MILTON KEYNES COUNCIL MILTON KEYNES COUNCIL Submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England on Council Size as part of the Electoral Review of Milton Keynes Council L:\HDS\LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY COMMISSION\BOROUGH WARD BOUNDARY REVIEW.doc 1 CONTENTS Page 1. Introduction 3 2. The Borough of Milton Keynes 4 to 8 3. Political Management 9 to 10 4. Councillor Roles and Functions 11 to 12 5. Review Criteria: 13 to 14 (i) Community Identity (ii) Effective and Convenient Local Government (iii) Equality of Representation 6. Reasons for Increase in Membership 15 to 16 Annexes: Annex A Housing Forecast by Ward 17 Annex B Schedule of Parishes and Borough 18 to 22 Wards Annex C Cabinet Portfolios 2011/12 23 Annex D Executive Scheme of Delegation 24 to 39 Annex E Calendar of Meetings 2011/12 40 to 45 Annex F Calendar of Meetings 2012/13 46 to 51 Annex G Membership of Committees 2011/12 52 to 57 Annex H Code of Conduct for Members 58 to 68 Annex I Scheme of Councillors’ Allowances 69 to 79 2011/12 Annex J Schedule of Outside Bodies 80 to 83 Annex K Summary of Responses to Councillors’ 84 Activities Survey Annex L Schedule of Current Wards 85 Annex M Peer Challenge Report - 86 to 101 December 2011 L:\HDS\LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY COMMISSION\BOROUGH WARD BOUNDARY REVIEW.doc 2 Introduction 1. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England plans to conduct a review of the electoral arrangements of Milton Keynes Council during 2012, and has asked for the Council’s view on Council size. 2 Milton Keynes Council was created as a District Council in 1974 following the Local Government Act, 1972. As a result of the Local Government Act, 1992, Milton Keynes was considered as a potential Unitary Authority, and the Local Government Commission described the Borough as potentially “one of the great cities of England”. Accordingly, the Secretary of State and Parliament approved designation of the area as a Unitary Authority and the Buckinghamshire (Borough of Milton Keynes) Structural Change Order 1995 came into effect from 1 April 1997. 3. The Order increased the number of Members on the Council from 46 to 51. 4. Following an interim electoral review in 2000, the Borough of Milton Keynes (Electoral Changes) Order 2001 redistributed seats amongst the 51 Councillors, and this remains the basis of the electoral arrangements at the Council. 5. In the 2001 Order, seats were allocated on the basis of one Councillor to approximately 3,000 electors. Table 1 shows how the projected growth in the electorate will change the ratio of councillors to electors over the next 15 years. 6. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (the Commission) is required by statute to take into account any changes to the number and distribution of electors that are likely to take place within five years following the completion of a review (i.e. the period 2013/2018). On the basis of this projection and the expectation placed on its Members, the Council is seeking to increase the number of Members from the present 51 to 57 with effect from the Council Elections in 2014. 7. This submission addresses the nature of Milton Keynes as a local government area, political management of the Council, and the roles of Members, addresses the Commission’s criteria for an electoral arrangements review, and sets out the Council’s reasons for proposing an increase in membership. L:\HDS\LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY COMMISSION\BOROUGH WARD BOUNDARY REVIEW.doc 3 The Borough of Milton Keynes 1. Description 1.1 Milton Keynes was designated as a new town in 1967, bringing together a number of urban and rural district councils in north Buckinghamshire. At the time, the population of the area was a little over 60,000. In the intervening 45 years, it has grown to 250,000, demonstrating the largest population growth in the country. 1.2 The area became a Borough Council in 1974, but the responsibility for the development of the new town area remained with Milton Keynes Development Corporation until its demise in 1992. Following this, the responsibility for continuing the development of the area rested with the Commission for the New Towns, English Partnerships, and latterly the Homes and Communities Agency. The Agency’s arm in Milton Keynes, Milton Keynes Partnership, ceased to exist in 2011, although, pending legislation, a Sub-Committee of the Homes and Communities Agency still retains development control powers in the developing areas. 1.3 The Council itself was designated as a Unitary Authority following the Local Government Act 1992, and assumed all local authority powers, except the development control powers referred to above, with effect from 1 April 1997. It is expected that, later in 2012, the final development control powers will be transferred to the Borough Council. 