Newport City Council has agreed to formalise shared working with two neighbouring authorities as part of its drive to reduce costs.
Newport's Chief Internal Auditor will provide a similar role for Monmouthshire on a formal basis from now onwards as part of a new agreement between the two Councils.
In addition, Newport's Student Services function will be transferred to Cardiff City Council from April.
Members allowances for Newport City Council are set to be frozen for the 2010/11 financial year to reflect the difficult economic circumstances being experienced by residents.
Councillors currently receive a salary of £13,030 per annum. The Leader receives an additional £30,591 and Cabinet Members £15,396. The Leader of the Opposition receives an additional £9,236.
Newport's Council Taxpayers face a rise in their charges of 3.95 per cent.
The Revenues Budget for 2010/11 before the City Council Cabinet on Tuesday proposes the increase, is significantly ahead of the rate of inflation - currently 2.4 per cent.
Despite the increase in funding from the central taxpayer Newport continues to be affected by a fall in come from capital receipts and the downturn in the property market.
The current administration argues that it is trying to improve the financial position of the Council and is reducing reliance on reserves.
The cost of using City Council leisure facilities is set to rise significantly following the decision by the Conservative-Liberal coalition to implement a new charging structure from April 2010. 
"It's a thorough piece of work and I respect the work they've done, but Newport is a city is a city that has already attracted a number of private and public sectors jobs to the area"
"What you have is a city that's absolutely ready to take off - look around you, you have a city centre site for redevelopment, a new railway station, a new road system, an ideal position between Bristol and Cardiff, we've got the right communications - as soon as there are people ready to invest, Newport will be a very attractive proposition."
"All cities need to make sure that they have the right skills, Newport can draw on a workforce from the entire region. That's not to say we cannot improve - we really do have to improve the skill base to give the people of Newport the skills they need to get decent jobs and we will work hard on that. It's not a problem unique to Newport problem - it's a UK wide problem."
"I wasn't very keen on the league table format. If you look inside the criteria they used in the report you'll find the need in every single case to 'up-skill' the workforce. That's something that is a challenge whether you're Cardiff the capital of Wales, Basingstoke or the so called richer places like Oxford and other market towns around the country."
"The challenge for them is the same - ours is on a larger scale coming out of a large manufacturing base we need to change the emphasis and we are doing, but the challenge is there for every city."To hear the deputy leader's response in full click here
Councillor Bill Langsford has been voted as Newport's Mayor Elect.
His term will begin in May and he will be first citizen when the Ryder Cup comes to Newport in the autumn.
He received the unanimous backing of the full council after being nominated by leader Councillor Matthew Evans and seconded by Councillor Bob Bright, the leader of the opposition. Councillor Margaret Cornelious will serve as deputy mayor.
Councillor Langsford was brought up and educated in West Somerset. He worked for British Rail for more than 35 years in the engineering department but said he decided to retire early because he did not want to work for a privatised industry.
He started his career in Taunton and worked briefly in Bristol before moving to Newport in 1966.
Councillor Langsford met his wife Sue while she was also working for British Rail in Newport.
A keen follower of sport, he is still a season ticket holder of Somerset and Glamorgan County Cricket Clubs.
He only severed links with Minehead FC in 1986 and became involved with Cwmbran FC. Lately, he has become interested in rugby and is a season ticket holder of Newport Gwent Dragons and Newport RFC.
Councillor Langsford became a member of the Labour Party in 1987 and in 1995 he was elected to represent the Allt-yr-yn ward.
In 1999, he was asked to stand for the Malpas ward which he still represents.
Councillor Langsford served as a governor at Malpas Court Primary School, Malpas Park Primary School and Bettws High School, now known as Newport High School.
He also sat on the former housing and personnel committees, becoming vice-chairman of the latter. He became deputy executive leader for resources and business manager of the city council from 2004 to 2008. He now serves on the overview and scrutiny forums for resources and young people’s services.
Following problems in the three Newport Cemeteries at St.Woolos, Christchurch and Caerleon the City Council is introducing Dog Control Orders as irresponsible owners have allowed their dogs to foul areas of the cemeteries and to run without the restriction of a lead.
The Orders being introduced by the Council after public consultation will regulate this.
Breaching a Dog Control Order is a crime. The penalty for which is a maximum fine of Level 3 on the Standard Scale – currently £1,000. Alternatively, the opportunity to pay a Fixed Penalty may be offered in place of prosecution.
