The proposed National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Local Government) Order 2009 is the twelfth Legislative Competence Order on which the Welsh Affairs Committee has reported. The Order will give the Assembly powers in respect of the structures and work of local government in Wales at all levels. The Welsh Assembly Government has requested this power because it wishes to develop and strengthen the role of community councils and councillors in Wales. The proposed Order will allow the Welsh Assembly Government to fulfil its commitment to seek legislation to address issues identified in the 2003 'Aberystwyth Report'.[1] We agree that a clear need for the proposed LCO has been identified and is consistent with the Government's commitment to build up the capacity of town and community councils.

There is widespread agreement that amongst large sections of the population, there is a sense of alienation from the political process and from democracy. The proposed Order seeks to enable the Assembly to bring the decision-making process closer to communities, making it easier to form new community councils, thereby replacing a process which is bureaucratic and onerous.

The proposed Order also seeks to strengthen the role of community councils within their communities. The provision of direct grants from Welsh Ministers will enhance their funding. The Order will also enable the Assembly to extend the power of well-being to community councils, allowing them to intervene effectively in their local communities regarding the communities' economic and social well-being. This will put them on the same footing as parish and town councils in England.

Witnesses commented on the need to bring the democratic process closer to communities and to re-engage people. The proposed Order will allow the Assembly to adopt an holistic approach to changing the law on public participation in governing the communities in which they live. The process of co-option without the requirement to advertise vacancies has resulted in a deterioration in the wider participation of the electorate. The proposed Order will allow the National Assembly for Wales to legislate to make it a requirement to advertise co-option opportunities with the local population and improve transparency and wider participation. Concerns were raised with us regarding the diversity of councillors, with many communities not fully represented by their elected members. The proposed Order will enable the Assembly to remove barriers in order to encourage black and ethnic minorities, disabled people and young people to become councillors.

The proposed Order is drafted in broad and accessible terms with the minimum of exceptions and interpretation. We are however, concerned that there are now many terms used to describe the various tiers of local government in Wales and agree with the suggestion put forward by Legislation Committee No. 2 of the National Assembly for Wales that the Minister should speedily undertake a review of terminology relating to local government. The word "community" is used loosely within the legislation and within both the Explanatory Memorandum and the evidence we received from ministers. In some contexts, it appears to be used by officials when they are referring to the population represented by a community council. That is not normal colloquial usage, nor is it consistent with the requirements of the 1972 Act and subsequent legislation. Best practice recognises that a community is defined by those who live in it rather than by external or administrative boundaries. Some community councils may represent a single community, but many do not. That is particularly true of the larger town councils which are comprised of several communities. It is also true of rural communities where more than one village is represented. A different word needs to be used to indicate when official documents or communications — including legislation and the Explanatory Memorandum — are talking about the population represented by a community council. The guiding principle should be to seek to reconcile official use of terminology with general public usage rather than the other way round.

Given that there have already been several LCO proposals identified in terms of local government, to call this the National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Local Government) Order introduces the potential for confusion and contradicts our previous recommendation that the 'naming convention' for LCOs should focus on telling people what the LCO is about. We urge the Wales Office and the Welsh Assembly Government to bring forward a substantive order with a title such as "National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Community Councils) Order" or similar, in order to achieve simplicity and clarity.