ABSTRACT
A much bolder and more imaginative proposal was put forward by the Liberal Party. 1 This advocates a directly elected Council for Wales to take over from the county and county borough councils large-scale services such as the police, further education, fire services, water supply, main roads, special schools and planning. The Council could also be entrusted with several functions at present carried out by the Central Government or public corporations, such as trunk roads, economic development, public transport, hospitals, control over the location of industry and offices. Subject to these changes the administrative counties could continue in their present form. They could administer primary and secondary education, health services, children’s and old persons’ homes, planning control, etc. Merthyr Tydvil could remain a county borough. The rural district councils and the smaller urban districts would be abolished, leaving only the town councils and the parish councils—the latter being reconstructed as valley councils.
