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Local authorities should learn more lessons from abroad and not just from within the UK, Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan told an international conference last week in Cardiff.

Mr Morgan said that this month's first change in 125 years to the Welsh school national curriculum for 3-7year olds was inspired by visiting schools in Scandinavia.

He told UDITE, the European association of chief executives: ‘We went outside the UK and borrowed best practice from northern Europe. Our living laboratories are not just the four countries in the UK but the 104 nations and regions across Europe.'

Cardiff City Council chief executive Byron Davies was elected new UDITE president for two years.