BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR THE FURTHER ELECTORAL REVIEW 2012

Introduction

A Further Electoral Review (FER) of the electoral arrangements of City of Council will commenced in June 2012. There were a number of separate briefing sessions for all City of York Council members, parish councillors and Officers held between December 2011 and March 2012. The purpose of the these sessions was to explain the method, objectives and timetable of the FER

The Council’s existing electoral warding scheme was introduced by an Order following a Period Electoral Review by the then Local Government Commission for in May 2001, the review was undertaken to address imbalances in ward councillor to elector ratios from the warding scheme adopted on the creation of the Unitary Authority of City of York Council in April 1996.

Profile of York

City of York Council encompasses approximately an area of some 28,000 hectares with a population of around 202,000 people. The council area has parished rural areas totalling 32 parishes and a city centre that is unparished.

The Council area includes the urban settlement of York and several large settlements that include Haxby, Wigginton and Strensall that are located in the rural areas of the council boundaries. The urban area of York is located both sides of the River Ouse and River Foss, that flow south to the Humber Estuary. York lies close to Leeds, the largest urban conurbation and is located in the Vale of York that stretches south west of the North York Moors National Park.

York is a very popular tourist location, with excellent transport links that includes the East Coast mainline railway and Transpennie rail line to Manchester and Liverpool. The road network includes the A64 trunk road to Leeds and A19 trunk road to Newcastle (and the North East of England) with close proximity to A1 motorway.

Among York’s popular visitor attractions are the famous York Minister, the largest Gothic cathedral in Europe, The National Railway Museum, the Castle Museum, the Museum, the Jorvik Viking Centre and long established racecourse at the Knavesmire. York still has medieval walls that surround the centre part of old city, and reflects that York’s history can be traced far back in the history of England,

Existing Electoral Arrangements

City of York Council was formed in 1996 as a new Unitary Authority, the new Council was created from the previous York City Council and an amalgamation of parts of Harrogate District Council, Ryedale District Council and Selby District Council; these areas were all made up from existing parish councils or town councils. The shadow elections in 1995 for the new Unitary Authority were run on hasty devised ward structures, with a range of member representation of between single member wards, two member wards and three member wards. The original number of wards was 29 with 53 members.

In 1999 the then LBCE undertook a review to address the imbalances with a full PER, the result was that the number of wards was reduce to 22 with 47 members, keeping a mix of single, two and three member wards. This is the current warding arrangements and was introduced for the full council elections in 2003.

The review considered the number of members at 47 representing 3271 electors, a ratio that with projections would ensure equal elector representation by ward councillors. City of York Council was aware of a number of large developments in the next ten years and the five-year projection of electorate statistics did take these in to account.

The current existing ward pattern is:

7 Single member wards 5 Two member wards 9 Three member wards

City of York Council also has a large number of parish councils and a single town council of Haxby that is warded that form a ring around the old York City Council boundaries.

Local Government Boundary Commission for England

The LGBCE is responsible for conducting reviews of local authority arrangements. They can also conduct reviews on the structure of local government and the external local authority boundaries.

The Commission was established on 1st April 2010 when the form Boundary Committee for England was abolished. The Commission is comprised of a chair, a deputy chair and four commissioners who are supported by Review Officers.

The aim of the LGBCE’s Electoral review is to improve electoral equality. This is achieved by ensuring as councillors represent far as practicable the same number of electors.

This may result in an increase or decrease in both councillors and wards for a local authority area.

The electoral review looks at the following arrangements:

 The total number of members to elected to the council;

 The number and boundaries of electoral areas (ie: wards) for the purpose of the election of councillors;

 The number of councillors for any electoral area (ie: wards) of the local authority; and

 The name of any electoral area.

The LGBCE have three types of electoral reviews, depending on the needs of the local authority and the reason for undertaking the review.

Criteria for Further Electoral Review

The LGBCE have two set criteria for undertaking a Further Electoral Review, these are :

 30% of the councils wards are at an electoral variance of more than 10% from the average*

 one ward has an electoral variance of more than 30% from the average.

