Written Statement: Statutory and Non-Statutory Guidance for Principal Councils in Wales – supporting provisions within the Local Government Act 2000, the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011 and the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act

Today I have issued consolidated guidance to principal councils in Wales. The guidance is a mixture of guidance previously issued under Local Government Act 2000 and the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011, which has been updated to better reflect the current legislation, and practices in respect of equality and diversity, digital capability, and openness and transparency.

It also supports the provisions contained within the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021, including:

• Public participation strategies
• Multi-location meetings
• Petition Schemes
• Appointments of assistants to executives
• Duty of leaders of political groups in relation to standards of conduct
• Duty of standards committees to make annual reports.

As a result of consolidating this guidance as it applies to principal councils, it is necessary to issue separate guidance for those provisions which apply to fire and rescue authorities, national park authorities and port health authorities. Therefore, I am also issuing:

• Statutory guidance on multi-location meetings for Fire and Rescue Authorities, National Park Authorities and Port Health Authorities
• Statutory guidance for Fire and Rescue Authorities and National Park Authorities in relation to standards of conduct.