North Wales Member of the Welsh Parliament Mark Isherwood, has criticised Welsh Labour for voting down all his Amendments during Stage 2 proceedings of the Welsh Government’s Local Government and Elections (Wales) Bill.
Mr Isherwood, who is the Shadow Minister for Local Government and Communities, spent most of Friday in the Welsh Parliament’s Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee, proposing, debating and voting on tabled Amendments to the Bill.
The majority of the measures he proposed related to ensuring that people and communities are involved in decision-making processes and that services are co-produced with them.
However, all his amendments were defeated.
Speaking during the meeting, he said:
“A survey carried out by the Equalities, Local Government and Communities Committee found that 70 per cent of respondents either ‘disagreed’ or ‘strongly disagreed’ with the statement that they ‘feel able to influence decisions made by the Council’.
“Thus, rather than simply encouraging people to participate, local authorities and connected authorities need to create opportunities for meaningful involvement within the decision-making process through deliberative processes, using involvement to help co-produce services and to empower communities to use their existing strengths to develop more sustainable communities.”
Speaking in support of his Amendments to embed public involvement strategies within the Bill, he stated:
“Co-production is about building resilient communities, confidence and capacity, it is about it seeing everyone as equal partners in local services—breaking down the barriers between people who provide services and those who use them. It is about sustainable social, economic and community regeneration.”
Speaking in support of his Amendment seeking to ensure that local people and local community-based organisations are involved within the decision-making processes of Corporate Joint Committees (CJC), he said:
“This amendment embeds the principles of involvement within the Bill. Involvement approaches work with people at earlier stages, helping to identify issues and potential solutions, and supporting them to remain involved right throughout design, implementation and evaluation processes.”
Labour and Plaid Cymru also voted down Mr Isherwood’s measures to ensure that foreign citizens would have to live in Wales for a minimum 3 years before being eligible to vote in Local Government elections
Speaking in the meeting, Mr Isherwood said: “This Bill proposes a step too far. At least most of the few countries that allow foreign citizens to vote have a minimum residency requirement, but even that is missing here.”
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Isherwood said:
“Despite Labour’s posturing pronouncements and populist spin, they voted against every measure I proposed to share real power with people and communities across Wales.
“This reinforces the need for the ‘Devolution Revolution’ promised by Welsh Conservatives after 22 years of regressive rule by Labour in Wales.
“Co-production is about breaking down the barriers between the people and those who govern them.“