Newport Council ruled out hosting a lunch to celebrate the installation of the new mayor at a council-owned facility in favour of the cheaper five-star option at the Celtic Manor.

Council leader Matthew Evans decided to go against reinvesting £5,195 into the council-run Newport Centre to hold the lunch there, which would be catered for by council staff, in favour of dining out at the Manor suite for £4,300.

The leader said the decision was made in the hope it would encourage council facilities to offer prices more competitive with the outside market.

He said: “Having to justify to council tax payers to pay more money to recycle money within the council is not the way forward, what we need to be doing is convincing the council to be more competitive. We need to make sure we are efficient.”

A marquee at the council’s Tredegar House was also ruled out because costs would exceed £8,000 and non-council properties like The Holiday Inn and The Parkway were also dismissed as too expensive.

The lunch was last year held at the Hilton Hotel with the ceremony and lunch costing a total £6,631.

It would have cost £3,668 to host the lunch there again this year but this option was rejected.

Cllr Evans said: “We do not want to settle on one particular venue, unless it offers outstanding value and that is why the Celtic Manor was chosen this year after it was held in the Hilton Hotel last year.”

He added that using a different venue would allow the Newport Centre to carry on with its core business and for it not to lose any income from staging the lunch.

The annual event will see the mayor elect, councillor Bill Langsford, taking up his new role in a ceremony at the Civic Centre on May 18 followed by a lunch for 150 guests.

In a report on the decision to hold the lunch at the Celtic Manor, Cllr Bill Langsford said he thought it was unfair to go back to the same venue.

He added: “I find it difficult to understand why the Newport Centre comes in at such a high price and because of this I could not justify going there.”

The mayor elect was unavailable for further comment at the time the Argus went to press.

Costs of this year’s mayor-making event.

Total cost of using the Celtic Manor’s Manor Suite = approximately £4,300.

This includes lunch at £20 per head for the 150 guests, four bottles of wine per table at £16.52, wine on arrival at £16.52 for each of the 28 bottles, 20 bottles of mineral water at £3.70 each and 20 jugs of orange juice at £13.94 each.

Other costs include £646 for two double decker buses and car hire with drivers, £210 for booklets, £367.50 for refreshments at the Civic Centre, £425 for photography and £120 for toastmaster Harry Polloway.

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Costly lunch for taxpayer

THERE will no doubt be a few raised eyebrows today at Newport Council’s decision to hold a mayor-making lunch at the Celtic Manor at a cost to the taxpayer of £4,300.

The council said it had looked at several venues - including its own Newport Centre - but decided to go for the ‘cheaper’ option of the Celtic Manor.

The Celtic Manor costs include lunch at £20 per head for the 140 guests, four bottles of wine per table at £16.52, wine on arrival at £16.52 for each of the 28 bottles, 20 bottles of mineral water at £3.70 each and 20 jugs of orange juice at £13.94 each.

A report to the council also lists other costs of £646 for two double-decker buses and car hire with drivers, £210 for booklets, £367.50 for refreshments at the Civic Centre, £425 for photography and £120 for toastmaster Harry Polloway.

Staging the ceremony at the Newport Leisure centre run by the council would have cost £5,195 using the council’s own staff.

What some people will be baffled by is that whatever the cost of the Newport Centre, the money spent would have at least gone back into council coffers and ultimately back to the taxpayer.

By choosing a private option the money, obviously, ends up with a private firm.

That seems like strange logic.

What also may need to be looked at is why the cost of hiring a council facility is more than that of the world-renowned Celtic Manor.

If the cost of hiring Newport Centre was the same as the Celtic Manor, do we take it the council would have held the event there instead?