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Westminster Labour Group Submission on Council Size

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Westminster Labour Group Submission on Council Size Westminster Labour Group Submission on Council Size Westminster Labour Group is writing to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) to make the case for a reduction in the number of councillors on Westminster City Council from its current level of 60 councillors to 55, on the basis of 2,519 electors per councillor (for 138,594 electors at 2018 levels), rising to 2,656 (based on 146,097 electors by 2024). We believe this would more accurately reflect and represent the city. Council and Population Size: The state of play in Westminster compared to others At present Westminster’s wards vary wildly in their composition and number of electors per ward, from 4,296 in Knightsbridge and Belgravia to 8,421 in Westbourne. Larger wards are clustered in the northern areas of the city such as Westbourne, Queens Park, Harrow Road and Church Street, which have the four highest variances over the average. The city’s geographic distribution of electors still retains the lingering influence of the Shirley Porter-era Homes for Votes scandal that saw council homes sold off in more economically and electorally mixed areas of the city, influencing demographic development in different areas. The current arrangements have met the Commission’s criteria for electoral inequality, with 6 of 20 (30%) wards having a variance outside 10%. Three wards also have a variance outside 20%. One ward has a variance outside 30%. At present Westminster Council has the second lowest number of electors per councillor in London (2,310). From the LGBCE’s recent boundary changes there would seem to be some pattern in the number of electors per councillor in outer London being in the mid to high 3,000s for 2018, rising into the low 4,000s in 2024 due to population growth. For example: Barnet has retained its current number of councillors on the basis of 3,964 electors per councillor. Brent is reducing its number of councillors by 6 and will have 3,942 electors per councillor based on 2018 figures and 4,292 per elector by 2024. 1 Hillingdon is reducing its number of councillors by 12 and will have 3,796 electors per councillor in 2018 and 4,295 per councillor in 2024. 2 Enfield is retaining 63 councillors on the basis of there being 3,409 electors per councillor in 2018 and a prediction of 3,855 by 2024. 3 The picture across inner London shows greater flexibility with a slightly lower number of electors per councillor, perhaps reflecting differing pressures including a higher daytime population (those commuting for work or leisure), a significant number of resident non-electors, and operational pressures such as a higher number of planning and licensing applications. In the case of two councils which have been recently reviewed by the Commission: Camden is retaining 54 councillors on the basis of there being 2,893 electors per councillor in 2018.4 1 Brent Council, Brent Council’s submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, July 2018, http://s3-eu-west- 2.amazonaws.com/lgbce/Reviews/Greater%20London/Brent/Council%20Size/Council%20Size%20Submission.pdf 2 Local Government Boundary Commission for England, New electoral arrangements for Hillingdon Council Draft recommendations, http://s3-eu-west- 2.amazonaws.com/lgbce/Reviews/Greater%20London/Hillingdon/Draft%20Recs/Hillingdon%20Report%20web.pdf 3 Enfield Council, Enfield Council’s Submission on Council size to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, October 2018, http://s3-eu-west- 2.amazonaws.com/lgbce/Reviews/Greater%20London/Enfield/Council%20Size/LGBCE(18)%20- %20Enfield%20Council%20Submission%20-%20Council%20Size.pdf 4 London Borough of Camden, Boundary review size submission for Camden Council, October 2018, http://s3-eu-west- 2.amazonaws.com/lgbce/Reviews/Greater%20London/Camden/Council%20Size/Camden%20- %20Camden%20Council%20proposal%20Council%20Size.pdf Haringey has retained its 57 councillors on the basis of 3,103 electors per councillor in 2018. Looking at the other councils yet to complete reviews, Lambeth currently has 3,558 electors per councillor and Southwark has 3,389 electors per councillor, both on the basis of 63 elected members, while Hammersmith and Fulham has a much smaller council at 46 members on the basis of 2,785 electors per councillor. It is with this tier of more comparative councils that we feel it is appropriate for Westminster to be considered. There needs to be some caution about the growth projections currently being put forward by both the LGBCE and the Council. Firstly the London housing market is seeing a dramatic slowdown which is reducing the pipeline for the number of new private properties to be developed before 2024. Even in the past when market conditions were more buoyant many major consented schemes have taken decades longer than initially planned to deliver. Secondly a large number of recently built homes are currently unoccupied and may remain so for some time given