UPDATE: 12.08pm

LONG-awaited plans which could see the number of councils in Wales slashed have finally been revealed.

The Draft Local Government (Wales) Bill has been published today, setting out the Welsh Government’s plans to merge the 22 councils in the country into eight or nine larger authorities – including a so-called ‘Super Gwent’ encompassing Newport, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen and Monmouthshire.

Although the mergers could cost taxpayers up to £246 million, they are expected to save £650 million over ten years. But up to 1,900 administration staff could lose their jobs if the plans get the go-ahead.

A consultation into the bill – which also includes provision allowing members of the public to tweet and blog from council meetings – has been launched today and will run until February 15 2016 before going before Assembly Members in the autumn. It is hoped it will get Royal assent in summer 2017.

If it gets the go-ahead the current system will be scrapped and replaced with the new structure in 2020, with the number of councillors in Wales as a whole slashed from 1,250 to between 700 and 900.

In a written statement the Welsh Government’s minister for public services Leighton Andrews said: "Our vision for local government is for activist councils engaged in delivering modern, accessible, high quality public services with their local communities.

“This draft bill sets out a programme of reform to secure the future of local government in Wales.

“We want to see councils which are vibrant, strong, flexible, open and transparent – councils with vision, great leadership and passion, working effectively with the public service workforce and their communities to improve services, improve lives and improve places.

“There is a real opportunity here for local government to make significant savings for taxpayers and if councils work together, plans well and involve their staff there is the opportunity for savings even greater than the £650 million we have identified.

“This means more money for front line public services, more money to invest in communities and more money to support local economic prosperity.

UPDATE: 11.10am

A SHAKE-UP of local government in Wales which would see Gwent's local authorities disappear, would bring savings of "up to £650m over ten years" the Welsh Government today claimed.

The Draft Local Government (Wales) Bill, published today, sets out how the current 22 councils will be merged into 8 or 9, cutting overheads.

The Welsh Government says that "significant savings" can be made "in order to protect frontline services at a time of unprecedented demand". 

They say that mergers would pay for themselves within two to three years, and the £650m savings figure takes into account all these initial costs. Additional savings could also be achieved by the sale of surplus assets.

Today’s Draft Bill is the start of a formal consultation process on the proposals for local authority mergers announced in June. Views are sought on the proposed structure, with the consultation closing on 15th February 2016.

The Public Services Minister, Leighton Andrews said: “Our vision for Local Government is for activist Councils, engaged in delivering modern, accessible, high quality public services with their local communities.

“This Draft Bill sets out a programme of reform to secure the future of Local Government in Wales. We want to see Councils which are vibrant, strong, flexible, open and transparent - Councils with vision, great leadership and passion, working effectively with the public service workforce and their communities to improve services, improve lives and improve places.

“There is a real opportunity here for Local Government to make significant savings for taxpayers and if Councils work together, plan well and involve their staff there is the opportunity for savings even greater than the £650 million we have identified. This means more money for front line public services, more money to invest in communities and more money to support local economic prosperity.”

The Bill is scheduled to be introduced to the Assembly in autumn 2016, and is being published in draft form in order to seek a wide range of views on the proposals between now and February next year.