Issue - meetings

At its meeting on 19 February 2024, the Community Governance and Electoral Issues Committee will consider a report on the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (the commission) electoral review of the council and specifically the warding arrangements. At this stage of the review, Council is invited to agree a warding pattern for submission to the Commission. The recommendations of the committee will be circulated to all members. The report, which has been circulated to all members is attached.

Council considered the recommendations of the Community Governance and Electoral Issues Committee made at its meeting on 19 February 2024 on the council’s warding arrangements submission to the Commission.

Councillor Forder, chair of the committee, informed Council that there would be further opportunity for comment on any proposals and this submission would not be the final arrangement. He highlighted that the suggestions made by members had not been included in the report and therefore the recommendations of the committee reflected a need to incorporate these whilst still adhering to the deadline set by the Commission.

Some members raised concerns about the suggestion of multi-member wards being a preferred option.

RESOLVED: to

1.    Request officers seek to address the comments raised by members on the draft proposals submitted to the Community Governance and Electoral Issues Committee when drafting revised proposals.

2.    Request officers consult with relevant ward members where appropriate when drafting revised proposals

3.    Request multi member wards are considered wherever practicable and community identity supports this.

4.    Request officers circulate the redrafted proposals to all members for comments prior to further consideration by the Community Governance and Electoral Issues Committee.

5.    Delegate authority to the Community Governance and Electoral Issues Committee to finalise the report to be submitted to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England by the deadline of 18 March 2024.

Councillors Foxhall, James and Povolotsky wished for it to be noted that they abstained from the vote on this item in accordance with provisions in council procedure rule 70.

To consider the report of the Head of Legal and Democratic on warding arrangements for Vale of White Horse District Council and to agree and recommend a submission for consideration by Council.

The committee considered the report of the head of legal and democratic on warding arrangements for Vale of White Horse District Council including a summary of the representations which had been received from members since the publication of the agenda alongside a revised warding map.

Councillor Hayleigh Gascoigne addressed the committee. Overall, she was in favour of the proposal and the impact it would have on her ward – Blewbury and Harwell. She spoke in favour of the presumption for multi-member wards as it allowed two people to share the workload, brought different members strengths to the role and, in her view, enhanced both voter representation and the experience of being an elected councillor. Councillor Gascoigne also highlighted that the natural community identity for her ward sat with Didcot but that as this was in South Oxfordshire District Council it could not form part of this review. She did ask that this was considered in future boundary reviews.

In response to the points raised by Councillor Gascoigne, officers advised that the council could consider requesting a boundary review but that this would require agreement from South Oxfordshire District Council before consideration. The committee suggested that Councillor Gascoigne liaised with officers on progressing this request.

The committee asked the Democratic Services Manager if any thought had been given to the benefits of multi member wards when producing the report. The Democratic Services Manager confirmed that no thought had been given to this as no member comments had been received in advance of the production of the report.

The Democratic Services Manager highlighted to the committee that this stage of the review allowed the council to submit their proposals to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England but that this was not the council’s review, and the Commission would make the final decision. Officers had considered the current warding patterns, the previous review documents and projected electorate figures when compiling the report. The Democratic Services Manager went on to advise that the revised map which had been circulated was to correct the incorrect boundary which had been drawn for Wootton and Marcham wards. He advised that the report content was correct and unaffected by the corrections made to the map.

The committee noted that previously a request to increase the number of councillors for Vale of White Horse District Council had been rejected by the Commission but that the ward review proposal proposed an increase in the number of councillors to 39 to achieve electoral equality.

The committee thanked officers for their work on the report and also noted that a number of members had now responded to the report. The committee asked how best to proceed in order that the comments received since the report had been drafted could be included. Officers recommended that the committee could request officers to redraft the report taking these comments into account.

The committee asked officers to confirm how the projected figures for the 2029 electorate had been calculated. The Democratic Services Manager confirmed the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13