In regards to City of York Council, Fulford Ward is minus 32% below the average.

*The average refers to that set for each councillor in the previous review in 2001, which was set at 3200 electors per councillor.

Governance of the Council

City of York Council has agreed a Constitution which sets out how the Council operates, how decisions are made and the procedures which are followed. These procedures will ensure that decisions are taken at the right time, by the right body, considering the right issues and options and will be non- bureaucratic, transparent, accountable to local people and deliver Council priorities.

Some of these processes are required by law, while others are a matter for the Council to choose. The Constitution is divided into articles that set out the basic rules governing the Council’s business.

How the Council Operates

Council is composed of 47 Councillors elected every 4 years.

These Councillors are known as elected Members. Councillors are democratically accountable to residents in their ward. The overriding duty of Councillors is to the whole community, but they have a special duty to their constituents, including those who did not vote for them.

All Councillors meet together at meetings of the Council which are open to the public. Here Councillors decide the Council’s overall policies and set the budget each year. The Council appoints one Councillor as the Council Leader. The Leader and seven other Councillors appointed by the Council form the Cabinet. The Council also appoints Committees, including Ward Committees to deal with local matters, and a Scrutiny Management Committee with standing Scrutiny Committees to look at the effectiveness of the Cabinet and help develop Council Policy.

The Council employs a variety of staff to deliver services to the community. These staff are known as “Officers”. Some officers have a specific duty to ensure that the Council acts within the law. This Constitution sets out the basis of these responsibilities in protocols that governs the relationships between officers and Members of the Council.

How decisions are made

The Cabinet is made up of a Leader and up to nine other Councillors who are called “Cabinet Members”. The Leader appoints Cabinet Members, gives them areas of responsibility and allocates decision making powers.

When major decisions are to be discussed or made, these are published in the Cabinet’s Forward Plan so far as they can be anticipated. If these major decisions are to be discussed at a meeting of the Cabinet, this will generally be open for the public to attend except where confidential matters are being discussed.

The Cabinet has to make decisions which are in line with the Council’s overall policies and budget. If it wishes to make a decision which is outside the budget or policy framework, this must be referred to the Council as a whole to decide. Citizens have a right to have a say about decisions which affect them, and should be able to understand what decisions have been taken and why.

While the Cabinet undertakes all the local authority functions, the role of Full Council is still to set and agree budgetary and policy framework for the authority. The Full Council meets monthly at the historic Guildhall on the 19th of each month in the Council Chamber, currently the monthly meetings of the Cabinet meet are local venues around the council area to encourage public engagement in meetings.

Overview and Scrutiny

There is one Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee together with specific scrutiny Committees whose job it is to look into how effectively the Council and NHS institutions are serving the needs of their communities.

The Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee produces reports and recommendations which advise the Cabinet and the Council as a whole on its policies, budgets and service delivery, as well as looking at reviews of individual services and cross cutting issues to see if they provide best value for local people. In addition the Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee may also be consulted by the Cabinet or the Council on the development of the policy.

The Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee monitors the decisions of the Cabinet and the Council. They can “call-in” a decision which has been made but not yet implemented. This enables them to consider whether the decision is appropriate. They may recommend that the decision is re-considered. This Committee may also be consulted by the Cabinet or the Council on forthcoming decisions.

The standing Overview and Scrutiny Committees deal with specific service areas and are:

(a) Economic and City Development (b) Effective Organisation (c) Community Safety (d) Health (e) Learning and Culture

Each of the above Committees will produce reports and recommendations which advise the Cabinet and the Council as a whole on these specific service areas and will monitor the decisions of the Cabinet and the Council in its specific area.

The meetings of the Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee, the Scrutiny Committees and any Scrutiny sub-committee are generally in public and they may involve citizens and other interested parties in their work, so that the public has a say in Council affairs.

