Welsh councils were given wider scope to engage in trading ventures than their English counterparts last week. The ‘power-to-trade' order, created by the ~Welsh Assembly Government~ applies to all 22 councils, whereas the equivalent power in England is restricted to the better authorities under the annual Comprehensive Performance Assessment process. Welsh local government minister, ~Sue Essex~ said the order involved returning to councils powers they possessed before 1979. It demands that councils trade through a local authority company and that operations are not subsidised on a continuing basis. During earlier committee debate, Mrs Essex had warned there had to be ‘a degree of caution' when entering into trading deals, but that the ‘degree of flexibility, innovation and creativity will be very interesting'. English councils have possessed the power to run schemes such as park-and-ride services for almost two years, but only around 2% are believed to have used it. A government spokesman said: ‘On risk assessment, it is fair to say that the ~Wales Audit Office~ will be watching this with a fair amount of attention.'
