HAMBLETON DISTRICT COUNCIL Report To: Council 16 July 2019 From: Chief Executive Subject: REVIEW OF POLLING DISTRICTS AND POLLING PLACES All Wards Scrutiny Committee 1.0 PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND: 1.1 The Council designates polling districts and polling places for use at all elections and referenda taking place within its area. 1.2 In accordance with the Representation of the People Act 1983 (as amended) the Council is required to undertake a review of the polling districts and polling places used within its area for parliamentary elections. The next review must take place by 31 January 2020. 1.3 The Council’s administrative area is divided into polling districts for the purposes of parliamentary elections. In general, each polling district within the Council’s area will comprise of one or more parishes. 1.4 A polling place is the building or area in which polling stations are located. A polling place is to be selected for each polling district in a constituency. There may be more than one polling station (ballot box) within a polling place. 1.5 The aim of the review is ensure that polling districts and polling places meet the reasonable requirements of electors in the constituency and take sufficient account of disabled access to polling stations. Before the Council can formally designate polling districts and polling places it must carry out a consultation with stakeholders and interested parties (as identified at paragraph 3.1 of this report). 2.0 REVIEW OF POLLING DISTRICT AND PLACES 2.1 The Representation of the People Act 1983 requires polling districts to be agreed for the Council’s administrative area. Polling districts must follow parish boundaries unless there is a good reason to depart from this rule. A plan showing the current parliamentary election and parish boundaries within the district is at Annex A. 2.2 The legislation also requires a polling place to be designated for each polling district. Generally each polling place will be located within the polling district to which it relates. However, this does not apply if the size or other circumstances of a polling district are such that the situation of the polling place does not materially affect the convenience of the electors or any body of them. In addition: a) the Council must seek to ensure that all electors in a constituency in its area have such reasonable facilities for voting as are practicable in the circumstances; b) the Council must seek to ensure that so far as is reasonable and practicable every polling place for which it is responsible is accessible to electors who are disabled; c) the Council must have regard to the accessibility to disabled electors of potential polling stations in any place which it is considering designating as a polling place or the designation of which as a polling place it is reviewing; d) the polling place for a polling district must be an area in the district, unless special circumstances make it desirable to designate an area wholly or partly outside the district; e) the polling place must be small enough to indicate to electors in different parts of the district how they will be able to reach the polling station. 2.3 In 2015 the Boundary Commission for Local Government reduced the number of district wards within the Hambleton area. Following that decision the Council reviewed the polling districts and places in its area and subsequently made revisions to the structure of the polling districts. These were based largely on parishes and combinations of parishes. Whilst it is suggested that the majority of these polling districts remain unchanged, some amendments are proposed taking into account the electorate, the parish boundaries and the location of available polling venues. These proposed changes are identified in Annex B. 2.4 There are currently 80 buildings within Hambleton which are designated as polling places. Several of these buildings are used for more than one polling station (ballot box). These buildings were inspected in May 2019 by electoral visiting officers and polling station staff in relation to access and facilities for voters. 2.5 As a result of these recent inspections it is proposed that there are a small number of changes to polling places. These changes take into account polling places which are no longer available for use or where a more suitable alternative has been identified. These proposed changes are detailed in Annex B. 2.6 Officers are of the opinion that, if the proposed changes are approved, all the polling districts and polling places referred to in Annex B will meet the requirements of the Representation of the People Act 1983. However, responses to the consultation stage of the review may raise issues for further consideration. 3.0 UNDERTAKING THE REVIEW 3.1 In undertaking a polling district and polling places review the Council is required to: a) publish notice of the review; b) consult the returning officer for every parliamentary election held in a constituency which is wholly or partly within the Council’s area; c) consult such persons who have expertise in relation to access to premises or facilities for persons who have different forms of disability d) invite representations from any other interested parties, such as parish councils, electors, candidates and agents; e) take into account representations received; and f) on completion of the review give reasons and publish its decision. 3.2 A proposed notice of the review and timetable is attached at Annex C. 3.3 It is anticipated that much of the consultation will be carried out electronically and a page of the Council’s website will be designated for the review to keep interested parties up to date. 4.0 CONCLUDING THE REVIEW 4.1 Representations made in response to the consultation will be reported to Council in September 2019. The Council must give due consideration to these representations before reaching a decision on the designation of polling districts and polling places within its area. 4.2 Once the Council has agreed the final proposals, details of the new polling districts and polling places must be made available to the public alongside reasons for the final decision of the review and the consultation responses. 4.3 If the review results in the alteration of one or more polling districts, the Electoral Registration Officer must make the necessary amendments to the electoral register. 4.4 The review is to be undertaken in relation to a duty to designate polling places for parliamentary elections, however, it is good practice to use the same polling places for all other elections. Therefore, changes to the designation of polling places will be adopted for all other types of elections within the district. 5.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS AND EFFICIENCIES: 5.1 The Council will carry out the review in-house. It is anticipated that disbursement costs of the review (including publicising the review and contacting relevant parties as part of consultation process) will be met within current budgets. 6.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS: 6.1 The Council has a duty under the Representation of the People Act 1983 to complete a review of polling district and polling places within its area by 31 January 2020. 6.2 There is a right for some persons and bodies to appeal against the outcome of the review of polling districts and places to the Electoral Commission but only on certain grounds. Following a successful appeal the Electoral Commission has power to make alterations to the polling places designated by the review. 7.0 EQUALITIES / DIVERSITY ISSUES 7.1 The principal equality consideration for polling stations is accessibility in particular for electors with mobility or sight impairment. In accordance with the relevant legislation the Council is under a duty to review polling places to ensure that so far as is reasonable and practicable every polling place for which it is responsible is accessible to electors who are disabled. As part of the consultation process the Council will seek and consider representations from groups or bodies with a special interest or expertise in disabled access. 8.0 RISK IMPLICATIONS 8.1 There are no risk management issues relevant to this report. 9.0 RECOMMENDATIONS: 9.1 It is recommended that Council: (1) approves that a review be undertaken of polling districts and polling places within the Council’s area; (2) approves the publication of the notice of the review (Annex C) and the proposed changes (Annex B); and (3) authorises the Director of Law and Governance to conduct the review on the Council’s behalf and take all reasonable actions to comply with the Council’s statutory obligations in that regard. JUSTIN IVES CHIEF EXECUTIVE Background papers: None Author ref: LV Contact: Laura Venn Legal Manager (Deputy Monitoring Officer) Direct Line No: (01609) 767004 Annex A Over Dinsdale Newby Great Ayton Stokesley Worsall Seamer Low Little Ayton Kildale Middleton Easby Girsby High on-Leven Worsall Rudby Broughtonand Little Crathorne Great RICHMOND (YORKS) Great Busby Picton Skutterskelfe CO CONST Little Busby Appleton Kirkby Great Hornby Hutton Sexhow Carlton Ingleby Smeaton Wiske East Rudby Greenhow Faceby Cowton Little Smeaton West Potto Deighton Rounton East Rounton South Welbury Ingleby Arncliffe Birkby Cowton Hutton Bonville East Whorlton Harlsey Bilsdale Whitwell Danby Wiske West Midcable with Lazenby Harlsey Kiplin Stank and Osmotherley Brompton Winton, Hallikeld Ellerbeck Great Langton Killerby Little Yafforth Thimbleby Kirkby Langton Northallerton (North) Kirby Sigston Hackforth Ainderby MiresFleetham Northallerton