Newport City Council could be faced with a difficult and costly dispute following a decision by Iceland Foods to challenge (via judicial review) the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) of two of its stores in the Austin Friars area of the city centre. The CPO was originally served in 2007.
The Cabinet of the City Council stated it was very concerned about the basis of the challenge by Iceland Foods who appeared to be putting self interest before the opportunity to develop the city centre to the benefit of their own business and of all other businesses in the city centre. The Deputy Leader Ed Townsend stated that he hoped that Iceland would come to the table and work with Council officers who could facilitate the identification of a suitable alternative site near the original premises. It was confirmed that under the terms of the CPO, Iceland Foods would be subject to compensation for losses.
Iceland Foods contend that the decision to proceed with the implementation of the CPO at the present time is “unlawful” because
• The Council is effectively acting ultra vires by using the CPO powers for a different purpose to that originally intended
• The Council has failed to reconsider the alternative proposals that they put forward at the original CPO Inquiry and has failed to have regard to their “Human Rights”.
A severely disabled man died after he became trapped and suffocated in a hoist system designed to help him move around his home, a Newport coroner's inquest heard yesterday.
Coroner David Bowen said he would be writing to the City Council that installed the hoist urging it to issue emergency call buttons to disabled people using such systems without carers.
The inquest heard that Michael Powell, 55, of Pontfaen Road, Newport, lost the use of his legs in a speedway accident in the 70s. His brother, Nicholas, told the court that Mr Powell was fiercely independent and the hoists were installed in the bedroom and bathroom of his home by Newport City Council in 2000. He said he found him hanging in the hoist in his bedroom on January 21 last year.
Free weekend and late night Thursday Christmas parking is to be extended until 2 January 2010. Newport City Council is offering free parking in all council-owned car parks across the city every Saturday, Sunday and late night Thursdays until 2 January 2010.
Leader of Newport City Council, Councillor Matthew Evans said: “Car parking fees can certainly add up for shoppers over the festive season, so Newport City Council has introduced this initiative to ease the financial pressures for shoppers and encourage them to use the facilities we have on offer in our city centre. This is a win-win situation to boost footfall and assist traders.”
Participating council car parks include Cambrian Multi-storey, Park Square, Emlyn Street, Faulkner Road, Hill Street, Riverfront, Market, Maindee and Stow Hill. Privately owned car parks including Kingsway and Queensway are excluded.
A group of five South Wales councils has formally begun the procurement process for one of Wales' largest ever waste treatment deals, with a projected value of £1.1 billion over 25 years.
The 'Prosiect Gwyrdd' partnership issued a notice on the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) last week (November 24), inviting anyone interested in bidding for the public private partnership (PPP) deal to contact them and complete a pre-qualification questionnaire.
The partnership - which is being led by Cardiff Council but also involves Caerphilly County Borough Council, Monmouthshire County Council, Newport City Council and Vale of Glamorgan council - is looking to procure facilities to treat the 30% to 35% of its waste that it believes will be left after recycling and composting in the future.
Newport City Council has stepped in to provide sufficient funding to run the Pill Millennium Centre for three months to allow the centre to stave off financial problems.
At its meeting held on 17 November 2009, the Cabinet was informed of difficulties being faced by the Pillgwenlly Millennium Centre which is operated by a Trust as a company separate to the Council.
The Council had provided three years revenue assistance with the proviso that the Trust should stand alone financially at the end of three years, as stipulated in the Service Level Agreement between the Trust and Newport City Council.
The three year support was to cease at the end of November. The Cabinet was also informed of difficulties which meant that the Trust may not be in a position to run as a stand - alone organisation effective from 1 December 2009.
Cabinet expressed concern about the matters raised which had led to the position but wanted to explore ways in which it could assist the Trust to safeguard this community facility if at all possible and within financial constraints.
Justice Beatson, a Cardiff High Court judge has ruled in the favour of taxi drivers in Newport, who challenged a council decision to impose age limits on vehicles.
A new rule had said Hackney cabs must be less than 12 years old, and private hire cars less than eight from 2010. The judge said Newport Council failed to consult properly, a ruling which drivers said would save jobs.
The authority said it was "obviously disappointed" and would reconsider the issue "as quickly as possible". In a statement, the council said it would "amend our proposals taking into consideration the comments of the judge". "Our priority has always been the safety of people using taxis in the city and we will continue to tackle this matter," the statement added.
The taxi driver's association claimed 59 of the current 135 Hackney drivers in the city would be put out of business by the rule change. Back in March a demonstration was staged in the city centre over the planned changes.
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