Rhun ap Iorwerth announces review of Welsh council and regional powers
The first minister says a green paper will examine where powers should sit in Wales, with possible legislation after the 2030 election.
Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth announced at Cardiff University on 19 October that his government will examine the powers held by councils and how authorities work together across Wales, BBC News reported. The review could shape future changes to local government, but he said any new legislation would be an option after the 2030 election.
The Welsh Government said it would develop a green paper on the administration of local and regional powers by the end of the Senedd term. A green paper is a consultation on policy or legislative proposals, so the announcement begins a process of considering changes rather than setting out a new division of powers.
What the Welsh council powers review will examine
Ap Iorwerth described a detailed exercise looking at where powers and specific responsibilities should lie, how regional working functions best and what effective cooperation between authorities looks like. He said he wanted to assess what was working and where change was needed by the end of the term, while starting the conversation before then.
‘Where power can sit as closely to the people it affects, it should,’ he said in the Cardiff University speech. He argued that Wales should move over time towards a more coherent system of local and regional governance, but said that vision could not be imposed. He also cautioned against assuming an arrangement that works in England would work in Wales.
How the plan fits talks with Andy Burnham
The announcement comes before a meeting planned for later in October with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who has advocated giving more powers to local authorities, according to BBC News. Asked by BBC Wales whether the council review was a quid pro quo for more powers and funding for the Welsh Government, ap Iorwerth said he did not see it that way. He said he wanted to find common ground with Burnham while distinguishing Wales’s needs from what he described as a largely England-focused devolution programme.
Ap Iorwerth has also called for Wales to have the same powers as Scotland, including over railways, policing and justice. In the speech, he argued that successive UK government programmes had been layered over Wales’s devolved economic development responsibilities, making the system more fragmented and harder to navigate. He called for a practical agreement between the two governments on how to work together and said central government should not duplicate devolved work.
He cited city and growth deals among the programmes involved, but clarified that he was not proposing to abolish those agreements. There are four in Wales, involving the UK government, Welsh Government and local councils in funding local projects. His stated aim was to examine what works well and where it could be improved.
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Sources and context
- First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth promises to look at Welsh council powersBBC News
- FM calls for new economic partnership between Wales and UK governmentWelsh Government
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.