Williams Report

stevef

If there is anybody out there working in the Public sector (or any other sector) in Wales, have you seen the Williams Report yet and what do you think?

stevef

Any thoughts on minimum change mergers of Unitary Authority proposals ie:

Anglesey with Gwynedd, Conwy with Denbighshire, Flintshire with Wrexham, Ceredigion with Pembrokeshire, Neath Port Talbot with Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf with Merthyr Tydfil, Vale of Glamorgan with Cardiff, Blaenau Gwent with Caerphilly with Torfaen, and Newport with Monmouthshire, leaving Powys, Carmarthenshire and Swansea unchanged.


Or do you think one or both of the options of merging Carmarthenshire with Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, and/or merging Swansea with Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend should also happen.


With Fire Sevices there are proposals to realign the border between Mid and West Wales and South Wales by either moving Bridgened to Mid and West or moving Swansea and Neath Port Talbot to South. Also changing the Governance arrangements so the Chief Fire Officer and the Service have the leagal duty to provide the service with the Councillors and the Authority scrutinising the decisions and holding the Service to account. There is also a proposed responsibility on the Fire and Rescue Services to find and monitor closer working relationships with the Welsh Ambulance Service.


Personally I think we should be looking to a 10 Authority solution merging Carms, Ceredigion and Pembs to bring back Dyfed. A merger of Swansea, NPT and Bridgend will create a Swansea Bay Authority which has the M5 running through it, creating another area able to attract investment. I think Bridgend should move into the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue area where it would have more synergy. The proposed change in governacein Fire and Rescue sounds interesting but I need to think about the consequences more thoroughly before reaching a conclusion.


I am really interested in hearing the thoughts of others either living in or having a connection with Wales.