Welsh Government consults on draft statutory guidance on new performance regime for principal councils

The Welsh Government has launched a consultation on draft statutory guidance designed to facilitate the implementation of the new performance and governance regime for principal councils and to support them in discharging their duties.

The new regime is being brought in under Part 6 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Bill. 

In a written statement Julie James MS, Minister for Housing and Local Government said her intention in consulting on this guidance in advance of Royal Assent of the Bill was to ensure that the final guidance was in place when the provisions under Part 6 come into force.

The Minister said: “The draft statutory guidance has been co-developed with local government and extensive engagement has been undertaken with key stakeholders. We want to ensure that this is something which is valuable for local government and provides a meaningful opportunity to continually strengthen councils.

“A clear message during this period of co-production has been that local government want flexibility to determine its own approach to self-assessment and panel performance assessment, designed to fit local circumstances and corporate structures, and informed by best practice. In response, the draft guidance has been developed in a way that seeks to support principal councils to understand and apply the duties in a manner that is appropriate to its own circumstances, taking an enabling approach rather than being overly prescriptive."

The consultation document and draft statutory guidance can be accessed here.

The consultation runs until 3 February 2021.