The Leader reported that the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services Alun Davies AM made a statement in the Assembly yesterday afternoon confirming the withdrawal of the merger map and his intention, following consultation feedback, to set up a working group chaired by Derek Vaughan MEP to consider how to take forward the reform agenda.  The working group will have a majority local government membership and seek to agree what is possible in terms of reform, through greater collaboration or voluntary mergers, and ensure that adequate resources and powers are provided to local government to ensure the sustainability of local public services.  This approach had been welcomed and supported by the Leader of the WLGA Cllr Debbie Wilcox as it offered a return to the more collaborative approach to reform, broadly agreed with Mark Drakeford AM when he was Cabinet Secretary for Local Government.  The Leader hoped some progress can be made by early Spring.  He stated it was vital that financial sustainability is considered alongside reform, as the current crisis in large English County Councils shows austerity does not respect scale particularly as a consequence of the spiralling cost of social care.

The Leader announced that the Cabinet Secretary’s statement yesterday also confirmed that Welsh Government will introduce a local government bill as planned, to introduce voluntary merger powers, wider new powers for councils as well as votes for 16 & 17 year olds and other electoral reforms. 

All Council Leaders will discuss these developments and the draft terms of reference further at Thursday’s meeting of the WLGA Executive Board.  He would keep Members informed of progress made.

The Leader also announced that as part of the pioneering Caerau mine-water scheme, children from schools in the Llynfi Valley have been learning about how the heat generated will be used to warm 150 homes.  Around 200 pupils had taken part in recent workshops designed to explain the science, technology, engineering and mathematics behind the scheme and also learned about the valley’s rich industrial history, and how mine workings at Caerau, Bryn Navigation, Garth, Coegnant, Oakwood, Maesteg and St John’s could now be used to provide a safe, continuous, efficient and cost-effective form of heat for the local community. 

The Leader announced that along with the Cabinet Member Communities, he had met the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths about how Welsh Government can help progress the minewater scheme to the next stage, and the potential as part of the Bridgend District Heat Network to develop the latest in IT infrastructure to support businesses in Bridgend town at the same time.  He stated that the Council is also part of a consortium with Cenin to further develop its energy park at Stormy Down.  This resulted in a visit from the Secretary of State for Wales and the UK Government’s Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth Claire Perry MP who was also very positive about the innovative energy initiatives in Bridgend.  He also informed Council that Cabinet at its meeting on the previous day backed the consortium’s bid to the UK Government’s Industrial Challenge Fund.  As the only SMART system energy demonstrator cluster in Wales and the most advanced in the UK, interest is being shown globally in the work which is being pioneered, trialled and developed in the local communities.  

He and the Cabinet Member Communities had also met with the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport to discuss maximising the benefits of the South Wales Metro and new Wales and Borders franchise for the communities of Bridgend.  It was once again emphasised the importance of increasing the frequency of the Maesteg rail service not only to the Llynfi Valley but also to Valleys gateway communities, Bridgend, Pencoed and Llanharan and Pontyclun too.  The Cabinet Secretary had explained that this was being considered by Transport for Wales and Keolis Amey and he was hoping to make an announcement soon.  It was also stressed to the Cabinet Secretary the critical long term importance of removing the Pencoed level crossing, not only to improve safety, prevent the gridlock in the town centre and potential air quality issue for residents but also to improve the speed of all trains that travel west of Cardiff on the Great Western mainline.  Welsh Government has commissioned work on how the speed of trains can be increased on the main line now that many of the engineering improvements, like track re-alignment that were due to be made at the same time of electrification have been cancelled.  The Leader and Cabinet Member Communities also reiterated the case for the Brackla Park and Ride, additional capacity for park and ride at Pyle station and rapid bus links to communities that do not have direct rail services.  Members would be kept informed of developments.