Councils to MERGE
We’ll revert to the old ‘Gwynedd’ and ‘Clwyd’ boundaries as six councils are merged into 2 or 3
Six North Wales councils slashed into just two or three
NORTH Wales councils will be slashed to just two in a radical shake up by the Welsh Government.
Local Government Minister Leighton Andrews has revealed two options for the new look map of local authorities in Wales, which may see the total number cut to just eight.
One option would see Isle of Anglesey and Gwynedd combine while Conwy and Denbighshire, and Flintshire and Wrexham will join forces.
The second would see Anglesey, Gwynedd and Conwy merging, and Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham join together.
In a written statement Mr Andrews said the case for fewer local authorities was “compelling and widely accepted” and the system could not “go on as we are”.
But he emphasised this was not a “final decision”, there will now be a public debate before the Welsh Government publishes a draft Mergers and Reform’ Bill which is expected in the autumn.
He said: “We cannot afford to miss this opportunity to reform and reshape our councils to drive funding into improving frontline services. We will drive down the cost of politics and administration in local government.”
Deputy leader of Flintshire County Council Bernie Attridge took to twitter to vent his opinion tweeting: “Political suicide for @WelshLabour we need change at the top”.
But Mr Andrews added that the current structure was “failing” to deliver quality services across Wales.
In his written statement yesterday, he said: “Some authorities are simply too small to survive. The current system is costing council taxpayers millions on duplicated administrative services – as KPMG said last week, £151 million a year could be saved if all councils were as efficient as the best. “We cannot go on as we are.” Option one: