Welsh councils have called for greater local empowerment and widespread decentralisation of services as austerity hits the public sector.
Ahead of the Welsh Local Government Association's (WLGA) annual conference, local authority chiefs have called for a 'localist' approach to the £2.6bn budget shortfall facing Wales' public services.
The group will use today's event to challenge the view that local government reorganisation offers a 'silver bullet' for solving the country's financial issues.
'The public want local government and local decision-making when it comes to the issues and services that they care most strongly about, and public services will always be delivered more effectively when they are shaped and informed through an open dialogue with the people who use them,' WLGA leader Cllr Bob Wellington (Torfaen) said.
'The pressures being placed on Wales' public services are significant and complex, and any future reform of how these services are delivered must be based on a consideration of the public sector as a whole rather than a 'paint it by numbers' approach to council boundaries.
'We acknowledge that local government itself must change, but the reform process should be based on a true consideration of the functions and role that local councils should fulfil rather than the structures that are required to support this,' Wellington added.