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Issues and Challenges for Councils
Issues & Challenges for Councils
Councillors need to have an overview of the issues which are of concern to the public. People may contact you about these issues and you may be taking decisions relating to them. You’ll need to understand the issues, what action is planned nationally and locally, what power the council has to take action and how communities can work together for mutual support.
Economic Development
Economic Development is a process to improve the wellbeing of citizens in a range of areas, including economic prosperity, life expectancy and educational achievement. In Wales, the Welsh Government has taken a regional approach to Economic Development.
Climate Change, Decarbonisation & Biodiversity
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, in December 2015 and entered into force in November 2016. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. Even if the world achieves these aims, the UK will face significant further changes in climate to 2050 and beyond.
Waste
As finite resources dwindle, Wales, as a nation, needs to become better at managing our resources. This includes what we traditionally thought of as ‘waste’. In this way we can conserve resources, support the economy and provide sustainable jobs for future generations.
Transport
Transport has an important part to play in tackling climate change and helping with the decarbonisation agenda, as it makes up some 17% of Wales’s total carbon emissions.
In March 2021 Welsh Government published an ambitious Transport Strategy, promising ‘A Transport system fit for future generations’.
Community Safety
Community Safety Partnerships
Whilst not all councillors will be members of their Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) it is important for all to understand what community safety is and what CSPs are.
Community safety is the means through which citizens feel safe across all communities and environments in Wales, delivering strong, safe and confident communities in such a manner that provides equality of opportunity, social justice, resilience and is sustainable for all and enables community cohesion. Community Safety incorporates public safety, modern slavery and exploitation, serious violence and organised crime, anti-social behaviour, violence against women domestic abuse and sexual violence as well as terrorism and extremism.
Digital Services
There are many opportunities for councils in Wales to use digital technology to deliver services. This might be through providing online access to services or automating back-office functions. Since Covid, the public have heightened expectations of accessing services online.
Digital Wales is an organisation hosted by the WLGA which supports councils to provide the best digital services for all residents and visitors in Wales. They help councils overcome the challenges that make it difficult to design and implement digital services by encouraging collaboration between local authorities, helping with resource, and by hosting training and events to increase the digital skills across Wales.
Audit Wales undertook a review of digital services in councils in Wales in 2024. More information here.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence can benefit councils by improving efficiency and services. Recent Research by the LGA shows that councils use AI for:
- Public-facing chatbots, for example in contact centres.
- AI assistants for caseworkers, for example in social care or housing
- Image recognition to tackle fly-tipping and littering
- AI enabled sensors in adult social care
- AI tools to produce translations and easy read documents
- Predictive analytics for preventing falls and homelessness
- Cleaning datasets and removing duplicates
- Threat monitoring and cyber security
There are risks associated with the use of AI so councils are adopting robust policies and guidelines for AI adoption.