Welsh councils will be more powerful, minister pledges

Local Government Secretary Alun Davies has resurrected plans to cut the number of Welsh councils from 22 to as few as ten, but says reform must go far deeper.

The return of the idea of mergers replaces a previous policy to force regional joint working.

Mr Davies said local government could be more "powerful" in future, but the debate about reform had to go much further than the issue of how many authorities there should be.