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Report of Head of Legal and Democratic Author: Steven Corrigan E-mail: steven.corrigan@southandvale.gov.uk DATE: 11 October 2023 |
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Electoral Review of Vale of White Horse District Council – submission on council size
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Report of Head of Legal and Democratic Author: Steven Corrigan E-mail: steven.corrigan@southandvale.gov.uk DATE: 11 October 2023 |
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1. To consider and approve the draft Council Size Submission for recommendation to Council.
2. The review’s principle of establishing a structure for fair and accountable local democracy reflects the council’s priorities of working in an open and inclusive way and working in partnership.
3. The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 established the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (The Commission) as an independent statutory body with responsibility for ensuring electoral equality in English local authorities.
4. The Commission notified the council, in October 2022, that Vale of White Horse District Council would be subject to a periodic review because of electoral inequality. Electoral inequality arises if electors are either over or under-represented by their members(s) when compared with average levels of representation across the district. Under the criteria adopted by The Commission, either of the following conditions are considered to warrant a review if the imbalance is unlikely to be corrected by foreseeable changes to the electorate within a reasonable period:
· Any local authority with a ward that has an electoral variance of 30% or over. This means a ward having 30% more or fewer electors per member than is average for the council as a whole.
· Any local authority where more than 30% of wards have an electoral variance of over 10% from the average for that authority.
5. In the case of Vale of White Horse District Council the current position is that:
· Ten of the 24 electoral wards (42%) have a variance of greater than 10%
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One of the electoral wards has a
variance of over 30%
6. The map attached to this report shows those wards with an electoral imbalance.
7. The purpose of an electoral review is to consider the number of members elected to the Council, the names, number and boundaries of the wards, and the number of members to be elected to each ward.
8. There are two phases to the review. Phase one concentrates solely on council size. Phase two will consider and consult upon ward numbers and boundaries.
9. An all-member briefing was held on 7 June 2023 at which The Commission set out its timetable and remit for the review. Group Leaders also received a briefing on 5 June 2023.
10. At its meeting on 13 September 2023, the Community Governance and Electoral Issues Committee considered an officer draft Council Size Submission document which recommended a council size of 38 members reflecting the current arrangements. The committee agreed that, because of the recent and anticipated population growth, the increased workload on current members arising from this growth, the additional community representative role arising from requests to join community groups and the new member champion appointments, the desire to ensure the role of councillor remains attractive to a wide section of the community, particular those in work, a council size of 41 would be more appropriate. The committee also agreed that an increase in the size of the council could facilitate the creation of two member wards in some of the larger rural wards. The minutes of the meeting are available here.
11.The timetable for the review is set out below:
Council Size
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Activity |
Involvement |
Key Dates |
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Council |
LGBCE |
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Develop council size proposal |
Council Political Groups |
Officers will be available to answer any technical queries on making a submission. |
Now until mid- November 2023 |
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Submission of council size proposals |
Council Political Groups |
Officers will acknowledge receipt of submissions. |
4 November 2023 |
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Commission Meeting: Council Size |
Not required |
Commission |
12 December 2022 |
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Activity |
Involvement |
Key Dates |
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Council |
LGBCE |
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Consultation on warding patterns |
Council Political Groups General Public |
Run consultation, collate & analyse responses. |
19 December – 11 March 2024 (extra 2 weeks for Christmas) |
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Commission Meeting: Draft Recommendations |
Not required |
Commission |
21 May 2024 |
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Consultation on Draft Recommendations |
Council Political Groups General Public |
Publish draft recommendations. Run consultation, collate & analyse responses. |
4 June 2024 – 12 August 2024 |
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Commission Meeting: Final Recommendations |
Not required |
Commission |
15 October 2024 |
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Final recommendations published |
Not required |
Commission |
29 October 2024 |
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Activity |
Involvement |
Key Dates |
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Council |
LGBCE |
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Order laid |
Not required |
Commission |
Winter 2024 |
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Order made |
Not required |
Commission |
Early 2025 |
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Implementation |
Council |
Not required |
2027 |
12.The first decision gateway for the Council is to agree its Council Size Submission to The Commission by 4November.
13. The Commission provides a template for the Council Size Submission. The template is for the council to make arguments about the number of members that it considers will deliver effective governance for the Vale measured by three key dimensions – strategic leadership, accountability, and community leadership.
14. Council is requested to review and approve the draft Submission attached at Appendix A, which is based on officer opinion, and authorise the head of legal and democratic to produce a final version for submission to the October Council meeting.
15. There are no climate and ecological implications arising from this report.
16. There are no significant financial implications arising from this report. An increase in council size to 41 members would result in an 8% increase in the basic allowances budget.
17. The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 sets out duty placed on the Boundary Commission to undertake an electoral review of every principal local authority in England ‘from time to time’. A review follows a prescribed process and the Council, as a body corporate, is one of the consultees.
18. The Commission’s review requires extensive officer support and input particularly from those in electoral services, policy, communications and the GIS team at various stages of the process which could impact on resources and service delivery. To mitigate this, officers from these areas have been briefed on the timetable, process and the information that will be required during the review by The Commission.
19. None.
9. The Commission is undertaking an electoral review of Vale of White Horse District Council. The first decision The Commission will take is how many members the Council should have. Vale of White Horse District Council is invited to make a proposal for how many members it believes there should be in the future. To meet this stage in the review process Council is invited to agree a submission on the council size to the Local Government Boundary Commission.
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