Ms Joan Martin:

There may be differences but they are not as great as all that. Likewise, we have a joint committee of council. Our management teams also meet. There may not be government officials; that is one of the key differences. There are no delegated functions but there is a joint agreed action plan. Many of the same ingredients exist. I suppose the language is a little different. The biggest difference I noted when Mr. Kelpie was speaking relates to delegated authority. Ultimately, the decisions still come back to the individual councils. It is a very good model. Even though we have had ours for considerably longer, we have yet to exploit its potential fully. We are still at an early stage of reaping the benefits or the potential benefits. One of the fears I have about Brexit is that just when we are putting in place good models like this to develop our areas, obstacles will arise. The relationship may not be completely blocked off but it will not be as easy to work together. Doing so is very important.