A WHITE paper calling for a reform of local government has been discussed by Monmouthshire County Council (MCC).

The aim of the paper is to readdress the relationship between national and local government in Wales.

It seeks to ensure councils are wholly representative of local communities and hopes to introduce a more diverse range of councillors.

The paper entitled Reforming Local Government: Power to Local People was published in February and requires a response from all local authorities in Wales.

MCC, after consultation, has drafted a whole council response on areas of the white paper where there is cross party consensus.

In the response published by MCC it says: "We are advocates of the principle of subsidiarity believing firmly that decisions about people's lives should be made as close to them as possible.

"We do not believe that Wales Government should look to involve themselves in areas where they lack competence. We encourage Wales Government to focus their time and attention exclusively on matters of national interest.

"MCC recognises and supports signals in the white paper that seek to move us more towards a more participatory democracy. This seems the right path to follow. However, we should not lose sight of the fact that local councillors are elected by their peers to take decisions on their behalf. This link between councillor, ward and elector has to remain strong."

MCC rejected the possible changes to local government elections and were not in favour of phasing in councillors, meaning some would be elected one year and the others another as they failed to see how it would create a stable platform for local governance.

The response will be sent back to Welsh Government for consultation.