Over the past couple of years, Cardiff has been gearing-up to rid itself of the financial dead weight that 22 local authorities represent in Wales - a nation of just 3 million people. The clearest signal that change would happen, no matter what, came when new legislation - the Local Government (Wales) Measure - to permit a forced amalgamation of local authorities was passed in Cadiff in 2011.
Despite the endless slef-interested bleatings of the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), it's clear that not only is Cardiff intent on cutting the number of councils, but is intent on doing it quickly. After all, the financial crisis has been going on for five or more years by now, and the impacts about to be felt by the average Joe.
The Williams Commission was clear in identifying the problems and providing the solutions on a plate to Ministers. Under such pressure, several councils, including Gwynedd, have already relented to the very clearly inevitable and offered themselves up for amalgamation.
Anglesey, however, has other ideas. Never one to be anything other than ridiculous, Anglesey has stated it will stick it out and resist amalgamation. It says is wants a meeting with Cardiff to "learn more" about the process of amalgamation. This is very interesting, because for months, the bumbling and ageing Chief Executive of Anglesey, Richard Parry Jones, has been popping down to Cardiff for plenty of meetings.
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| Chop, chop - merge now! |
There is no defence against cutting the bloated public sector within Wales, which in many areas provides the only well-paid employment to be found.
It's also clear that much of the resistance to amlagamation is utterly predictable and self-interested moaning from councillors and senior officers alike, both groups fearing a curtailment to their lavish expenses and very positions.
Anglesey's councillors, for example, now cost well in excess of £1 million per year in annual allowances. One elected member pocketed £43,000 last year (2013/14), according to Anglesey's own data.
Yet, whilst there is plenty of hand-wringing about how services "must be cut", and endlessly raising Council tax by 4.5-5% per year - every year - none of the councillors discuss cuts to their own allowances, which are in many, if not most cases, higher than the average annual salary for the island.
Anglesey has never worked as a Council. Mired in scandal and alleged corruption from the outset, it has been subject to condemnation by one District Auditor after another. In the 1990's, heads did roll, albeit with golden 'goodbyes' and nothing by way of personal accountability, as is the way of the State.
We've since seen direct control from Cardiff by Commissioners, the initially top-secret payment of £1100 per day to a parachuted-in and widely-derided interim MD, and various special measures of various departments.
More recently, a Family Court Judge, no less, stated very publicly that he suscpected Anglesey's Social Services might be trying to cut costs when they completely failed to adhere to the law in stopping a child returning to its mother.
This is not a council in which the public can have faith.
The message to the self-interested public money grabbers who are once more putting their pockets, rather than the people first, is clear: you must merge, and quickly. You have no track record other than failure on which to rely, and it is to be hoped that Ministers will dismiss the bleatings, and wield the axe in a deicisive manner.
