Council mergers: Andrews open to 'serious debate'

The minister behind a shake-up of local councils has said he is open to a "serious debate" about the merger map.

Labour council leaders are among the critics of the plan to cut the number of councils from 22 to eight or nine.

But Leighton Andrews said he would not take seriously council leaders "proud to boast" they had opposed devolution.

The public services minister also accused some leaders of failing to adopt money-saving ideas from others as they wanted to "protect empires".

Mr Andrews told AMs on the communities committee on Thursday there was still disagreement over whether to have two or three councils in north Wales and a "clear divergence" over merging Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire to recreate Dyfed.

"I know that there has been criticism from certain quarters," he told AMs.

"I am not going to take very seriously the criticism of the occasional local government leader who was against devolution in the first place and is proud to boast about that.

"But in practice we are open to a very serious debate about this map."

A formal consultation on a draft mergers bill would follow in the autumn, the minister said, although no changes will happen before the May 2016 assembly election.

The first minister has said Labour's manifesto will commit to a shake-up.

However, Mr Andrews made clear he will push on with encouraging councils to learn from each other on how to cut costs.

A report he commissioned from accountants KPMG showed £151m a year could be saved if councils were more efficient.

Mr Andrews said there were "a variety of reasons" why councils were not doing more to spend money on front-line services.

"I think ultimately it's down to leadership. I think the feeling of 'not invented here' often weighs in very heavily. I think there is to a degree in certain areas a desire to protect empires."

Voters will be "impatient" with councils who do not respond, he added.