No new council map expected from Tories for assembly poll

Debate over whether or not Wales has too many councils has been taking place for decades

The Welsh Conservatives have given their strongest indication yet that they will not include a new council map in their assembly election manifesto.

Shadow local government minister Janet Finch-Saunders said: "We are not going to draw a map on a piece of A4."

She said the party wanted to give local residents more say by holding referendums on any proposed mergers.

In June, Welsh government ministers announced plans to cut the number of councils from 22 to eight or nine.

The proposals came after a commission they established recommended up to 12.

But while she and the Conservatives were committed to reducing the cost of government, Mrs Finch-Saunders refused to specify how many councils there should be in future.

AMs debated the Local Government Bill in the assembly on Tuesday.

'Colossal waste'

Earlier, figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats showed the Welsh government spent £130,332 on the work of the cross-party Williams Commission, led by the former chief executive of the Welsh NHS Paul Williams.

Party local government spokesman Peter Black said: "For Labour ministers to spend over £130,000 to set up a commission, only to then completely ignore its recommendations, is a colossal waste of money.

"Labour ministers have been stubborn on this issue from the outset - it's their way or else."

"Sometimes they seem to forget that they failed to get a full mandate at the last election, and that they don't have the right to rule like a majority government with only half the seats," he added.

Any changes to the number of councils will be made after the 2016 assembly election and political parties are expected to set out their future vision for local government in their manifestos in the spring.

Public Services Minister Leighton Andrews says cuts by Conservative UK ministers have forced 'tough decisions' on councils

Meanwhile, figures released to the Welsh Conservatives by 15 of the 22 local authorities showed they spent a combined £36m on redundancy payments in 2014/15 - up from around £24.5m in 2013/14.

Almost £12m was spent by Cardiff council - the largest council in Wales - while the lowest spenders were the Vale of Glamorgan council who paid out £276,000.

Shadow local government minister Janet Finch-Saunders said: "More than £100m has been spent on council redundancies in the last three years, but that figure could be the tip of the iceberg if Labour press ahead with their botched plans for council mergers."

A spokesman for Public Services Minister Leighton Andrews said: "Tory cuts in Westminster have forced local government to make tough decisions to make long-term savings.

"Now in Wales the Tories want to slash local government budgets by a further 12%. That would mean huge council tax hikes, the loss of all non-statutory services and mass redundancies across Wales.

"The cost to our local authorities and our communities would be devastating."