Corporate Joint Committee

A Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 became law in January 2021. It contained provisions to reduce the voting age from 18 to 16 for local elections in Wales and to extend the franchise to include eligible foreign nationals. It extended the term of local councillors from four years to five years. The law allows local councils to decide to continue to hold elections under first past the post system or to switch to the single transferable vote system. It created a framework for joint regional coordination between local authorities through the formation of Corporate Joint Committees.[3] Four Corporate Joint Committees covering all of Wales, were established by statutory instruments in April 2021.[4][1]

Each committee is made up the leaders of the principle councils within its areas and chairs of national park authorities. They must appoint a chief executive, a finance officer and a monitoring officer.[5] They are corporate bodies which can employ staff, hold assets and have dedicated budgets.[6]

Corporate Joint Committees have powers relating to economic well-being, strategic planning and the development of regional transport policies.[7] They have a statutory duty to prepare Strategic Development Plans and Regional Transport Plans.[8]

In April 2021, four Corporate Joint Committees were created covering all of Wales:[9]

Corporate Joint Committee	Map	Principle councils	Chair	URL
Mid Wales Corporate Joint Committee[10]		Ceredigion Powys	Bryan Davies
North Wales Corporate Joint Committee[11]		Anglesey Conwy Denbighshire Flintshire Gwynedd Wrexham	Dyfrig Siencyn
South East Wales Corporate Joint Committee[12]		Blaenau Gwent Bridgend Caerphilly Cardiff Merthyr Tydfil Monmouthshire Newport Rhondda Cynon Taf Torfaen Vale of Glamorgan	Anthony Hunt
South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee[13]		Carmarthenshire Neath Port Talbot Pembrokeshire Swansea	Rob Stewart

• Local government in Wales
• Regions of Wales
• History of local government in Wales
• Regional economy in Wales
• Trunk road agent
• Combined authority, similar bodies in England

• Collaboration nation: what are Corporate Joint Committees and what will they do? at the Welsh Parliament