Ward Committees

There are 22 Wards in the City of York District which in some cases are merged to create 18 Ward Committees to give local citizens a greater say in their own local neighbourhood governance and more widely in Council affairs.

They are responsible for considering local matters and have a devolved budget to spend on local improvement schemes. The Ward Committees are comprised of Councillors for each Ward(s) who must exercise their delegated authority in consultation with local residents at regular meetings that are held in public. Every household receives notification of the Ward Committee meetings and all local residents are encouraged to attend and have their say.

Role and Duties of Members

The key role of Members is to improve the quality of life for people within their area and make decisions about local issues.

Members have to decide what is in the public interest amidst a range of conflicting issues and views, those Members who are Chairpersons of committee or Cabinet Members have an additional tier of workload and responsibility.

The majority of Members in York represent a Political Party, there was one Independent Councillor elected in May 2011, the Council makeup is as follows:

Labour 26 Conservative 10 Liberal Democrat 8 Green 2 Independent 1

Members represent all the citizens in their ward.

It is up to each individual Member how they work, but the main areas of responsibility are:

o Representing the people in their ward o Community leadership o Formulating Policy o Scrutinising Policy

Parish Councils

York has 31 parish councils, two of which are warded, all the parish councils are located in the rural wards that transferred from other local authorities in 1996 to create the new unitary authority.

Parish councils provide the citizens of the area an extra elected representative to represent them in local issues, providing a key part of the democratic governance of the Council.

The full list of parish councils follows: Current Number of number of Number of Parish Council Ward ward Parish vacancies. councillors Councillors Acaster Mablis 6 1 1 Bishopthorpe Bishopthorpe 10 0

Holtby 5 0

Dunnington Derwent 1 13 0

Kexby 7 0

Fulford Fulford 1 11 0

Wigginton 10 0

Haxby Parish North 3 0 Ward Haxby Parish East Haxby & 3 4 0 Ward Wigginton Haxby Parish Central 4 0 Ward Haxby Parish South 2 1 West Heslington Heslington 1 9 0

Heworth Without Heworth Without 1 9 0

Huntington 15 0 Huntington and 3 New Earswick New Earswick 10 0

Osbaldwick 13 2

Osbaldwick 1 Murton 6 0

Copmanthorpe 3 10 1

Askham Bryan 6 1

Askham Richard 7 0

Parish of with Knapton – Knapton 3 0 Ward Parish of Rufforth with Knapton – Rufforth 4 1 Ward 5 0

Upper Poppleton 7 2

Nether Poppleton 7 0

Skelton 9 0

Skelton, Rawcliffe Rawcliffe and 3 9 0

Clifton Without Clifton Without 10 0

Naburn 11 0

Deighton 4 3

Wheldrake 1 Wheldrake 9 4

Elvington 7 0

Outside Bodies

List of outside bodies and the number of members who sit on each board.

Name of Outside Body Number of Members Adoption Panel 1

Ainsty 2008 Internal Drainage Board Vacant

Arlish and Chambers Charity Vacant

Bell Farm Adventure Playground 2

Bell Farm Social Hall Management Committee 2

Bookstart Steering Group 1

Charity of Jane Wright Vacant

City Region Transport Panel 1

Clifton Backies Management Board 3

Clifton Moor Residents Association 1

Looked After Children 2

Foos Internal Drainage Board Vacant

Fostering & Sharing Care Panel 1

Foxwood Community Centre 1

Friends of St Nicholas Fields 1

Fulford Parish Council Cemetery Committee 1

Glen Family Resource Centre 3

Golden Triangle Partnership Board 1

Heslington East Community Forum 4

Hull University Court 1

Kyle and Upper Ouse IDB 2

Leeman Road Millennium Green Trust 2

Local Access Forum 2

LACAM 1

Local Government Association – General Assembly 4

Local Government Association – Rural Commission 2

Local Government Association – Urban Commission 2

Local Government Information Unit 2

Local Government and York 1

Local Government North Yorkshire and York Regeneration and 1 Housing Board

Local Government Yorkshire and Humber Employments Committee 2

Local Government Yorkshire and Humber Regional Improvement 1 and Efficiency Partnership

