Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Gemma Monaco.

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 Monday 18^th October 2021 be approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chair.

As Councillor Aled Evans was running late, at this point, there was a brief adjournment of the meeting between 17:02 and 17:11.

The Electoral Services Manager introduced a report on the subject of Polling Place Changes for May 2022 in Winyates Ward. Members were advised that due to time constraints there would not be sufficient time to complete all of the stages of a full consultation. However, it was confirmed that voters within Winyates Ward would be consulted on their voting preference for future polling.

During consideration of the report the following was highlighted for Members’ consideration:

•         That Relevant Authorities (such as Redditch Borough Council) must ensure that any polling places were accessible to all electors including those who were disabled and members of minority or disadvantaged groups. In addition to this it was important to consider any Climate Change implications and to minimise unnecessary additional journeys by motorised vehicles.

•         Several alternative sites had been suggested to officers including “The Link” Office, “The Space” Unit and the old Winyates Locality Office. In addition to these sites, the Arrow Valley Visitors Centre had also been suggested as a potential venue however was not considered a possibility as its location is a long distance from the residential area of the polling district and would be difficult for electors to get to.

•         Polling District WIA could use “The Space” Unit provided the leak in the roof of the unit could be located and repaired in time for the May 2022 elections. Officers were unable to confirm whether this leak could be identified and rectified in time for the May 2022 elections. In addition to this, there was the risk that, if there had been particularly heavy rain the day before the elections this could significantly impact on the state of the roof and cause further damage to the hanging ceiling which had already suffered a collapse of several of the ceiling tiles.  It was further noted that should adverse weather experienced on the day of the elections any repairs would not be able to be undertaken and fixed on that day. All of these situations could potentially lead to lower confidence levels for the electors within the polling district. It was confirmed that “The Link” would work as a polling place for Polling District WIB however residents would have to cross over a bus lane to access this site. Officers reported that should a snap general election be called neither of the above sites would be suitable and the polling places would have to revert to being located within the two schools currently used. 

Following presentation of the report Members discussed a number of points in detail:

•         Whether the Council was legally obligated to move the polling places if requested – It was confirmed by officers that there was no legal obligation to move the polling places however officers always took note of any requests by the Local Education Authority or schools regarding polling places and these were brought  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.