Issue - meetings

Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg moved the recommendations as in the report. Councillor Ruth Brown seconded.

There was debate.

The Democratic Services Manager advised that officer workload and staffing issues would make extending the timeframe of the consultation difficult and impact the analysis of any results from the consultation.

Richard Beesley, Consultant from the AEA, advised that the timeframe of the next round of consultations was determined by the Local Government Boundary Review Commission for England and therefore could not be altered. The outcome of this consultation needed to feed into the Council Size submission and the timescales were tight.

Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg proposed and Councillor Ruth Brown seconded the following amendment:

1)    That the consultation period end date be extended from 1 November to 8 November and;

2)    that the questions ‘- elect all of our Councillors every four years?; or - elect one third of our Councillors every year’ be amended to stipulate ‘District Councillors,’ in both instances, as well as more reference to District Council throughout.

Following the vote the amendment was carried.

Following the vote on the motion as amended it was:

RESOLVED:

That Council:

(1)       Approves public consultation of the following question for four weeks starting on 4 October 2021 until 8 November 2021:

Do you think we should (select one only):

·       elect all of our District Councillors every four years?; or

·       elect one third of our District Councillors every year

(2)       Agrees that a Special Meeting of Council be convened following the consultation in order for Council to consider the results of the consultation and determine proposals for any change in its electoral cycle arrangements.

REASON FOR DECISION: To undertake public consultation in preparation for a decision on the Council’s electoral cycle.

Audio Recording – 1 hour 31 minutes 37 seconds.

The Democratic Services Manager presented the report entitled Electoral Cycle Consultation along with the following Appendices:

·                Appendix A – Electoral Review Timetable

·                Appendix B – Consultation Doc v1

The Democratic Services Manager drew attention to points including:

·                A timetable for the electoral review of District Ward boundaries by the local Government Boundary Commission for England had been agreed with the Council;

·                Prior to the submission on council size, there needed to be a decision on whether to retain the current electoral cycle of elections by thirds or to move to holding ‘all out,’ elections as this will impact on the number of Councillors the authority recommend within this submission to the commission;

·                The council cannot pass a resolution to change its electoral cycle unless it has taken reasonable steps to consult; attached  to the report at Appendix A is the proposed consultation document intended to consult via Survey Monkey or a paper based version which can be made available on request;

·                The consultation question concentrated on the existing arrangements or whole council elections; there are very few authorities that elect by halves, the majority of councils do elect as a whole Council, and in 2004 the Electoral Commission advocated that all local authorities should move to all council elections, rather than electing by thirds or half stating that this will provide clear and easy to understand electoral process that would best serve the interests of the local government electors;

·                The consultation would be for a four week period and results presented to a special meeting of Council to allow members to consider and determine any changes to the electoral cycle.

Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg moved the recommendations as in the report. Councillor Ruth Brown seconded.

There was debate.

The following Members took part in debate:

·                Councillor Claire Strong

·                Councillor Carol Stanier

·                Councillor Richard Thake

·                Councillor Ian Albert

·                Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg

·                Councillor Ruth Brown

·                Councillor Morgan Derbyshire

The Democratic Services Manager advised that officer workload and staffing issues would make extending the timeframe of the consultation difficult and impact the analysis of any results from the consultation.

Richard Beesley, Consultant from the AEA, advised that the timeframe of the next round of consultations was determined by the Local Government Boundary Review Commission for England and therefore could not be altered. The outcome of this consultation needed to feed into the Council Size submission and the timescales were tight.

Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg proposed and Councillor Ruth Brown seconded the following amendment:

1)    That the consultation period end date be extended from 1 November to 8 November and;

2)    that the questions ‘- elect all of our Councillors every four years?; or - elect one third of our Councillors every year’ be amended to stipulate ‘District Councillors,’ in both instances, as well as more reference to District Council throughout.

Following the vote the amendment was carried.

Following the vote on the motion as amended it was:

RESOLVED:

That Council:

(1)       Approves public  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52