Policy and Resources Committee 29 September
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POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE 29 SEPTEMBER 2011 REVIEW OF POLLING DISTRICTS AND POLLING PLACES REPORT BY THE HEAD OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE (PROPER OFFICER FOR ELECTORAL PURPOSES) SUMMARY The process of keeping polling districts and polling places under review is a statutory function of the Council and must be conducted within four years of the previous review. During this review Ward boundaries cannot be altered in any way as this is a function of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. This report details the proposals for changes to polling districts and polling places that have been identified as no longer suitable following a review of all polling districts and polling places within the Borough. Changes have only been proposed for those polling districts or polling places where there is seen to be a more suitable alternative to the existing arrangements. Annex 1 - Details of polling places and their electorates as at 1 June 2011 Annex 2 –maps showing changes to polling district boundaries and/or polling places Action proposed by the Leader of the Council It is proposed that it be RECOMMENDED to Council that: 1. no alterations are made to polling district boundaries or polling places in Alexandra, Coombe Hill, Coombe Vale, Norbiton, Old Malden or St James Wards. 2. the proposed alterations to polling district boundaries and/or polling places in Beverley, Berrylands, Canbury, Chessington North and Hook, Chessington South, Grove, St Marks, Surbiton Hill, Tolworth and Hook Rise and Tudor Wards identified in the report are agreed. 3. future reviews take place yearly, with four Wards being reviewed each year on a rolling basis. Reason for action proposed To introduce changes proposed arising from the review that has been undertaken. BACKGROUND 1. The Review of Polling Districts and Polling Places (Parliamentary Elections) Regulations (2006) require each local authority to carry out a review of polling districts and polling places on a four-yearly cycle. The current review must be complete by 31 December 2011 but the decisions must be made by 25 November 2011 to allow the Electoral Registration Officer time to implement any boundary alterations on the revised register which will be published on 1 December 2011. In undertaking the review the local authority must: • Publish a notice of the holding of a review; • Consult the (Acting) Returning Officer (A)RO for every parliamentary constituency which is wholly or partly in its area; • Publish the representations from the (A)RO within 30 days of receipt and in the prescribed manner; • Seek representations from such persons that it thinks has particular expertise in relation to access to premises or facilities for persons who have different forms of disability; • Allow any elector in any constituency which is wholly or partly in the area to make representations which may include proposals for alternative polling places. 2. On completion of a review the authority must give reasons for its decisions and publish such other information as is prescribed. 3. Details of existing polling district boundaries have been circulated to the Group Offices, are available on the Council’s website and will be displayed at the meeting. Details of polling places and their electorates (as at 1 June 2011) are set out in Annex 1. POLLING DISTRICT BOUNDARIES AND POLLING PLACES – LEGAL FRAMEWORK 4. Polling districts are a geographical area created by a sub-division of a constituency or Ward. 5. A polling place is the building or area in which polling stations will be selected by the (A)RO. Polling places should be within the polling district it serves, unless there are special circumstances that make it desirable to designate an area outside the district (such as a complete lack of suitable buildings within the polling district). 6. A polling station is the room or area within the polling place where voting takes place. Unlike polling districts and polling places which are fixed by the local authority, polling stations are chosen by the (A)RO for the election. 7. The Council is responsible for dividing the local authority area in to polling districts for parliamentary elections. When designating polling districts and polling places the local authority must seek to ensure that all electors in the constituency have such reasonable facilities for voting as are practical in the circumstances. The Council should also seek to ensure that so far as is reasonable and practicable, the polling places are accessible to those with mobility problems and that when considering or reviewing the designation of a polling place, have regard to the accessibility needs of disabled persons. 8. Polling districts for local government elections are not included in this review. However, in practice polling districts and polling places for local government elections are based on those for parliamentary elections. 9. The last full review of polling districts and polling places was completed in July 2007 and, whilst there have not been any alterations to polling district boundaries since this time, there have been a number of changes to polling places which are kept under on-going review. CHANGES TO GOVERNMENT FUNDING OF ELECTIONS 10. Changes to Central Government funded elections were introduced in time for the 2009 European parliamentary election. Prior to this change Central Government would fix the amount payable to polling station staff but allow the level of staffing to be dealt with by the (A)RO. Expenditure on other items, such as the cost of printing ballot papers or hiring polling or count venues, was deemed ‘actual and necessary’ and the (A)RO was reimbursed the full amount. 11. Under the new structure the (A)RO is allocated a ‘maximum recoverable amount’ from which to fund the election. This is calculated by the Cabinet Office based on a number of assumptions and from data provided by the local authority. This new funding arrangement allows for one presiding officer and two poll clerks in each polling station with a limit on the number of electors in each polling station. Prior to this new structure each polling station would have one presiding officer and up to six poll clerks, dependent on the size of the electorate. Consequently, the number of polling stations in the borough (as distinct from polling places) has increased from 49 at the 2008 election to 81 for this year’s referendum (and 93 for the 2010 combined elections) to ensure that the funding for the number required number of poll clerks was received from Central Government. CONSULTATIONS UNDERTAKEN 12. A formal consultation period ran from Friday 10 June 2011 to Friday 22 July 2011. A public notice was published, details of the review, including an online survey, were placed on the Council’s website and an article placed in the Surrey Comet. In addition the following specific consultations were undertaken: a) An email to all Members of the Council on 8 June 2011 that gave details of the review and included, in particular, descriptions of existing polling district boundaries and information on the location of existing polling places, with their respective electorates b) A reminder email was sent to Members of the Council on Thursday 7 July 2011 c) An email with similar explanatory notes to each of the political parties known to be operating in the borough d) An email to the Chief Executive of the London Borough of Richmond-Upon- Thames as the (A)RO for the Richmond Park parliamentary constituency e) Emails to EnhanceAble, Kingston Talking Newspaper for the Blind, Kingston Centre for Independent Living and Kingston Age Concern 13. Feedback was also requested from Presiding Officers, Polling Station Inspectors, electors and other stakeholders regarding the current polling scheme. 14. It is a statutory requirement that the (A)RO comments on the current polling stations and any proposed alternatives. Feedback from the polling station staff formed the basis of the (A)RO’s comments. Staff in Electoral Services provided feedback on the current polling scheme for the (A)RO of Richmond Park parliamentary constituency to comment on this feedback. 15. The main thrust of the responses from the consultation is reflected in this report. However, this feedback will be made available on the Council’s website and will form part of the formal document the Council is required to publish on completion of this review. POPULATION/ELECTORATE PROJECTIONS 16. Any potential growth (or reduction) in the electorate is a factor which might impact on the size of a polling district and/or the optimum location of polling places. 17. Information from the Council’s Planning Department highlighted Canbury Ward (polling district TA) and Tolworth and Hook Rise Ward (polling district JB) as areas where there could be significant growth to the electorate over the next five years and this has been taken in to account in the development of proposals for these areas. ISSUES HIGHLIGHTED ABOUT THE CURRENT POLLING SCHEME AND PROPOSED CHANGES 18. Issues were highlighted about a number of polling places and it is clear that a number of boundary alterations are required to take in to account changes in the size of the electorate. 19. Electoral Services staff made visits to all polling places where concerns were raised and inspected them using guidance from Scope and the Electoral Commission. Similar visits were made to venues identified as possible polling places. 20. The following paragraphs set out details of the issues raised through the consultation process; the options considered to address those issues; and the proposals recommended for adoption. No issues were raised in relation to Alexandra, Norbiton, Old Malden, or St James Ward so they are not referred to in this part of the report. Berrylands Ward – The Berrylands Hotel (A) 21.