Introduction
1.These Explanatory Notes are for the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 which was passed by Senedd Cymru on 18 November 2020 and received Royal Assent on 20 January 2021. They have been prepared by the Local Government Department of the Welsh Government in order to assist the reader of the Act.
2.The Explanatory Notes should be read in conjunction with the Act but they are not a part of it. They are not meant to be a comprehensive description of the Act, and where an individual section of the Act does not require explanation or comment, none is given.
3.The terms “local authority” and “local government” have different meanings in different parts of the Act and the reader should refer to the definition in each particular section or Part.
4.The term “principal council” means a county council or county borough council (see section 168).
5.The term “community council” includes a town council, this is not provided for in the Act, but occurs by virtue of section 245B of the Local Government Act 1972 (“the 1972 Act”) whereby a council of a community, which is not grouped with any other community may, resolve that the community shall have the status of a town. Where the community has the status of a town the council is known as a town council.