Statement: The Simpson Compact with Local Government (Rob Speht Working hard for Landore Ward)

Rob Speht Working hard for Landore Ward <robertspeht@gmail.com>

Statement: The Simpson Compact with Local Government

January 24, 2012 4:02 PM
By Peter Black
Originally published by Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal Democrats

Peter Black: I welcome this statement, and in particular the Minister's positive response to the signing of the compact by local government. I also welcome this commitment to shelve, for the time being, the local government collaborative measures Bill, as it would have proved controversial in this Chamber. Certainly, the positive response by local government to this agenda, not just in the signing of this compact, but through a range of different measures, justifies the Minister's not proceeding with that Bill.

Minister, I have raised this issue on a number of occasions, and I will raise it again now. The key part in terms of collaboration is not just the willingness of local authorities to collaborate with each other, but also the willingness of Welsh Government departments and organisations funded by the Welsh Government, such as the Welsh NHS, to collaborate positively and proactively with local government. There are instances of very good collaboration-the Deputy Minister for social services talked earlier about how we can make progress in that regard-but can you again give a commitment that all of this Government's Ministers are on board with this? Is every aspect of the Welsh Government-each silo, if you like-being told that it has to go out to seek this sort of collaborative approach with local government? Are they actively going out and doing it, and would you be able to provide evidence of that?