Nationalist MP David Agius said in Parliament today that the government was 'asleep' in as far as local councils were concerned.

While the government had promised in the Budget speech to set up new funds to help the local councils in infrastructural projects and in cultural events, no money had actually been allocated in the budget Estimates.

The local councils, Mr Agius said, were increasingly feeling let down by the government, and they were not even consulted on matters which affected them directly.

The Budget speech also spoke about the reform of local law enforcement. This process, Mr Agius said, had been going on for too long and it was about time that decisions were taken.

But the government was clearly not giving the councils the importance they deserved. The funding they had been allocated was well below 1% of total government outlay, and far from what the councils needed to function effectively.

And the government still did not appear to know when next year’s elections would be held in half of Malta’s localities.

Mr Agius also asked what had happened to the proposal for a commission to oversee local councils and consider complaints, on the lines of the Ombudsman.

Parliamentary Secretary Stefan Buontempo said the government wanted local councils which were professional and financially sound.

The former government, he said, had introduced various scheme which ended up throwing many councils into big debts.

The government had found the councils buried under a debt of €22 million and the auditor-general had sounded his concerns over the future. Last year the debt of the councils started going down, for the first time in years, with the Local Government Department keeping a close eye on the councils' spending. An evaluation committee was also being set up to oversee infrastructural projects which would be eligible for funding from the new fund.

The present government, he said, would not introduce measures which could not be sustained. 

When he spoke on local enforcement, Dr Buontempo said the final decisions would be taken early next year.

He also pointed out that in line with the Labour promise, voting from age 16 would be introduced as from next year's local council elections.

He noted that the councils would next year get an additional €1 million in funding, for a total of €32 million. They would also benefit from the tax levied on large cranes set up on their roads.