Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Electoral Matters Committee held on 22^nd October 2019 be approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Electoral Services Manager introduced a report on the subject of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England’s Preliminary Stage Boundary Review for Redditch.  Members were advised that at this stage the focus was on the size of the Council, or the total number of Councillors that there should be at Redditch Borough Council moving forward.  The Boundary Commission for England was paying for the review, so this process would be completed at no financial cost to the Council.  The subsequent stage of the process would focus on the location of the wards in the Borough and what these should be called.  The Electoral Matters Committee would again be consulted as part of that process.

The Senior Electoral Services Officer subsequently presented the report in detail and in doing so highlighted the following matters for Members’ consideration:

·                In preparing the Council’s submission, Officers had reviewed the governance arrangements in place at the Council and the existing number of Councillors and it was noted that there had been no changes made to these since 2002.

·                During the review process, Members had been invited to complete a survey and the responses provided had helped to inform the content of the submission.  In total, 18 Councillors had completed this survey.

·                In the feedback provided in the completed copies of this survey, Members had reported that technology was increasingly important as a tool for liaising with local residents and for resolving case work.

·                The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Council working practices, including Committee meeting arrangements, had been taken into account.  It had also been highlighted within the submission that the Council’s strategic purposes were in the process of being reviewed due to the impact of the pandemic.

·                There was an average electoral ratio of 2,199 electors per Councillor. However, three wards varied by more than 10% from this ratio: Abbey, Church Hill and Lodge Park.  West ward was also close to this point.  The Boundary Commission was clear that there should not be a variance over 10% and preferred variances to be less than 5%

·                Comparative data for other Councils in Worcestershire, in respect of the electoral ratio and numbers of Councillors, had been considered.  Members were asked to note that the Council had the smallest number of Councillors in Worcestershire, though both Malvern Hills District Council and Wychavon District Council were in the process of undertaking a boundary review.

·                Similarly, Redditch Borough Council had a lower number of Councillors compared to the authority’s nearest neighbours by population and other demographic data rather than geographic location.

·                Statistical information provided by Worcestershire County Council had been analysed during the review and, based on the data provided, no overall growth in the voting population in Redditch was anticipated.

·                Some anticipated changes in population by ward had been identified, based on information that had been provided by the Planning Department in respect of large planning applications.

·                The statistical information provided revealed that the number of young people living in the Borough was similar to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.