Mark Drakeford, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
In November last year, the Draft Local Government (Wales) Bill was published for consultation. I am pleased today to publish a summary report of the responses to that consultation.
I thank the 187 respondents for their comments. There was support for many of the wider reform aspects of the Draft Bill particularly those aimed at improving governance and the quality of services. There was, however, no consensus on the future structure of local government.
While the case for change is clear, and widely recognised, the responses do not provide a similar agreement on solutions to some key challenges.
Over the summer I will look at all the options, and will consider all ideas put to me.
I will make a further statement on the way forward in the autumn.