Clause 42 - Studies on impact of statutory provisions etc
Public Audit (Wales) Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Mr Roger Williams (Shadow Minister (Rural Affairs), Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Brecon and Radnorshire, Liberal Democrat)
Yes, and it is a pleasure to contribute to the examination of this Bill.
I support the points made by the hon. Member for Leominster, because since the local government reorganisation in Wales and the establishment of 22 unitary authorities, comparisons between local government within Wales have been made more difficult. For example, my local authority area is rather large and very sparse in population, so it is not easily compared with other local authorities in Wales. Indeed, when I ask people what they think is the most sparsely populated local authority area in England, they usually decide on Cumbria. However, Powys is three times more sparsely populated than Cumbria.
It is difficult to decide on a family of local authorities with which to compare the delivery of services. It would be helpful if the Auditor General for Wales had the power to make comparisons between certain local authorities in Wales and others in England, as that would be beneficial for local authorities that are anxious to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of delivery of their public services. I support the new clause.