actual council, therefore could cibwr explain if a council would be elected at the same time or not?

[cibwr]

The manifesto suggests that there would be regional boards made up of representatives from the constituent unitary authorities, but in proportion to the party strengths on those councils, so more than just one representative from each authority.