Issue - meetings

Recommendations

Refer this report to Full Council and recommend that Full Council approve:

       i.                  The submission of a formal request to the LGBCE for a single member division review, as part of subsequent phases of the Electoral Boundary review process.

     ii.                  The 2030 Electorate Forecast for submission to the LGBCE.

    iii.                  The Member Working Group’s recommendations within the draft Council Size Submission document (Appendix D) for a council size of 89 members.

    iv.                  The submission of all required information to the LGBCE.

     v.                  Delegated authority to the Assistant Chief Executive – Local Engagement to make any required minor amendments to the Electorate Forecast for accuracy, in consultation with the Chairman of the BRMWG, prior to submission.

Considered – A report of the Assistant Chief Executive for Local Engagement seeking the Executive’s approval to refer the recommendations of the Boundary Review Member Working Group (BRMWG) to Full Council to allow them to be submitted to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE).

With the permission of the Chair, Councillor John Weighell, Chair of the BRMWG introduced the report, noting that of the two key recommendations in the report, the Member Working Group unanimously supported a council of single member divisions, whilst reaching a majority decision of 6-4 on the council size of 89.  With the permission of the Chair, Councillor Philip Broadbank, another member of the BRMWG, also addressed the meeting.  He commended the chairmanship and conduct of the BRMWG whilst expressing his personal view that the council size should be marginally larger than 89 in light of the council’s geographical and population size, the size of comparator local authorities such as Sheffield, Leeds, Birmingham and Coventry, and the many large rural divisions in North Yorkshire.  Councillor Weighell thanked Councillor Broadbank’s contribution to the Member Working Group whilst articulating his opposing personal view that increasing the council size would lead to problems in dividing up communities in some towns and villages across divisions in order to reduce electoral imbalance.  Councillor Mark Crane, Executive Member for Open to Business and member of the BRMWG noted a wide range of council sizes had been considered by the Member Working Group, and felt that it was an achievement that the BRMWG had managed to coalesce around a figure of 89.  Other members commented, all recognising the complexity of the calculations and the depth of the work undertaken by the Member Working Group.  The Chair thanked them for their hard work.

Resolved (unanimously) – that the Executive refers this report to Full Council and recommends that Full Council approve:

       i.                  The submission of a formal request to the LGBCE for a single member division review, as part of subsequent phases of the Electoral Boundary review process.

     ii.                  The 2030 Electorate Forecast for submission to the LGBCE.

    iii.                  The Member Working Group’s recommendations within the draft Council Size Submission document (Appendix D) for a council size of 89 members.

    iv.                  The submission of all required information to the LGBCE.

     v.                  Delegated authority to the Assistant Chief Executive – Local Engagement to make any required minor amendments to the Electorate Forecast for accuracy, in consultation with the Chairman of the BRMWG, prior to submission.