To agree the ‘Council Size’ submission to be made to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.  

67.1           The report, circulated separately at Pages No. 1-53, set out a draft submission on the future size of the Council which it was proposed would be sent to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England in response to its review of the Borough Ward boundaries. Members were asked to approve that submission.

67.2           The Head of Democratic Services explained that the Local Government Boundary Commission for England had decided to review the Borough’s Electoral Wards as, in 2015, eight of the Council’s 22 Wards had an electoral imbalance in excess of +/- 10. The first stage of that process was for the Council to submit its submission on its future size which included information such as governance; scrutiny; outside bodies and representational roles; and comparisons to the Council’s nearest neighbours. The Boundary Review Working Group had considered the information and recommended that the Council size should remain at 38 Councillors as it was currently.

67.3           The draft submission document had been sent to all Members, the Council’s Corporate Leadership Team, Heads of Service and the Local Government Boundary Commission for England for comment. A couple of minor comments had been made and the Commission had confirmed that the submission met its criteria. It now remained for the Council to agree whether or not it was happy with it. If the submission document was agreed by the Council it would be considered by the Commission on 20 December and the Council was likely to hear early in January what its view was. Once the submission was accepted, the Council would need to undertake a review of Wards which would be the more difficult part of the process.

67.4           Referring to housing numbers, some Members found it hard to see why they were so low. In response, the Head of Democratic Services explained that the building forecast being referred to had been put together by the Forward Planning team so she could not answer questions on specific sites herself; however, in order for a site to meet the Local Government Boundary Commission for England criteria it would have to be complete and have registered electors living in the properties by 2022. This meant that only sites that had planning consent and were being built had been included. She also indicated that the 2022 forecast may vary slightly when the final submission was made to the Commission dependant on a final check of the development sites, and the Wards they fell within, by the Forward Planning Team. In terms of the Joint Core Strategy, the Commission had been advised that this was ongoing and could result in a vastly different development outlook but it had advised that it was going to undertake the review now and if another review needed to be undertaken within ten years then so be it. In response to a query regarding transient residents, foreign nationals and those who were disinterested in registering to vote, the Head of Democratic Services reiterated that the Commission was only interested in the electorate; it was understood that this would change and that the information provided now was only a snapshot in time but this was what the Commission required.

67.5           Upon being proposed and seconded, it was

                  RESOLVED          That the Council’s submission to the Local Government                                      Boundary Commission for England on the future size of the                                    Council be APPROVED.