He has experience of dealing with matters across the full spectrum of local government law,
including local government reorganisation, combined authorities, central government intervention, service reorganisations, the public sector equality duty, inter-authority disputes, standards, local government finance and disposal of land.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have broadly welcomed the statement this afternoon from Cabinet Secretary Alun Davies AM on
local government reorganisation, whilst reminding the Welsh Government that larger local authorities must be accountable to their communities and can not be based on arbitrary lines on a map.
In the event the implementation of the Boundary Review was postponed for partisan reasons until after the next General Election by Home Secretary James Callaghan (on the pretext of waiting until after the Redcliffe - Maud Report on
local government reorganisation).
Exactly how this agenda would be pursued in legislation and
local government reorganisation is a bigger question!
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have made clear today that they would not support
any local government reorganisation proposals without the introduction of a fair voting system.
Jonathan was recently involved in the first ever judicial review arising in the context of combined authorities, and he has recently been advising a number of local authorities on potential challenges to
local government reorganisations.