Issue - meetings

To consider any motions, due notice of which have been given in accordance with Standing Order 4.8.12, including:

A)   Motion on Proportional Representation

B)   Motion on Urgent unlock the potential of High Streets

There were two motions submitted in accordance with Standing Order 4.8.12.

(A)        Motion on Proportional Representation

RESOLVED: That Council:

(1)  Call upon the UK Government to commit to changing electoral law to permit the introduction of a PR system of voting in any reforms to local government presented to Parliament.

(2)  Instruct the Leader of the Council to write to North Hertfordshire District Council's three MPs to ask them to call for a change to electoral law to permit a PR system of voting and promote the matter for debate in Parliament.

(B)        Motion on Urgent unlocking the potential of local High Streets

RESOLVED: That Council will:

(1)  Write to the Government to urge it to scrap business rates and replace them with a system which is fit for purpose and which levels the playing field between bricks and mortar businesses and online retail giants.

(2)  Campaign to devolve funds like the Towns Fund, Levelling Up Fund, UK Shared Prosperity Fund and other national funding pots, to give local communities, councils and regions the ultimate say in how it is spent in their area.

(3)  Continue to take local action to revive our high streets, including:

a.    Make any data that the Council can lawfully make public on ownership of high street properties public and in an accessible format, so that community groups seeking to buy empty shops through a community share offer have the information they need to do so.

b.    Proactively contact landlords of vacant premises (and work with Chambers of Commerce, Landlord Associations and BID managers) to explore ‘meanwhile use’ options and/or encourage alternative rental models (e.g. turnover rather than market rent) to enable new co-operatives, SMEs, social enterprises and ‘community owned’ businesses to open their doors on the high street.

Audio recording – 14 minutes 49 seconds

There were two motions submitted in accordance with Standing Order 4.8.12.

(A)  Motion on Proportional Representation

Councillor Chris Lucas proposed the amended submitted motion as follows:

“Council notes that:

1.    The electoral system used for local elections in England and Wales, First Past the Post (FPTP), is not a fair system, because it means that votes do not have equal weight and many votes are wasted.

2.    The alternative to FPTP is a system of Proportional Representation (PR), where votes cast for parties translates more or less directly into seats won. There are many variants of PR. The Single Transferable Vote System (STV) variant of PR is already in use for local elections in Scotland and Northern Ireland. With this system, voters rank candidates in order of preference and those who receive the most backing (including second and subsequent choices) are elected to serve in multi-member wards.

3.    The introduction of PR for local elections in Scotland has led to an increase in turn-out, which was 44.8% at the last elections held in 2022. The average turnout in the May 2022 local elections in England was 33.6% which was broadly consistent with previous comparable elections. Whilst the turnout in the May 2022 local elections in North Hertfordshire District Council was slightly higher than the national average (39%) this still falls short of the successes in Scotland and elsewhere.

4.    When the Electoral Commission surveyed eligible voters who did not vote in the May 2022 local election, 9% cited the reason for not voting as “there is in point in voting because… my vote doesn’t count”. This suggests that the improved representation offered by PR encourages greater engagement in local democracy. Council believes that there should be a move to the use of a system of proportional representation for local elections as soon as is practicably possible as this would boost turnout and elect a council which is more representative of the range of political views of North Hertfordshire District Council’s residents.

Council resolves to:

1.    Call upon the UK Government to commit to changing electoral law to permit the introduction of a PR system of voting in any reforms to local government presented to Parliament.

2.    Instruct the Managing Director to write to North Hertfordshire District Council's three MPs to ask them to call for a change to electoral law to permit a PR system of voting and promote the matter for debate in Parliament.”

Councillor Ruth Brown seconded the motion.

The following Members took part in the debate:

·         Councillor Simon Bloxham

·         Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg

·         Councillor Ian Albert

·         Councillor Gerald Morris

·         Councillor Sam Collins

·         Councillor Richard Thake

·         Councillor Steve Jarvis

·         Councillor George Davies

·         Councillor Daniel Allen

·         Councillor Ralph Muncer

·         Councillor Michael Muir

·         Councillor Alistair Willoughby

·         Councillor Ruth Brown

Councillor Chris Lucas summarised that there had been an interesting array of responses to this matter. The current system was not known and loved by people but had rather propped up Conservative governments. This was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 169