NEWPORT City Council has concerns about some of the things included in a White Paper on the re-organisation of local government in Wales, a report to its cabinet says.

The White Paper by the Welsh Government is setting out its vision for the future of local government in Wales, something being overseen by local government minister Leighton Andrews.

In February, Mr Andrews rejected voluntary mergers by six of the 22 Welsh councils – including Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen – for lacking a “compelling vision”. The White Paper outlines the Welsh Government’s response to the Williams Commission, which in January 2014, called for a cut to between 10-12 councils.

Power to Local People has suggested a series of reforms aiming to increase community participation in decision-making. It was published on February 3.

The Welsh Local Government Association has published a response to the white paper’s proposals saying they are “broadly supportive” but have taken note of some “highly controversial points”.

A meeting of Newport City Council’s cabinet on April 13, will decide whether to endorse the WLGA’s response, as well as approving a response of their own.

The council’s own report, by Will Godfrey, chief executive, said Newport City Council supports the White Paper in principle and supports a number of the proposals, but has concerns regarding the concept of a “One Welsh Public Service”.

It rejects the assumption that leaders and cabinet members could work on a part-time basis, saying workloads would not decrease.

Newport City Council, which has told the Welsh Government it wants to remain a standalone authority and not enter into a merger, also opposes term limits for councillors, which they feel would remove choice from electors.

It says plans for public recall of elected members are “unworkable” and that while it supports a national framework for top officer salaries, there should be “market supplements” where necessary.

Mr Andrews has not yet set out formally set a time limit, but he has said that it could be five terms – 25 years – for councillors and 10 years for leaders.

Newport’s report also said the council does not support the roles of leaders and elected mayors defined in the legislation.

It feels that it should be left to individual councils to establish individual job descriptions based on their own constitutions.

The council also believes that the proposal fails to recognise that the leader of the council “will inevitably be the person elected as the leader of the majority group”.

The roles of cabinet members and proposals regarding reducing the maximum number of cabinet members are also not supported. A final response by Newport City Council is due to be submitted to Welsh Government by April 28.