PART 1Merging councils
Transition committees for merging councils
1(1)Merging councils must establish a transition committee immediately after making a merger application.
(2)References to a transition committee in this Part of this Schedule are to a transition committee established under sub-paragraph (1).
Membership of transition committees for merging councils
2(1)A transition committee must consist of an equal number of members, not being less than 5, of each of the merging councils.
(2)The members of a merging council who are to be members of the transition committee must be appointed by the merging council.
(3)The number of members of the committee to be appointed by each of the merging councils is the number agreed by the merging councils or, in default of agreement, determined by the Welsh Ministers.
(4)One of the members of the committee appointed by a merging council must be the merging council’s senior executive member.
(5)If not already appointed under sub-paragraph (4), the executive member of a merging council with responsibility for finance must also be appointed as a member of the committee.
(6)A transition committee may co-opt additional persons to serve as members of the committee but they may not vote.
(7)A transition committee is to be treated for the purposes of paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (c. 42) (political balance on local authority committees) as a body falling within paragraph 2 of that Schedule.
(8)In this paragraph “senior executive member” means—
(a)in the case of a council operating a leader and cabinet executive, the executive leader;
(b)in the case of a council operating a mayor and cabinet executive, the elected mayor.
Functions of transition committees for merging councils
3(1)A transition committee must provide to the merging councils, and to the shadow council for the new principal area, advice and recommendations for—
(a)facilitating the economic, effective and efficient transfer of functions, staff and property rights and liabilities from the merging councils to the new principal council,
(b)ensuring that the new principal council and its staff are in a position to perform the new principal council’s functions effectively as from the time when it assumes them, and
(c)any other purposes that the Welsh Ministers may specify in a direction to the transition committee.
(2)A transition committee must also give advice and recommendations to the Welsh Ministers on any matter that the Welsh Ministers specify in a direction to the committee.