A PROPOSAL to spend an extra £12,000 on Newport City Council’s own newspaper has been added to the authority’s draft budget proposals.

The draft budget investment is as a result of “insufficient budget” to produce Newport Matters in 2014/15, which is distributed to homes and businesses in the city six times a year.

The proposal comes against a backdrop of potential cuts being made by the council, which needs to save £10 million in the next financial year due a 2.6 per cent reduction in Welsh Government funding.

A council spokeswoman said the council had a duty to inform as well as serve and Newport Matters was a “cost-effective” way of doing so.

Labour councillor Sally Mlewa said expenditure on a paper copy may be “imprudent” as there are other avenues to be explored.

Councillors sitting on the street scene, regeneration and safety scrutiny committee suggested moving away from paper versions of the publication, agreeing that virtual production could save money.

Ms Mlewa said: “It was discussed thoroughly in scrutiny.

“I suppose the issue here is people want to be informed but there are many ways of informing people now.

“I think it would be may be imprudent to be spending a huge amount on one avenue. I think the scrutiny were quite clear about that.”

Labour councillor Jane Mudd said: “I think it’s really important that we communicate effectively with members of the public.

“We need to recognise that not everybody has access to the internet. It’s important that we maintain some form of communication with them and if Newport Matters proves to be the most effective means, we must maintain it.”

A council spokeswoman said: “Our duty as a city council is not only to serve but to inform. Newport Matters is an important and cost effective way to communicate with our residents and to encourage involvement in key issues that affect them, for example the recent budget consultation.

“It costs around 27p per resident per year to produce and deliver to over 66,000 properties in the council’s footprint, communicating with around 145,000 residents, six times a year.

“We continually look at the most cost effective way of producing the newspaper and have reduced the cost associated with the publication this financial year.

“We use our website, social media and other methods, and we continue to look at the most cost-effective way of communicating with our residents,.

“However, Newport Matters remains an important channel of communication with not all residents having access to the web.

“Like many national and local newspapers, it will continue to be published in paper form and also be available online.”