Standards and Governance Committee
20 June 2025
Community Governance Review
Report of Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic Services
1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1 The Council has authority to take decisions about parish electoral governance arrangements. The formal review mechanism is known as a Community Governance Review (CGR).
1.2 This report proposes a CGR for a defined number of parish areas set out in the Terms of Reference at Appendix 1.
1.3 The Standards and Governance Committee are therefore asked to consider and approve Terms of Reference for referral to full Council for approval.
2.0 BACKGROUND
2.1 The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (LGPIH Act 2007) devolved power from the Secretary of State to principal councils to carry out CGRs and put in place or make changes to local community governance arrangements.
2.2 A CGR is a legal process whereby the Council will consult with those residing in the area, and other interested parties, on the most suitable ways of representing the people in the area identified in the review. This means making sure that those living in the area, and other interested groups, have a say in how their local communities are represented.
2.3 A CGR can consider one or more of the following:
· the creation, merger, alteration or abolition of a parish
· the naming of a parish and the style of new a parish
· the electoral arrangements for a parish (i.e., the ordinary year of election; council size; number of councillors to be elected to the council; and parish warding)
· the grouping or de-grouping of parishes; and
· other types of arrangements including parish meetings.
3.0 THE REVIEW PROCEDURE
Timings and Terms of Reference
3.1 The former Department of Communities and Local Government and the Electoral
Commission has produced Guidance on community governance reviews.
3.2 A CGR starts with the Council publishing its Terms of Reference for the review. Draft Terms of Reference and an outline timescale for the CGR are set out in Appendices 1 & 2.
3.3 Once approved by the Council, the terms of reference for the CGR must be
published and as explained above the CGR commences upon publication of the terms of reference. If any modifications are subsequently made to the terms of reference, these must also be published. If recommended for approval the terms of reference would be proceed to Council for approval on 16 July 2025.
3.4 The LGBCE is expected to publish its final recommendations on 2 September 2025. It is proposed that the CGR commence on 15 September 2025 with publication of the terms of reference on this date. The LGPIH Act 2007 suggests that the terms of reference be published as soon after approval as practicable, and in terms of practicability it is proposed that the Council wait until after the LGBCE has published its final recommendations before commencing the CGR. It is also recommended that authority be delegated to the Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services to amend the terms of reference if required should the LGBCE’s final recommendations have a direct bearing on any of the areas proposed to be the subject of the CGR.
Consultation
3.5 The Council must as part of the CGR consult with local people and take into
account any representations made in connection with the review. The CGR must
ensure that the proposed community governance reflects the interests and identities
of the community. It must also ensure that the arrangements are effective and
convenient for the electors of that community.
Re-organisation Orders
3.6 To implement the outcome of the CGR, the Council will be required to draw up a
series of Re-organisation Orders with accompanying maps, and widely publish these
changes. The Orders will include implementation dates, electoral arrangements as well as the potential transfer of assets.
4.0 REQUESTS FOR REVIEWS AND TERMS OF REFERENCE
4.1 The draft terms of reference define the parish areas subject to the proposed CGR. The areas for review have been identified by considering:
· any requests that have been made for a CGR
· where the Council’s electoral services team have identified that there are grouped parish councils which are not currently represented in each parish area and as such may benefit from a review
· where the Council’s electoral services team have identified that there is an internal ward boundary that would benefit from clarification and a review.
4.2 In so far as requests, the reasons parishes have given for wanting to undergo a CGR vary in nature and complexity. Broadly they can be categorised as: reducing or increasing the
number of seats on a parish council; seeking boundary changes or seeking a merger of grouped parishes or separation of parishes from a grouped parish.
4.3 Given the one-year time limit on undertaking a CGR, once triggered, and the potential demand on Council resource (see later) it is recommended that full Council agrees to limit the number of CGRs triggered in this review to those in the draft terms of reference. If however, further requests come forward it is proposed that authority be delegated to the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal & Democratic Services) to consider whether the additional requests should be included and the terms of reference amended accordingly.
4.4 A number of requests have not been included in the terms of reference because the LGBCE’s initial proposals affect electoral arrangements for some town / parish councils that have requested a CGR. As explained within the relevant section of the LGBCE report, if a parish is to be divided between different Council divisions it must also be divided into parish wards, so that each parish ward lies wholly within a single division and the LGBCE Order will include such changes. If any of the Town / Parish Councils have any comments, concerns, issues or queries about the warding pattern proposed, the names of those wards, or the number of councillors representing each ward, they were advised to submit them to the LGBCE during the consultation period. Furthermore, changes made by the LGCBE are protected for a period of 5 years following the date the changes are made, and LGBCE consent must be sought for any requests for changes in that 5 year period. It is therefore not proposed to include any of the parish/town councils that are ultimately subject to revised parish electoral arrangements by way of the LGBCE Parliamentary Order.
5.0 ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED
5.1 The Council has the options set out below.
5.2 Do Nothing - Undertaking a CGR is not mandatory but is good practice. The Council could
decide not to undertake a CGR at this time, however, a number of parishes had been advised that their requests would be considered following the LGBCE review. Parishes who are focused on having a CGR of their area may require the Council to commence a review if they issue a petition which meets the statutory criteria. Doing nothing is therefore not recommended as periodic CGRs help to reduce the risk of local democracy failing to be appropriately and adequately resourced to meet the needs of the community. The LGBCE recommends that councils review local governance arrangements every 10 to 15 years.