Local Government Yorkshire and Humber 1 Menwith Hill Forum 1

Micklegate York Charitable Trust 1

North Yorkshire Housing Partnership 1

Ouse and Derwent IDB Vacant

PATROL Adjudication Joint Committee 1

Peasholme Centre Management Committee 2

Pension Fund Sub-Committee 1

Portage Steering Group 1

Regional Spatial Planning Advisory Board 1

Regional Transport Advisory Board 2

Reserve Forces and Cadets Association for Yorkshire & the 1 Humber

Rural Action Yorkshire 1

Ryedale Energy Conservation Group 1

SACRE 4

Selby Coalfield Joint Consultative Committee 1

Shopmobility York 1

SNAPPY` 2

St Michael le Belfrey with St Wilfred Charities for the Poor 1

St Wilfreds Eleemosynary Charity 2

Swimming Pool Steering Group 3

Tang Hall Community Centre 2

19 Wenlock Terrace 3

York and District Citizen’s Advice Bureau Vacant

York & North Yorkshire Development Board 2

York & North Yorkshire Playing Fields Association 2

York & North Yorkshire Waste Management Partnership 1

York Business School Ltd 1

York City Charities 2

York College Governing Body 1

York Community Legal Advice Partnership Steering Group Vacant

York CVS Board of Trustees 3

York Environmental Forum (LSP) 6

York Fairtrade City Steering Group 1

York Museums Trust 3

York NHS Foundation Trust 2

York, Selby and Malton Business Advice Centres Ltd 2

York Theatre Royal 3

York Wheels 1

Yorkshire and Humberside Pollution Advisory Committee 1

Yorkshire Housing Association 1

19 Wenlock Terrace 3

York and District Citizen’s Advice Bureau 1

York & North Yorkshire Development Board 2

Yorkshire Purchasing Organization 2

Yorkshire Flood and Coastal Committee 2

Yorventure Management Group 1

Yorwaste 1

Current and projected Electorate

The following table lists the electorate for the Register of Electors published on 1st December 2011 and the provisional projected electorate based on known residential planning developments in the next five years.

These forecasts are based on an elector to property ratio of 1.789, which is the average ratio from the current Register of Electors in regard to the total number of electors to the total number of properties.

The forecast cannot take in to account any incidental residential house builds in the next five years or the introduction of Individual Elector Registration.

Current Projected Purposed Projected 2011 number Ward Electorate Number increase of Electorate of for 2016 houses electorate members Acomb 6662 3 7243 325 581 Clifton 10134 3 10906 404 772 Dringhouses & Woodthorpe 9066 3 9524 256 458 Fishergate 7261 2 8002 414 741 Guildhall 6635 2 7211 322 576 Heworth 10274 3 10875 336 601 Holgate 9922 3 10253 185 331 Hull Road 8050 2 8079 16 29 Micklegate 9690 3 10465 433 775 Westfield 10452 3 10665 119 213 Bishopthorpe 3288 1 3297 5 9 Derwent 3015 1 3021 3 6 Fulford 2231 1 2573 191 342 Haxby & Wigginton 10086 3 10138 29 52 Heslington 4175 1 4185 5 10 Heworth Without 3196 1 3200 2 4 Huntington & New Earswick 10098 3 10172 41 74 Osbaldwick 2806 1 3463 367 657 Rural West York 8473 3 8504 17 31 Skelton, Rawcliffe & Clifton Without 10418 3 10776 200 358 Strensall 6312 2 6479 93 167 Wheldrake 3285 1 3285 12 22 Totals 155,529 47 162,316 3775 6809

Reference Documents

Local Government Boundary Commission for England website - http://www.lgbce.org.uk/

City of York Council Periodic Review 2001 – http://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/yorkshire-and-humberside/north- yorkshire/city-of-york-unitary-authority-ua