PROPOSALS to cut allowances for councillors to fund local projects and reducing the number of floral displays are among savings ideas likely to be put to the public in Newport next week.

Yesterday the Argus reported that senior councillors in Newport council will meet on Thursday to consider whether to put 100 savings proposals for the next four years to the public.

The authority needs to £25 million in the next four years – and £10 million in 2014/15 alone.

The long list of proposals includes plans for Newport to save £25,000 by cutting back on members neighbourhood allowances in the next financial year.

The grants are used by councillors to fund individual requests from individuals or organisations within the Newport area. They are one-off in nature and don’t fund any on-going projects.

Gwent Music Support Service, which last year had its funding cut by Newport council, could be asked to pay for Newport council support services, generating £50,000 by 2015.

Council documents say the proposal is unlikely to have an impact on GMSS, which lost its Newport council funding last year, after the service reviewed its provision and became able to provide services while making the contribution.

Officers could seek sponsorship for nursery and floral displays and restrict them to certain sites to reduce spending on them – saving £34,000 by 2015.

The proposal would likely see a fall in the number of floral displays.

The council could try to generate an extra £250,000 a year from commercial waste being deposited at the Newport landfill site from 2016, and £150,000 by 2015 by increasing income from additional waste and highways maintenance contracts.

Newport council may be able to save £1.3 million through changes to services for older people – such as focusing on boosting support in the community, reorganising existing intervention services and other moves.

Newport council is to hold a series of meetings to discuss the budget proposals with members of the public.

They are set to take place on December 16 at Malpas Court’s Library and Drawing Room and December 18 at Newport Stadium’s John Charles Suite.

A further meeting will take place on January 16 in the Castle Room in Newport Centre – not January 15 as stated in yesterday’s Argus.

There will be two time slots each day – noon to 2pm and 5pm to 7pm.

The Argus yesterday printed that the authority needed to save £35 million over four years - this was due to ambiguous figures provided by Newport council.