2017 numberCouncillors Average no of electors per cllr SALFORD 174571 60 2909.516667 Bolton 198759 60 3312.65 Rochdale 161474 60 2691.233333 Tameside 171656 57 3011.508772 Gateshead 146650 66 2221.969697 Stoke on Trent 185646 44 4219.227273 Newcastle upon Tyne 181840 78 2331.282051 Halton 96279 56 1719.267857 Nottingham 221352 55 4024.581818 Oldham 159823 60 2663.716667 Derby 175878 51 3448.588235 Wigan 235732 75 3143.093333 Kingston upon Hull 184854 59 3133.118644 Coventry 230239 54 4263.685185 Middlesbrough 94704 46 2058.782609 St Helens 137971 48 2874.395833 2757428 929 Average per authority 172339.25 58.0625 2968.167922 Electoral review of Salford City Council – Conservative Group Submission Submission on council size, to be submitted to the local Government Boundary Commission for England In light of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) review of Salford’s council size started in 2018, the following document is Salford City Council’s Conservative Group council size submission, which provides the LGBCE with a summary of the Conservative Group’s view on the appropriate council size and reasoning for this figure across the following broad areas (as stated in the LGBCE guidance on council size for local authority elected members and staff): Governance and decision making, scrutiny functions and the wider Representative role of councillors. Salford City Council is currently arranged into 20 wards electing 60 councillors by thirds. The Council has been under Labour control since its foundation and following the most recent local elections 50 of the 60 councillors represent the controlling Labour party, nine are Conservative, and there is one Independent councillor (elected as Labour). We have factored the ruling group’s preference to retain the election of the Council by thirds into our reasoning although we acknowledge it is not a subject for this review. Salford operates with a Directly Elected Mayor in contrast to the other 9 GM authorities which operate a Leader and Cabinet model. The first election of the elected Directly Elected Mayor was held on the 3rd May 2012 following a local Referendum which led to a “yes” vote for a Mayoral system was held on 26th January 2012. This means that the first date that a referendum to abolish the Mayoral system could be held is 26th January 2022. However, even if a referendum is held, an Elected Mayor elected in May 2020 would serve a 4 year term until May 2024, regardless of the outcome. Mindful of this, we have considered how the role of a councillor has changed since the adoption of this system and acknowledge that it will be a material factor for much if not all of the lifetime of any new ward boundaries. The Directly Elected Mayor has overall executive responsibility for the delivery of the Council’s services. The Mayor leads and chairs the Cabinet and has responsibility for proposing the general budget and policy to Council. He is not a councillor and so does not have a ward role. He is answerable to Council for major decisions such as setting the council’s budget for the year. All of Salford City Council’s executive functions are vested in the elected Directly Elected Mayor. Section 9E(2) of the Local Government Act 2000 (as amended) provides that the elected Directly Elected Mayor may determine to exercise any of Salford City Council’s executive functions personally, or may arrange for the exercise of any of the council’s executive functions by the Cabinet as a whole, another member of the Cabinet, a committee of the Cabinet, an officer of the council or, an area committee. Full Council is responsible for holding the Mayor to account. The Council typically meets seven times a year with Budget council meetings in February. In contrast to the majority of GM Councils, meetings are held during the day. Salford City Council’s Cabinet consists of a directly elected mayor (the elected Directly Elected Mayor) and nine other Cabinet members, including two Deputy Elected Mayors who are also Councillors. All Cabinet members have defined areas of responsibility to support the Directly Elected Mayor’s priorities. All Members in the Cabinet are Labour Group Members. Cabinet meetings are open to Members of the Public to attend. Opposition and Backbench councillors do not have direct input into these meetings and are not a part of the decision making process. Lead members are Councillors selected by the Directly Elected Mayor to exercise some of his functions in matters relevant to specific functions of the council, as outlined in the Council’s constitution. In this submission we have considered what impact holding such a role has (a) on the role of the Councillor acting as a Lead Member and (b) the impact on their ward colleagues. If for any reason the Directly Elected Mayor is unable to act, either of the two Deputy Elected Mayors may act in his place, on all areas of policy, responsibilities or any other matters as required. This is increasingly a consideration since the introduction of the Greater Manchester Mayoral system and the inclusion of the Directly Elected Mayor within the GM Combined Authority Cabinet. We view this level of centralisation as material in our determination of the eventual size of the council. We have considered the decision making power/input of ordinary members along-side the possible impact for councillors in wards which are represented by one or more executive members. 2 Councillors are elected to represent the people of Salford across 20 electoral wards and represent their ward constituents at council meetings – in addition, most members host advice surgeries for constituents to address local concerns and seek assistance. We have considered the time demands of both community and council activities in this submission. We note the generally high number of candidates (approx. 5 per ward) in local elections and have considered the enthusiasm of the wider electorate to participate in the City’s democratic process. Whilst a feature of First-past-the-Post elections is that it tends leave only a small number parties represented, we have considered the impact of council size in ensuring the most representative Council possible under the current system. We believe that any proposal should encourage increased participation. The Conservative group considered whether the above factors had resulted in a quantifiable impact on the way they represent their constituents and in particular whether the Mayoral system had changed the way they discharge their duties. Salford is one of ten councils which make up Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). The GMCA is run by the first Mayor of GM and the leaders of the 10 councils. As a group we considered what impact the new Greater Manchester Mayoral system had on the role and duties of a local councillor. The Directly Elected Mayor of Salford is a portfolio holder in the Greater Manchester Mayor’s cabinet – this was a material concern for the group as it was noted that he has delegated significant functions to his deputies to off-set his new commitments. This in turn has an impact for ward members. Additionally, we note that the new Greater Manchester Mayoral system includes important governance features, which ensure that individual authority members retain influencing and veto powers. The future role of councillors in exercising this power was considered. At a local level Salford wards are grouped into eight neighbourhoods consisting of either two or three wards and each neighbourhood holds a number of committees according to local needs. The relevant ward councillors for a neighbourhood take part in these meetings which typically last 2 hours. All of the councillors who have been elected in the wards covered by each of Salford’s Community Committees are appointed as voting Members of their Community Committee and are responsible for making decisions in relation to that committee’s devolved budget. In 2017 to 2018, approximately £1.03 per head of the population is allocated to each community committee where decisions are made on how the budget should be spent. Each community committee elects a budget sub-group from among its members. They assess applications and make recommendations about how the funding should be spent. Budget sub-groups include local residents and local councillors. In addition to the community committee devolved budgets, a further £50,000 per year funding for highways and transport improvements is devolved to each community committee. This gives local people an opportunity to have a say on highways improvements and road safety in their areas. The group considered the time dedicated to these sub-groups and the importance of Councillors working with residents on spending priorities. It was noted that in 4 of the 8 Community Committee Areas there were only 6 Councillors and that significant patronage was therefore awarded to a relatively small group. Another key area of Council members’ roles is participation in the Overview and Scrutiny process. Overview and scrutiny committees are the main way by which the cabinet is held to account in public for the services the council provides. They examine the authority's policies and other matters of more general concern, often making recommendations either to the full council or to the cabinet on future policy options. As a group we would contend that this still constitutes the most effective way for the opposition to hold the executive to account and affect decision making within the Authority. It was noted that most members of the Opposition group are members of more than one committee in order to ensure that all opposition places are taken up. This has a significant impact on members’ time. The scrutiny committees meet monthly (except during the Council recess over summer) and the meetings are around 2.5 to 3 hours in length.