Issue - meetings

RESOLVED: That Council approves the document on Council Size attached as Appendix A for submission to the LGBCE, noting the deadline for submission was 21 January 2022 with a Council Size of 50.

REASONS FOR DECISION: A Council Size of 50 Members has been proposed following discussion amongst Group Leaders at the Project Board, given the projected growth in the Local Plan; and the nature of the district with its mix of more densely populated towns and sparsely populated large rural areas that need to be a manageable size geographically for the rural ward councillors.  It is also believed that reducing the number of Members (thereby increasing workload for others) could deter or discourage individuals from standing as a Councillor, thereby further impacting on diversity of representation.

Audio Recording – 43:15

The Democratic Services Manager presented the report entitled Council Size Submission to Local Government Boundary Commission for England along with the appendices:

·                Appendix A – Council Size Submission

·                Appendix B – Electorate Projections Methodology

·                Appendix C – Electorate Projections Form

The following Members took part in debate:

·                Councillor Claire Strong

·                Councillor Keith Hoskins

Points raised included:

·                An increase in membership by 1 would go some way to mitigate the impact on workload for members in light of the increase in residents anticipated by the electorate projections

·                Large rural wards would be particularly impacted by any decrease in membership size

·                With electronic communication and new ways of working an increase in number of electors per Councillor would not be onerous

·                If central government has plans to significant change the structure or approach of local government tinkering with Council size in the short term will have minimal impact, and it was better to remain the same until government plans were clear.

Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg proposed, Councillor Ruth Brown seconded and on the vote it was:

RESOLVED: That Council approves the document on Council Size attached as Appendix A for submission to the LGBCE, noting the deadline for submission was 21 January 2022 with a Council Size of 50.

REASONS FOR DECISION: A Council Size of 50 Members has been proposed following discussion amongst Group Leaders at the Project Board, given the projected growth in the Local Plan; and the nature of the district with its mix of more densely populated towns and sparsely populated large rural areas that need to be a manageable size geographically for the rural ward councillors.  It is also believed that reducing the number of Members (thereby increasing workload for others) could deter or discourage individuals from standing as a Councillor, thereby further impacting on diversity of representation.