00:00Well, we want to streamline local government. We've got a situation right now where one in three people in the
00:06country are living in areas where there's two different local authorities.
00:10That means two chief executives, two finance directors. It's not a good use of taxpayers' money. It's not efficient or
00:16effective.
00:17So the reforms are something we're absolutely committed to.
00:20When we went out to consult with those authorities that were going to be most affected, 30 of them came
00:26back and said, look, we're going to really struggle to do these reorganizations and hold local elections.
00:31We listened to that. We said, OK, we'll postpone them. We did so on the basis of legal advice.
00:37That legal advice has now changed. So we're having to withdraw the position. It's not ideal.
00:42I'm not going to stand here and pretend that that's a great position to be in, because when the legal
00:47advice changes, you do have to change your position.
00:50But these are circumstances beyond our control. But what I would say is we're absolutely committed to driving these reforms
00:57through.
00:57And in two to three years, people across the country will see and feel the benefits of them.
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