1.4 The majority of the development has taken place in the designated new town area to the south and west of the Borough. The area to the north and east of the Borough retains its rural nature with occasional villages and market towns. 1.5 Although not yet formally designated as a city by H.M. The Queen, the authorities and residents refer to Milton Keynes as a city, and this will be evident in this submission. 2. Centres for Cities 2.1 The Centres for Cities report, 2012, identifies Milton Keynes as one of the “five to watch”. The report states “cities such as Milton Keynes and Aberdeen are well placed to drive the national economic recovery in this difficult economic climate. They have seen high number of business start ups, they have larger pools of highly skilled residents and they are highly innovative with significant numbers of patents registered”. 3. Index of Multiple Deprivation 3.1 On the other hand, there are areas of Milton Keynes which demonstrate high levels of deprivation. In the Index of Multiple L:\HDS\LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY COMMISSION\BOROUGH WARD BOUNDARY REVIEW.doc 4 Deprivation 2010, Milton Keynes was ranked 211th out of 354 overall (with 1 being the most deprived). However, there are 7 Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) in Milton Keynes which are within the most deprived 10% in England, and 24 LSOAs within the most deprived 30%. By contrast, 17 areas are within the least deprived 10%. These are in the rural areas, Newport Pagnell and some areas in the new city area. 4. Corporate Plan 4.1 The Council’s Corporate Plan for 2012/16, approved by the Council on 11 January 2012, sets out how the Council and its partners will work together to achieve their collective ambitions for Milton Keynes. 4.2 The vision is: - to ensure Milton Keynes is a premier “can do” place of the 21st Century. The city, together with the rural parts of the Borough, will continue to be a wonderful place to live, work, learn, shop and relax; - to secure sustainable housing and employment growth that is advantageous for Milton Keynes, subject to the timely provision of infrastructure and proactive regeneration to ensure no areas are left behind and that a two-speed city does not result; - that people and firms will want to move here and stay here, and visitors will want to come here and come back often. Milton Keynes will have a compelling “offer” that includes rising standards of living and a safe and good quality of life for all; - to create homes and neighbourhoods in new areas or through regeneration to help make our compelling “offer” a reality; - that our residents have access to all services they need and have the support to access opportunities and enjoy a healthy and good quality of life. Above all, we must ensure that Milton Keynes offers job and career opportunities for all through an enterprising and thriving economy. 5. Development Areas 5.1 The Borough is expected to expand by 25,740 dwellings by 2026 (13,220 by 2018). Annex A shows how this development is spread unevenly across the Borough Wards, ranging from 2 properties in Furzton Ward to 6,345 in Stony Stratford Ward. 5.2 Although this pace of change seems to be phenomenal (1,700 properties per year), it is in line with the pace that Milton Keynes has L:\HDS\LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY COMMISSION\BOROUGH WARD BOUNDARY REVIEW.doc 5 experienced over the last 45 years. The projected effect on the ratio of Councillors to electors is demonstrated in Table 1: TABLE 1 - RATIO OF COUNCILLORS TO ELECTORS Membership 2001 2012 (Actual) 2018(Projected) 2026(Projected) 51 1:3000 1:3635 1:4020 1:4372 57 - 1:3253 1:3596 1:3912 5.3 The Council acknowledges that the growth on the electorate is not, in itself, a reason for increasing the number of councillors. The impact of growth on Members’ workloads is demonstrated later. 6. Regeneration Areas 6.1 The Council is pursuing regeneration initiatives in the Lakes Estate (Eaton Manor Ward), and employs community engagement resources, mainly Community Mobilisers, in 16 other estates. 6.2 The Neighbourhood Employment Programme is designed to engage with unemployed people in the regeneration areas. The Programme has been allocated £200,000 to engage with the unemployed to offer appropriate employability skills that can assist them to improve employment opportunities, increase their income and minimise the effects of welfare reforms. 7. Partnerships There is a history of strong partnership working in Milton Keynes that existed before there was a requirement for more formal arrangements. 7.1 Local Strategic Partnership In 2001 the government published non statutory guidance on Local Strategic Partnerships (LSP) and in June 2002 Milton Keynes held its first LSP meeting following extensive consultation with partners.