The onset of the National Assembly elections is a time to look forward and in every sense the next period throws up a range of challenges for local service delivery in Wales which will require different ways of doing business and different solutions. The past year has seen local authority services subjected to intense review. This includes the “Local, Regional and National Review” by Joe Simpson, the Social Services “White Paper” and the review of education services by Vivian Thomas. All these point to the obvious fact that local government services are being reorganised and probably in a more radical way than the traditional focus on structural change.
The First Minister has recently stated that whatever the outcome of the Assembly elections, with new powers derived from the March referendum, there must be a shift from a preoccupation as a ‘strategy factory’ to a new focus on implementation and outcomes. WLGA fully supports this point. Many of the cuts envisaged by central government have yet to fully impact but local government, as the key front line service delivery body in Wales, will be at the heart of this. Our key aspiration is to protect our communities as far as we can from the impact of cuts and ensure that Wales does not bear the brunt of the recessionary fallout as it has done in the past. The new powers of the National Assembly were promoted on this basis and the WLGA thinks it vital to press this advantage home and concentrate on areas where real improvements can be made.
Click here to view the full report ‘Responding to the Challenge’
- ‘WLGA Policy Priorities: Responding to the Challenge 2011-2016 - Improving Skills and Education Attainment’
- ‘WLGA Policy Priorities: Responding to the Challenge 2011-2016 - Supporting the Care and Independence of Vulnerable People'
- ‘WLGA Policy Priorities: Responding to the Challenge 2011-2016 - Managing Waste – Making Better Use of our Resources’
- ‘WLGA Policy Priorities: Responding to the Challenge 2011-2016 - Addressing Housing Needs’
- ‘WLGA Policy Priorities: Responding to the Challenge 2011-2016 - Making our Communities Safer’
- ‘WLGA Policy Priorities: Responding to the Challenge 2011-2016 - Developing Sustainable Transport’
- ‘WLGA Policy Priorities: Responding to the Challenge 2011-2016 - Local Government Finance'