UPDATE 15.45pm

COUNCIL chief Bob Wellington also spoke of his disappointment after the Welsh Government rejected the merger bid.

The Torfaen council leader said: “Working with colleagues from Blaenau Gwent, we put a significant amount of effort into meeting the minister’s deadlines and provided a robust expression of interest in voluntary merger.

“Both council’s have demonstrated significant commitment by unanimously voting for a voluntary merger.

“While we are obviously disappointed, we welcome the positive comments from the minister about the leadership we’ve shown and the ideas we’ve raised about how public services can be taken forward.

“We remain convinced that it was right for us to put aside self-interest and look at how we can best deliver services for the people we represent in the future.”

UPDATE 14.55pm

THE leader of Blaenau Gwent council expressed his disappointment after a government minister rejected a proposed merger with Torfaen.

Cllr Hedley McCarthy spoke out this afternoon after the minister for public services Leighton Andrews ruled out a merger between the two Gwent councils.

Cllr McCarthy said: “We are disappointed that our joint expression of interest with Torfaen Council to voluntarily merge has not been accepted by the Welsh Government, although, to some extent the minister’s statement today was not unexpected as the proposals from Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen did not align to the Williams footprint, although it was a step towards it.

“We need to meet with the minister to discuss in more detail the reasons behind the decision before we make further comment.”

Blaenau Gwent deputy leader, Cllr Steve Thomas, added: “With the publication of the Local Government (Wales) Bill yesterday we wait to understand how the future of local government in Wales will be shaped and how it will impact on Blaenau Gwent.

In the meantime, we continue to focus on our immediate priorities and in particular delivering our transformation agenda in order to provide the best services for the benefit of local people.”

12noon

THE merger between Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent suggested by the councils themselves has been rejected by the minister for public services Leighton Andrews.

He said he was "not persuaded" that the expressions of interest from the Valleys authorities and two other possible mergers sufficiently met the criteria for "moving ahead to prepare a full Voluntary Merger Proposal".

Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent have been recommended for a merger with Caerphilly County Borough by the Williams Commission. Mr Andrews said authorities were expected to provide evidence of "exceptional circumstances" as to why they should be approved if their plans were different to those of the commission. He said that they were not.

The formal expressions of interest were submitted by Bridgend County Borough and the Vale of Glamorgan and Conwy County Borough and Denbighshire.

Plaid Cymru's Local Government spokesperson Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM said the Minister’s statement today will be a "complete surprise" to those who thought that he was engaging in a "sensible discussion" on Wales’ future council structure.

He added: "Many Local Authorities had put forward their proposals after he requested their plans, but the Minister has now chosen to completely disregard their suggestions. He clearly has other plans that he wishes to implement. The Minster needs to come clean with the Assembly and tell us what exactly his plan is. He has refused to do so to date, but it’s impossible for our councils to move forward if he refuses their proposals without telling them what his intention is.

For the Liberal Democrats, Peter Black said that Welsh Labour was “hell bent on ignoring local democracy” over voluntary mergers.

He said: “If we are to continue with this botched agenda of shoving together existing councils instead of a proper redrawing of boundaries, the least that Welsh Labour Ministers could do is listen to the wishes of councils themselves. Instead, Labour seem hell bent on ignoring local democracy and ploughing ahead with their preferred combinations at all costs.

“In order to create sustainable local councils that will stand the test of time, it must not be done over the heads of existing councils and completely against their wishes. The Minister should reconsider his decision and allow room for flexibility in his strict processes, so local people can actually get what they’d prefer out of this reorganisation.”

Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Local Government, Janet Finch-Saunders AM, said it was a "bizarre decision" and a "slap in the face" for those councils that have done the work and come forward voluntarily.

She added: “It was the Labour minister who called for councils to do this. Today the same Labour minister slaps them all down. This astounding development is another symptom of Labour’s haphazard, uncertain approach to managing local government in Wales.

“I fear the minister is simply making this up as he goes along.