BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR THE FURTHER ELECTORAL REVIEW 2012 Introduction A Further Electoral Review (FER) of the electoral arrangements of City of York 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 England 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 Yorkshire 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.