Review Of Local Government In The North Continues According To Minister

Responding to recent press coverage on the review, the Minister said: "I announced the review of local government here on July 6th with a view to the Executive announcing its decisions to the Assembly and the public in December and that position remains unchanged.

"I can assure you that no decisions have been reached at this stage and any views to the contrary are unfounded.

According to Minister Foster, the Review is progressing well, with her department working in partnership with the local government, business and community and voluntary sectors to achieve a consensus on the future shape of local government in the North.

"There has already been significant stakeholder engagement during the review and this process of engagement, which all stakeholders have been encouraged to actively participate in, will continue throughout the review to prepare for and deliver the local government that we all want," she continued.

"So far the stakeholder engagement has concentrated on strand one of the review to develop a shared vision for local government but we are now moving into the next phase of the review process.

"I will be presenting an Emerging Findings Report to the Executive in late September and following the Executive meeting, the emerging findings will be presented to stakeholders and there will be an opportunity to discuss and feed in views which will be reflected, as appropriate, in the final recommendations to the Executive due to be presented at a meeting in late November 2007."

Minister Foster said that in advancing the review and making final recommendations to the Executive in November 2007, she welcomed the level of interest being shown in the review and could assure everyone that consideration will be given to the views and evidence submitted during the review until its completion in the autumn.