North Yorkshire Council

 

Standards and Governance Committee

 

18 November 2024

 

North Yorkshire Interim Polling District and Polling Place Review Final Proposals

 

1.0       PURPOSE OF REPORT

 

1.1       The Committee are asked to approve the final recommendations for affected polling districts and polling places within the North Yorkshire Council area.

 

 

 

2.0       BACKGROUND

 

2.1.       Local authorities are required to review their polling districts and polling places for UK parliamentary constituencies at least once every five years. Under the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013, the compulsory review periods are now:

 

·         The period of 16 months beginning with 1 October 2013, and

·         The period of 16 months beginning with 1 October of every fifth year after that.

 

2.2.       The last compulsory review of all polling districts and polling places within North Yorkshire commenced in Autumn 2023 and final recommendations were agreed at Standards and Governance Committee on 13 December 2023.

 

2.3.       A local authority can conduct an interim review at any time between the compulsory reviews to ensure appropriate polling districts and polling places are in place for elections and electors. This may be consequential of changes to boundaries of electoral areas or due to buildings becoming unavailable / unsuitable for example.

 

2.4.       A polling district is a geographical area created by the sub-division of a parliamentary constituency for the purposes of a UK Parliamentary election. Currently NYC has 856 polling districts, with 560 designated polling places.

 

2.5.       A polling place is the building or area in which the (Acting) Returning Officer (A)RO will allocate a polling station. The polling place should be designated so that the polling station is within easy reach of all electors from across the polling district.

 

2.6.       Since the last whole are review in 2023, there is a need to review some polling districts and designated polling places ahead of a revised electoral register being published, consequential of:

·         five recently concluded Community Governance Reviews (CGRs) which have brought changes to parish arrangements, and

·         having delivered 2 large whole area elections in 2024 (Combined Authority in May, and UK Parliamentary General in July) where some currently designated polling places require changes.

 

2.7.       The Returning Officer is permitted to make changes to polling stations at short notice if required for the delivery of a poll.

 

2.8.       As required under 18C(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 the Council gave notice of the review commencing with the timetable set out as follows:

 

ACTION

DATE

Commence Review

10 October 2024

Consultation on initial recommendations

10 – 31 October 2024

Consider representations received during consultation and draft final recommendations

31 October – mid-November 2024

Final Recommendations - Standards and Governance Committee

18 November 2024

PUBLISH REVISED ELECTORAL REGISTER

1 December 2024

 

3.         APPROACH TAKEN AND RATIONALE FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

 

3.1.       There are a number of legislative requirements for polling district and polling place reviews. These are:

·         each parish must be a separate polling district, unless special circumstances apply;

·         the council must designate a polling place for each polling district, unless the size or other circumstances of a polling district are such that the situation of the polling stations does not materially affect the convenience of the electors;

·         the polling place must be an area in the district, unless special circumstances make it desirable to designate an area wholly or partly outside the district;

·         the polling place must be small enough to indicate to electors in different parts of the district how they will be able to reach the polling station;

·         Local authorities must also comply with accessibility requirements which are that so far as is reasonable and practicable every polling place should be accessible to electors who are disabled.

 

3.2.       Five CGRs have recently concluded which cover all currently unparished parts of North Yorkshire, with final recommendations agreed by NYC Full Council on 24 July 2024, being that the following changes which take effect on 01 April 2025:

·         Harrogate: Creation of a new parish, named Harrogate Town, which shall have a Town Council represented by 19 councillors in 19 wards that match the former Harrogate Borough Council warding pattern.

·         Scarborough: Creation of a new parish, named Scarborough Town Council, which shall have a Town Council represented by 15 councillors in 5 wards that matching the current NYC division arrangement within that area.  

·         Eastfield: Extension of Eastfield Town Council boundary towards the A165 to become coterminous with the current Eastfield Division and to include those new properties at the Middle Deepdale development which currently sit within the unparished area of Scarborough.

·         Newby & Scalby: Extension of the Newby & Scalby Town Council to become coterminous with the current Newby division and to include the whole of Charles Williams Apartments within Newby and Scalby Town Council, 12 apartments of which currently sit within the unparished part of Scarborough.

·         Osgodby: Extension of the Osgodby Parish boundary to become coterminous with the current Cayton division and to include those properties at Osgodby which currently sit within the unparished area of Scarborough.

 

 

3.3.       Polling districts create the structure of the electoral register. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure all of the areas above have been reviewed to ensure polling districts are fit for purpose for the delivery of elections after the changes come into effect (01 April 2025). As both Eastfield Town Council and Newby & Scalby Town Council are warded, only the ward of the parish which is affected by a change has been included within this review (unless covered by the next point). 

 

3.4.       During the May and July polls of 2024, some designated polling places (stations specifically) were unavailable and remain unavailable for use or were deemed unsuitable for use, and those areas have also been included in this review.

 

3.5.       Initial recommendations were published at the start of the review, shared and representations sought as part of the required consultation process. Final recommendations following consultation are shown in Appendix A.

 

 

4.         CONSULTATION UNDERTAKEN AND RESPONSES

 

4.1.       In carrying out consultation the Council has followed the Electoral Commission guidance on how the review should be conducted.

 

4.2.       Appendix B sets out the list of consultees from whom representations were sought during the consultation period. This specifically targeted the Parishes and NYC Division Councillors of affected areas and with relevant stakeholders in particular disability groups in the affected areas where possible.  

