Commentary on Sections Part 7: Mergers and Restructuring Of Principal Areas Chapter 1: Voluntary Mergers of Principal Areas Section 123 – Guidance about merger applications
533.The Welsh Ministers may issue guidance to principal councils in respect of a joint application for voluntary merger, and this section requires councils to have regard to such guidance.
534.The guidance could cover matters the principal councils will need to consider in formulating an application, including the intended benefits, costs and savings, impact assessments, the scope of consultations and any other relevant issues, for example (once the provisions in Part 1 about choosing the voting system have come into force), identifying which voting system should be used for the first elections to the new council for the new principal area (see section 126)).
535.The duty to have regard to guidance applies in relation to guidance issued by the Welsh Ministers before this section comes into force, if the guidance was expressly issued as guidance on merger applications.