Local Councils’ Association president Mario Fava personally believes that major changes are needed for local councils, but wants a scientific study to be carried out first.

“Local councils were first set up 30 years ago and I believe the time has come for a scientific study on councils to be conducted,” he told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

Fava believes that there is a need for what he described as “certain radical changes” but does not think they would be enacted by any government due to partisan politics in the country. This is because, he said, “any party in government would be criticised by whoever is in Opposition”. However, Fava said, this could be solved if a scientific study was carried out.

One point he mentioned as an example was the number of local councillors in the country. “I believe that the number of elected local councillors is a lot for our country – there are 468. If, from a scientific study, it emerges that there are too many councillors, then any government would not be afraid to take action or have any problems of being seen as negatively impacting democracy, because that decision would be based on a scientific study and not because a politician just took a decision." It’s the same argument when it comes to council responsibilities, he said.

He said that in order to truly decide where the country is heading in the next 30 years with regards to local councils, such a study should be carried out to take stock of the situation. “Then, on the basis of this study's findings, one would be able to prepare both a short- and long-term plan for the coming years.” That way, he said, "the changes would not take place just because Mario Fava for example, thinks one way about it or because the parliamentary secretary for Local Government Alison Zerafa Civelli or PN spokesperson for Local Government Darren Carabott, think that way. But rather it would be due to experts who would have conducted a study, gone through all the various aspects and made their recommendations."

Another example he mentioned was on the idea of having full-time mayors. “How can you have a hands-on mayor, knowing exactly all that is going on in their locality, while that person has their private job between 8am and 5pm? That person would then go to the local council's office at 5.30pm when the secretary would have already left and try to understand what happened throughout the day.”

"It’s easy to say let's make mayors full-time, but how much better would it be if that emerges from a study."

Asked how he sees such a study being conducted, he said that it should be carried out in cooperation with the Council of Europe, as it includes a Chamber that represents localities and regions and funds could be brought. He added that there should be the full involvement of residents, as they are the ones who elect councillors. “Among other things, such a study should ask residents what is most important for a council. Is it to look after the wellbeing of a locality? Enforcement? Where should local councils spend more money? These are the kind of questions one should ask.”

He was also asked about powers for councils. Before speaking about powers, he said, “there needs to be more awareness of local councils, in the sense that people who lead certain government agencies and entities need to show more respect towards local councils”. Local council elections, he said, result in the largest number of people's representatives, he said, "and this merits the respect I am referring to".

He did not mention any agencies or entities by name, but when asked whether he finds that at times local councils are ignored by any entities or agencies, he said yes. However, he said, "often times it wouldn't be coming from the agency, it would be the attitude of the person leading the agency".

When the respect issue is tackled, he said, then one can discuss certain powers that local councils should have, keeping in mind the size of the country. “I wouldn't expect a local council to be responsible for education or healthcare, but I would expect that local councils would be consulted when, for example, it comes to local clinics,” he said. Such clinics would be a place where residents can visit a GP in their locality rather than having to travel to health centres, and would be administered by the council, he said.

Fava also floated the idea of councils having the ability to use the schools’ facilities for the benefit of the community after school hours. "We are slowly seeing this taking place. In St Paul's Bay for example, the parking area will be able to be used by residents after school hours. That should be the model for other localities."

Turning to consultation, he said that when a project is going to take place in a locality, the local council should be included in discussions right from the start, "as a local council would know what kind of projects are needed for the locality. It is the council that would know what the community truly needs as it meets with people every day and is close to residents".

Asked for his thoughts on powers being taken away from councils over the past few years, he said "if one refers to the setting up of Infrastructure Malta for example, that was the first step. Before, roads were under (the responsibility of) local councils and are now under a government agency. But one must recognise that local councils in the past were given a financial allocation to patch roads and not to build new roads. To build a new road one would be talking about many, many thousands of euros, and the councils did not have that allocation. Infrastructure Malta was set up so that the burden of going through the procurement process etc. would be handled by a government agency”.

“In the 1990s there were the famous Public-Private-Partnerships that made local councils, in order to build a new road, enter into agreements with the private sector to pay the amount over a number of years. As the legislature would change and new councils were voted in, they would be faced with a substantial number of creditors that they must pay. That meant, he said, that the new council wouldn't be able to implement the programme they would have been elected on. “So it all depends about how one looks at it.”

He said that when it comes to major capital projects, "I understand that local councils do not have the expertise, finances or resources to undertake them. Does it make sense, in a small country like Malta, for every council to have an architect, accountant, and draftsman? That is why working on a regional basis sometimes makes more sense from a financial aspect, given the size of the country”.

“When it comes to waste management, we need to admit that there was some imposition from the European Union, where in studies that emerged in 2018 or 2019 it was said that Malta had to move towards regionalisation. Agree with it or not, that is something we had to do.”

He said that local councils still have a say in the workings of waste management as the councils' contracts managers are following to ensure that the regional contractors are doing their job well.

“That's why rather than powers per se in a particular sector, I prefer to speak about the appreciation for local councils where, if a project is going to be carried out in a locality, the council would be included in discussions from the very beginning and would be a part of the project.” He said that when it comes to small projects, those should be left in the hands of local councils.