Local Government Boundary for England
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MUNICIPAL YEAR 2018/2019 REPORT NO. Agenda – Part:1 Item: MEETING TITLE AND DATE: Electoral Review Panel Subject: Local Government Boundary Commission for England – Electoral 11th September 2018 Review REPORT OF: Wards:All Head of Governance & Scrutiny Contact officer and telephone number: Claire Johnson 020 8 379 4239 E mail: [email protected] 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 Enfield’s last electoral review undertaken by the Local Government Boundary Commission was in 2000. The lapse in time since the last review, has triggered a requirement for a periodic review to be undertaken. 1.2 The review has two stages, the first stage to review the council size will be completed on 27th November 2018, this will determine the total number of councillors to be elected to the council in the future. 1.3 This report explains to members of the Panel the review and key dates, and provides details of the evidence required which the Council needs to make the case for the Council size submission. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 That the Electoral Review Panel: 2.2 Notes the Local Government Boundary Commission for England’s review process, and key dates as detailed within the report. 2.3 Considers the evidence gathered to date at Appendix A, and notes that more is being collated to build up a profile of the workload of members, and governance arrangements. 2.4 Notes the members survey and encourages colleagues to complete the survey 2.5 Agrees the next steps of the review. 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 The last electoral review in Enfield was published in 2000. The Council changed from 66 Councillors and 33 Wards, to 63 Councillors and 21 wards. The review provided electoral equality across the wards at that time. 3.2 The review of Enfield has been triggered by the periodic review criteria. Following the July 19th meetings, when the Boundary Commission met with both the Leader, and Opposition Leader and all members to explain the review process, it was agreed that a cross party working group should look at the arrangements and for this group to make recommendations to Council. 3.3 The Electoral Review Panel is already a constituted Panel, with cross party membership. The boundary commission review of electoral arrangements falls within its remit, so there was no need to set-up a new committee. 4.0 Electoral Review Process 4.1 The electoral review has two parts; 4.2 Part One: Council size: (Preliminary stage) Now until 2nd November 2018. The first part of the review will determine the total number of councillors to be elected to the council in the future. 4.3 When the number of electors per councillor in a ward is within 10% of the average for the authority, the commission refers to the ward as having ‘good electoral equality’. 4.4 By the end of the preliminary stage of the review, the commission expects the council and/or its political groups, to present the Commission with a case for a council size that they believe is right for their authority 4.5 The council submission does not have to be supported by both groups, but goes through the usual channels of decision making, with referral from the Electoral Review Panel, to full Council. If the opposition group disagrees with what’s proposed, they’re free to make their own submission(s), which the commission considers equally with the Council’s submission. 4.6 Key Dates of the Review Stage Review Stage Council LGBCE Key Dates Chair, Chief Leader, Chief Executive 6 March 2018 Initial meetings Executive Council officers involved in Review Officer Officer Briefings review Lead Council group Commissioner, Group Leader Briefings 19 July 2018 Preliminary leaders Review Officer Lead All councillors Commissioner, Full Council Briefings Review Officer Councillors, 11th September Electoral Review Panel No officers and 9th October Review Manager, Community Briefings - TBC Review Officer - Develop council size Submit to BC by 30th October Council / groups nd proposal the 2 November 2018 Size Commission Meeting – 20 November Council Council - Commission council size decision 2018 27 November Develop warding/division Council / groups - 2018 – patterns proposal / public 4 February 2019 Commission Meeting – draft - Commission 26 March 2019 recommendations Consultation on draft Council / groups 9 April 2019 – - recommendations / public 17 June 2019 Warding patterns Warding Commission Meeting – final - Commission 23 July 2019 recommendations Final recommendations - Commission 6 August 2019 published Order laid - Commission September 2019 Implementation Council - 2022 5.0 Commission information requirements 5.1 There is a list of key information requirements as prescribed by the Boundary Commission, the recommendations to Council on the future size of the council will be based on this evidence. 5.2 Evidence is still being gathered at this stage in the process. 5.3 The Commission will make its judgment on council size by considering three broad areas: governance arrangements of the council and how decisions are taken across the broad range of its responsibilities. The Commission aims to ensure that councils have the right number of councillors to take decisions and manage the business of the council in an effective way now and in the future. Evidence is currently being gathered on cabinet and/or committee responsibilities, numbers of committees and their workload, delegation to officials, other bodies and plans for the future. Desktop studies have been undertaken see appendix A, but this needs to be put into context using qualitative data from the members survey, which should enable us to build up a profile of member workload. scrutiny functions relating to its own decision making and the council’s responsibilities to outside bodies. Every local authority has mechanisms to scrutinise the executive functions of the council and other local bodies. In considering council size, the Commission will want to satisfy itself that these responsibilities can be administered in a convenient and effective way. representational role of councillors in the local community and how they engage with people, conduct casework and represent the council on local partner organisations. The Commission are interested in hearing about the extent to which members routinely engage with communities and how this affects workload and responsibilities. The members survey should provide the qualitative data. Currently being gathered are numbers of ward surgeries, ward forums, members enquires and electorate and population data. Part of the narrative of the submission once we have built up a member and ward profile should note the differences in the demographics of the Borough, and if this has any impact on the representational role of a councillor. For example do the more deprived wards make more demands on a councillors time, or is it the more affluent areas, where residents may be more vocal, that take more time, or, are the demands the same ? 5.4 Full Council on the 30th October will formally approve the Councils submission. This needs to be with the commission by 2nd November. 5.5 The Boundary Commission will meet on the 20th November 2018 to make its decision on the Council size. 6.0 Part Two: 6.1 The Commission will draw up new electoral arrangements that provide the best balance of the statutory criteria. The criteria include three main elements: Delivering electoral equality for local voters. This means ensuring that each councillor represents roughly the same number of voters so that the value of your vote is the same regardless of where you live in the local authority area. They allow a 10% variance in the size of the ward from the baseline. Interests and identities of local communities. This means establishing electoral arrangements which, as far as possible, avoid splitting local ties and where boundaries are easily identifiable. Effective and convenient local government. This means ensuring that the wards can be represented effectively by their elected representative(s) and that the new electoral arrangements, including both the council size decision and wading arrangements, allow the local authority to conduct its business effectively. 6.1 Consultation on Warding Patterns - 27th November – 4th February 2019 6.2 The first round of consultation will ask for proposals on new ward boundaries. Responses to that consultation are used to draw up draft recommendations for new boundaries across the area. 6.3 Consultation on draft recommendations - 9th April – 17th June 2019. 6.4 Any proposal to the Commission, must take into account the statutory criteria. The most persuasive cases are those that are also supported by evidence. 6.5 The Commission aims to deliver a pattern of wards where each councillor represents approximately the same number of electors. 6.6 The commission base decisions on the number of electors in a ward and not the total population. The Commission’s obligation, set out in law, is to deliver electoral equality where councillors represent a similar number of electors. Therefore this could not be achieved if population statistic were considered rather than electoral register totals. 6.7 The Commission will meet on the 23rd July 2019 to make its decision on the final recommendations. Final recommendations Published - 6th August 2019 Order laid in Parliament - September 2019 Council Implementation – May 2022 7.0 Appendix A shows some of the data already collated. APPENDIX A Reviews that took place in 2016/2017 for implementation following the local election in 2018 Borough Final Existing Existing New New Change to Recommendations