Agenda item

To receive an update on the Electoral Review proposed by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee noted the update.

The Service Director for Governance, Democratic and Legal Services and Monitoring Officer, David Clark, presented an update on the proposed Electoral Review to be carried out by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE).

During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

·       Concern was raised on whether councillors would be given reasonable time off from employers to carry out their council business and travel time.

·       Concern was raised on whether the boundary review would change any parish council boundaries.

The Monitoring Officer understood the concerns and advised that they could all be submitted as part of the review.

·       Councillors queried how Somerset Council compared to the other larger unitary authorities.

The Elections Manager advised that based on population and area, Somerset Council was similar to Cornwall Council and after their review was carried out, they went from having 123 councillors down to 87 councillors.

·       Concern was raised on the order of the work being carried out in the review.

The Monitoring Officer advised that the LGBCE were keen to base the number of councillors on workload and population and not on the area covered.

·       Councillors queried whether the two largest unitary authorities were being reviewed.

The Lead Member for Transformation and Human Resources advised that Buckinghamshire Council were currently under review and the proposal was to reduce from 147 councillors to 97 councillors.  County Durham Council were also currently under review and the proposal was to reduce from 126 councillors to 98 councillors.

·       Councillors queried how it was justified to have such high numbers of councillors.

The Head of Governance and Democratic Services advised that Somerset Council were instructed on how many councillors to elect as part of the Structural Change Order 2022.  It was calculated by using the number of divisions and multiplying by two.  The Monitoring Officer reminded councillors that Somerset Council is a consultee and that it is the LGBCE that led the review.

·       Councillors queried what evidence the LGBCE would require for the review.

The Monitoring Officer advised that it was for the officers and councillors of Somerset Council to feed into the review by advising how many councillors we felt were required to best serve the community.

·       Councillors queried whether there was any right to appeal the proposed electoral arrangements once they were issued.

The Elections Manager advised that the only appeal route would be through a judicial review.

·       Councillors queried what the average number of constituents were per councillor within other unitary authorities.

The Elections Manager advised that the approximate number was between 3400-5000 constituents per councillor.

·       Concern was raised that once the review had been completed it would mean that the Constitution would be out of date.

The Head of Governance and Democratic Services reminded councillors that the Constitution was being reviewed and would continue to be reviewed on an annual basis.

·       Councillors queried how much work would be involved in the review and whether there was any funding available to help with the work.

The Elections Manager advised that the work would be carried out as part of the preparation works for the election due to take place in 2027 and that there was no additional government or external funding available to the Council.  The Council therefore would have to fund itself any consultation response to the LGBCE or review analysis work that it wanted to do.

·       Councillors highlighted previous outcomes from other reviews that they had taken part in and that the LGBCE often presented various options and did not always agree with councils on their preference for single or multi-councillor wards.  This highlighted that the council is a consultee in the review as it is the LGBCE which will finalise the review and make its recommendations to Government.

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee noted the update.