 

4.3.       The Council consulted the (A)RO of the six parliamentary constituencies within North Yorkshire, who made representations on existing and proposed arrangements. The Council published the (A)RO’s proposals alongside the recommendations and invited comments.

 

4.4.       The notice of review was published on 10th October along with a copy of the initial recommendations on the Council’s website https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/your-council/consultations-and-engagement Consultations and engagement | North Yorkshire Council to allow anyone to make representation, following a media release to publicise it. Initial recommendations formed a consultation document, listed by Constituency, and then further divided by NYC Division, listing each polling district and its designated polling place.

 

4.5.       Paper copies of the documents were placed in council offices around North Yorkshire. NYC social media feeds were also used to promote the consultation at the start of, during, and towards the end of the consultation.

 

4.6.       During the consultation period, 10 responses were received. Of those, 4 were out of scope of the review, 4 in favour/supportive of the changes.  1 raised objection, 1 raised objection with an alternative location.

 

4.7.       A summary of all responses received can be seen in Appendix C The (A)RO has also made comments against all representations.

 

4.8.       Objection was raised against changing Dalton-on-Tees Village Hall for polling districts of Dalton-on-Tees and Eryholme to Croft-on-Tees Village Hall.  An interim inspection has taken place to Dalton-on-Tees Village Hall as renovation work is underway and to be completed around mid-December.  The final recommendation is to reinstate the polling station to Dalton-on-Tees Village Hall on the evidence of an improvement to the building. A further inspection will be made in January.

 

4.9.       An objection was raised against retaining Starbeck Methodist Church as a polling station for the polling district of Kingsley 2 in High Harrogate and Kingsley division.  A potential alternative venue was suggested.  A site visit will be carried out by a member of the Electoral Services team and subject to the building being suitable to act as a polling station, it is likely that the final recommendation will be to change the polling station.

 

4.10.    Below is a table of the two changes from the initial recommendations, the full schedule of final recommendations is in Appendix D.

 

Constituency

Division

Polling District at 1 Dec 2024

Polling Place

(Acting) Returning Officer Initial Recommendation

(Acting) Returning Officer Final Recommendation

Harrogate and Knaresborough

High Harrogate & Kingsley

Kingsley 2

Starbeck Methodist Church

No change

Subject to inspection on suitability to be a polling station, potential change to Station View sheltered housing scheme common room

Richmond and Northallerton

North Richmondshire

Dalton-on-Tees

Eryholme

Dalton-on-Tees Village Hall

Change to Croft-on-Tees Village Hall

Improvements have been made to Dalton-on-Tees Village Hall, works to be completed by mid-December.  Recommendation is to reinstate Dalton-on-Tees Village Hall as designated polling station.

 

 

5.         ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

 

5.1.       Amend the final recommendations: Any amendments to the final recommendations may require a further consultation on the amended recommendations. An additional period of consultation would lead to a delay in the implementation date for polling districts and effect the publication of the revised register of electors planned for 01 December 2024 and potentially impact the preparations for the elections expected in 2025.

 

5.2.       Not to approve the final recommendations: To not approve the recommendations would leave NYC unable to make the required changes to the electoral register, and therefor unable to run elections effectively after 01 April 2025 within new or changed areas.

 

 

6.         FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

6.1.       The recommendations in the polling district review are broadly cost neutral as the overall number of polling places used is almost the same as the pre-existing arrangements.

 

7.         LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

 

7.1.       The Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 requires the Council to undertake this review between the period of 1 October 2023 and January 2025 and every 5 years thereafter, and any interim reviews as required between compulsory reviews to ensure polling districts and polling places are fit for elections and electors.

 

8.         EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

 

8.1.       An Equalities Impact Assessment Screening Form has been completed and can be found at appendix E.

 

9.         CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS

 

9.1.       None. An initial climate change impact assessment form is attached at Appendix F.

 

10.       RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

 

10.1.    Breach of Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 by not conducting and completing this interim review as required.

 

10.2.    Inability to make changes to the electoral register and subsequently deliver elections from 01 May 2025 effectively in the areas which have undergone CGR.

 

10.3.    Inability to allocate suitable polling places in areas where currently designated polling places are no longer available or fit for purpose.  

 

11.       REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

 

11.1.    To ensure compliance with Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013

 

11.2.    To ensure polling districts and polling places are fit for purpose for electoral purposes in next published revised register of electors, and in consultation with the (A)RO.

 

12.0

RECOMMENDATION(S)      

 

 

i) to approve the final recommendations for polling districts and designated polling places as shown in appendices A and D.

 

 

 

 

APPENDICES:

Appendix A - Interim Review 2024 Final Proposals

Appendix B – Consultee List

Appendix C – Summary of Consultation Responses

Appendix D – Full Schedule of Final Recommendations

Appendix E – Equality Impact Assessment Screening Form

Appendix F – Climate Change Impact Assessment Screening Form

 

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:

Previous whole area polling district review: Polling District Review: Standards and Governance Committee on Wednesday, 13th December, 2023, 2.00 pm | North Yorkshire Council

 

 

Barry Khan

Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services)

County Hall

Northallerton

 

7 November 2024

Report Authors:

Kerry Russett – Head of Electoral Services

 

Presenter of Report:

Kerry Russett – Head of Electoral Services

 

Note: Members are invited to contact the author in advance of the meeting with any detailed queries or questions.