MONMOUTHSHIRE council will receive a share of £1milllion in funding to continue its breakthrough delivery of public services.

The authority is one of just six UK-wide to have been chosen to work with innovation agency NESTA to enhance its pioneering work.

The council will aim to shape the way other local authorities communicate with taxpayers, becoming more effective despite budget cuts.

One of Monmouthshire council's best recent example of innovation was to make Monmouth the world's first Wikipedia town.

Special barcodes, scanned with a smartphone, enable visitors to get information about places of interest on their mobiles.  A report to go before the council's Cabinet in the next few months says the project generated £2.12 million in advertising.

In addition, on the launch day last month, 252 articles were published in 36 countries about it.

"We are really trying to push the boundaries," said Chief Officer for Regeneration and Culture Kellie Beirne.

"In terms of communication we are delivering what people want. All staff have access to social media and not everyone here has desks because we want to be out working with communities. We want to be more responsive and engage with them about what matters most."

Over one-third of all local authorities in England and Wales applied to take part in the Creative Council's programme, launched by NESTA in April 2011.

Monmouthshire was one of 17 selected then and the final six will now be given a substantial portion of funding, working with leaders in innovation across the world.