market conditions. It is also worth considering that major private led schemes, even when successfully delivered, have often been sold internationally, leading both to units not being lived in as a primary residence or being used by those who are not eligible to be electors at all. All these factors are particularly important when considering the potential expansion in elector numbers from major planned or ongoing residential developments in wards such as Little Venice and Hyde Park. Past experience suggests that some caution must also be brought to the Council’s estimates for the delivery of additional housing units (and electors) as the result of council-led schemes. The first phase of the Church Street regeneration was approved in a ballot in 2012 but schemes only began completing planning permission and starting on site in 2018, while initial plans for Ebury Bridge approved in 2013 were scrapped with new plans only approved in late 2018. Challenges in the development industry both financially and in terms of building capacity due to Brexit, and the requirement for the council to expand its own capacity all create some risks for the speed of delivery, in addition to the ongoing risk of project delays due to site and technical issues. How the City is run The council has a fairly hierarchical approach to political organisation with limited scope for backbench councillors to exercise political control over the executive or officers. Full council meetings are highly regimented, limiting opportunities for action by individual councillors, with the ability to put forward topics for debate and motions restricted to those put forward by the parties. Following the addition of an extra council meeting for the 2019-2020 cycle there will be six Full Council Meetings that undertake council business (and a further ceremonial Mayor-Making). Leaders of the council have generally chosen to have the legal maximum of 10 cabinet posts, although between May 2018 and January 2019 there were only eight without any cabinet member being noticeably overstretched. The council has an unusually high number of deputy cabinet members compared to other authorities, though it should be noted these members also sit on scrutiny and other committees. Westminster City Council was a ‘pioneer’ of local government outsourcing arrangements, and has had many frontline services delivered through external contractors since the 1980s. Councillors are nevertheless responsible for supervising and overseeing the activities of contractors, both those with executive posts and those serving in scrutiny roles. Contract details however are not shared with councillors on these scrutiny committees. Policy and Scrutiny committees have eight councillor members each. Westminster’s Scrutiny Committees are able to undertake important research work, albeit more often through the format of specially convened taskgroups or individual member studies. The scrutiny committees are not decision-making in nature and call-in procedures are rarely used, and are even more rarely successful (only one decision was delayed pending further action). The scrutiny committees meet five times per year and their workload is not overly onerous. A reduction in council size would not therefore unduly harm the scrutiny function of the council. As an inner London Council Westminster faces a significantly higher volume of planning and licensing applications than its outer-London neighbours. The 19 members who sit on the Planning Committees have a meeting once a month combined with a relatively heavy pre-meeting workload. Similarly the 15 members of the Licensing Committees face similar challenges and 10 meetings per year. The total number of committee places (including scrutiny, planning and licensing) subject to proportionality rules in Westminster is, at 90, considerably lower than most other councils - especially when expressed as a proportion of the number of backbench councillors. Particularly for those not on planning and licensing (a number of the same councillors sit on both) the formal meeting load of Westminster Councillors is not particularly high: for example backbench members who are members of only one scrutiny committee will have about one formal meeting a month. Many of Westminster’s formal meetings (Full Council, Scrutiny Committees and Planning Committees) are held in the evening to enable councillors to fulfil their roles alongside a full-time job. Casework on behalf of constituents should (and in many cases does) form the central part of the role of a councillor. The volume of casework received by each councillor can be quite high, particularly from areas of the city with the highest levels of social need. The situation in relation to formal surgery sessions with residents varies markedly across the city. Councillors in Abbey Road, Bryanston and Dorset Square, Hyde Park, Knightsbridge and Belgravia, Little Venice, Marylebone Road, St James and Warwick Ward do not hold formal surgeries. Councillors in Lancaster Gate, Regents Park and Vincent Square hold one surgery per month.
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