As the working relationship between Cardiff Bay and Welsh local government continues to deteriorate, observers are looking for signs of whether Carwyn Jones will soon feel obliged to give a restraining tug on the leashes of his attack dogs.
Ministers keen to highlight the self-evident failings of council run services in Anglesey and Blaenau Gwent have so far managed to avoid any counter-accusations that other considerations are at work - but give it time.
Successive administrations have added to townhall burdens and dodged questions about the need for additional resources with meaningless talk of "local priorities". Councils are used to being told by various governments that they have to work with less. They are equally adept at taking the flak when the next round of budget cuts means closing something down or depleting a service. But when inspectors start regularly parking their tanks on the grass outside the civic centre then the rules of engagement change dramatically.
As such, education minister Leighton Andrews might be overstepping the mark by publicly squaring up to Pembrokeshire and its well-regarded leader. As a farmer, WLGA leader John Davies would probably be entirely justified in commenting that a local authority which had so badly mishandled the aborted badger cull (for example) would have found itself in special measures some considerable time ago.
Indeed, some might argue that if the government game plan is to preface a 'rationalisation’ (merger) of Welsh local authorities with a barrage of reports & findings that expose endemic under-performance then the logical conclusion is that ministerial responsibilities for health, education and economic prosperity should be placed under a single portfolio.
Only saying.
4 Comments:
I very much doubt that anyone would argue 'that if the government game plan is to preface a 'rationalisation’ (merger) of Welsh local authorities with a barrage of reports & findings that expose endemic under-performance then the logical conclusion is that ministerial responsibilities for health, education and economic prosperity should be placed under a single portfolio.'
But they might argue that matters can be handled equally as well or better in Westminster.
I think the point here is that Leighton Andrews and Carl Sergeant think they can blame the ills of the world on councils and thereby obscure their own shortcomings. Reducing the number of councils means increasing the overall span of control. Such an approach seldom brings improvements as lines of communication and accountabilty become further stretched.
You've got to ask yourself to what extent would a Labour led council which would have been seen to have failed had been placed under these measures.
There are only 4 at the moment Neath Port Talbot, R.C.T, Bridgend and Torfaen (the latter two being minority run).
Could this aggression have anything to do with next May elections With Labour claiming only they can run Local Government properly or have I been taking to many conspiracy polls?
Its like most things in life if you can blame others and get away with it then most do, the Welsh Government are past masters at it.
The other thing is local authorities are easy targets because as you say there is no comeback for the Welsh Government or any hint of accountability if things turn out to be not as clear cut as the headlines first appear.
Under normal circumstances a minister with all the problems Leighton Andrews faces in Education would not be so vocal in accusing others of systemic failure, but its typical of Welsh political culture that his actions are not only considered acceptable but encouraged by Carwyn Jones.
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