5.3 Full Area Review - a review of the whole of the North Yorkshire area would allow for all interested parishes and residents to make proposals for change in their area. However, CGRs can be difficult to predict in terms of required Council officer resource. Support for any CGR will be required from officers within the electoral, communications, GIS mapping, democratic and legal service teams. Whilst there are clear decision points and definable activities within the initial stages of a CGR project timetable (such as preparatory work, drafting consultation documents and writing reports), much of the later work is driven by the outcome of the initial consultation. If the terms of reference were drafted to cover the whole of the North Yorkshire area, and invited proposals from all areas, the nature and volume of the initial submissions could have a significant impact on the resource demand of the later stages. Experience from previous reviews undertaken and other authorities supports the unpredictable demand on resources, with time allocation varying dramatically.
5.4 Any changes required by a CGR will need to be implemented for the May 2027 parish elections and will draw upon electoral service officer resource at a time when they will be implementing the new Council division boundaries arising from the LGBCE review and preparing for the May 2027 all out Council elections. There are also likely to be competing demands on GIS officers who will be involved in supporting the local plan preparation. For this reason, it is proposed that the terms of reference confine the CGR to those parish areas where a review has been requested and is considered proportionate or where one is required to address a specific issue rather than there being a full North Yorkshire area review. Further CGRs can be carried out after the May 2027 elections if required.
6.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
6.1 There will be a financial cost in conducting any CGR, both in terms of officer support and in respect of the consultation process. Once instigated, the CGR must be conducted within a one-year period.
6.2 It is anticipated that the staffing support costs would be absorbed within existing capacity
in the electoral, democratic, GIS, communication and legal services teams.
6.3 As far as possible consultation documents will be made available online, however some printing and posting will be required and the costs associated with this will depend on the scope of the consultation and area for review. Recent CGRs have incurred costs of £2.30 pence per elector consulted.
6.4 The cost of parish elections is incurred by the Council but is recharged to the parishes where a contested election is held. As it is envisaged that any changes to electoral arrangements would be implemented at the elections in 2027, there would be no additional costs arising from a by election. Any changes to the boundaries may affect the parish precept that residents affected by a boundary change will pay; any changes to precepts and council tax bills would be applied from the date the adopted recommendations from the review become effective.
7.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
7.1 In undertaking the CGR, the Council will comply with the requirements of Part 4 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 and other relevant legislation, and have regard to Guidance on Community Governance Reviews issued in accordance with section 100(4) of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 by the Department of Communities and Local Government and the Local Government Boundary Commission for England in March 2010.
8.0 RISKS
9.1 In triggering a series of targeted CGRs, the Council may encounter difficulties that mean it over-runs the available time limits to complete the review. By proposing the parishes selected in the draft terms of reference, the Council would be mitigating the risk in not being able to complete the CGR in the allotted timescales. Clear project plans and consultative processes will be issued for each CGR which will enable close monitoring and reporting on likelihood of CGRs not reaching a planned/expected conclusion.
9.2 A further risk of not doing a full area review and therefore leaving out some of the parishes in this round of CGRs, is that we are not taking the opportunity to review all parish governance arrangements, and some may therefore remain out of date and as such we may lose the engagement of those parishes. However, parishes not included in this series of targeted CGRs can be invited to take part in a second round of CGRs which can be considered after the local authority elections in May 2027 and for more urgent ones, it is proposed that authority be delegated to the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal & Democratic Services) to consider whether the request should be included and the terms of reference amended accordingly.
10.0 EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS
10.1 There are no equality implications arising from this report.
11.0 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS
11.1 There are no climate change implications arising from this report.
12.0 REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
12.1 The Council believes that parish and town councils can play an important role in terms of community empowerment at the local level and wants to ensure that parish governance arrangements within North Yorkshire are robust, representative and enabled to meet new challenges
12.2 This review is taking place in response to some of the specific requests for a CGR from parishes or residents for reasons particular to their own geography and composition.
12.3 The review also recognises that a small number of parish group arrangements need reviewing to ensure that each parish area is properly represented and their geographical boundaries clear.
12.4 When carrying out a CGR the Council will look to ensure that:
· that there is clarity and transparency to the areas that parishes cover, and parish councils represent; and
· that the electoral arrangements of parishes (the warding arrangements and the allocations of councillors) are appropriate, equitable and understood by their electorate.
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13.0 |
RECOMMENDATION(S)
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13.1
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That the Committee considers the Terms of Reference for the Review attached at Appendix 1 for referral to full Council for approval.
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13.2 |
That if the LGBCE final recommendations have an impact on the terms of reference the Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services be delegated authority to amend the terms of reference accordingly.
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13.3 |
That if further requests for a CGR from other parish areas come forward authority be delegated to the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal & Democratic Services) to consider whether the request should be incorporated in this CGR and the terms of reference amended accordingly
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APPENDICES:
Appendix 1 – Terms of Reference
Appendix 2 – Timetable
Barry Khan
Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic Services
County Hall
Northallerton
Report Author:
Jennifer Norton, Assistant Director, Legal Services