I AM replying to Brenda Aicardi’s letter in the Argus on 2nd December where she stated that she thought the next step would be that Newport City councillors would be entitled to redundancy payments.

They sorted that little problem out a few years back when they voted to award themselves up to £24,000 when they jacked the job in. Their excuse was to encourage the influx of a much younger generation to apply for councillor vacancies and the retirement of the older generation of councillors, both of which they have failed miserably in.

It should also be remembered that not only do they get an excellent remuneration for the job they do, a job that was always done voluntarily, but they get extra amounts of finances for each and every committee position they hold. Not bad for the majority who are unemployed as it’s all tax free. Councillors should lead by example and be the first to make substantial cuts in their remuneration and perhaps take a leaf out of the Welsh Assembly’s proposal of cutting down on local councils by cutting down on the number of councillors needed. After all, which areas of Newport actually need three or more councillors for the constituents?

Shaun McGuire, Mole Close, Bettws, Newport