Questions posed by local councils consultation

Several questions regarding local councils needed to be answered during the current consultation process on local government, Chris Said, Parliamentary Secretary for Public Dialogue, told a meeting of mayors from the North of Malta.

Among other things, he said, one should discuss whether the term of local councils should be retained, whether mayors should be considered as having full times posts, and whether compensation should also be given to councillors.

One also had to ask whether there should be a distinction between the mayors of large and small localities, and whether the funding formula for the local councils should be re-worked. Should there be special funds for localities which had an influx of people from outside their locality?

He also asked whether local law enforcement was achieving its objectives, or whether the wardens were seen only as revenue-earners by some councils.

Other areas which had to be discussed including regional cooperation between the councils, the roles of executive secretaries, access to EU funding, and partnerships with the private sector, Dr Said said.