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 9^th August 2022 be approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Electoral Services Manager presented a report on the subject of the Council’s review of local polling districts and polling places.  Members were advised that this review was required following the changes that had been agreed to ward boundaries in the Borough.

As part of the review process, Officers were proposing that a working group, comprising a number of Members and Officers, should be established.  This working group would review local polling districts and the appropriate locations of polling places.  It was estimated that there would need to be three meetings of this working group in order to complete this work.  Officers were proposing that the outcomes of the working group’s review should be reported at a meeting of the Electoral Matters Committee and it was suggested that this meeting should take place on Tuesday 26^th September 2023.

Members were asked to note that the working group would not have any decision-making powers. Instead, the working group would investigate the appropriate location of polling stations in the various wards and report back to the main Electoral Matters Committee, which would make a final decision based on any recommendations from the group.  By convening an informal working group, meetings could be held in a more flexible manner, including through holding virtual meetings.  Should a working group not be established, the Electoral Matters Committee would need to hold significantly more meetings during the year and this would have resource implications for the Council.

At the first meeting of the working group Members would need to establish the parameters for the review.  The working group could also consult with a range of specialist officers on a number of important factors, including health and safety considerations.  Issues such as the accessibility of buildings as well as the size of venues needed to be taken into account when considering potential locations for polling stations.  There was the possibility that larger venues could accommodate more than one polling station and there would need to be space available that could be used as a private area in which residents’ ID could be checked prior to voting.

The availability of venues to be used as polling stations would need to be considered.  There was the potential that venues would need to be used for unscheduled elections, including by-elections and the general election which was due to occur at some point in the following 18 month period.  Members were asked to note that the Government was keen for Councils to make use of schools as polling places.

Should Members agree to establish the working group, the group would focus on the polling places in three different wards at each meeting.  The ward Councillors for the relevant polling districts would be invited to attend those meetings alongside the members of the working group.

Once the report had been presented, Members discussed the following points in detail:

·             The value of establishing a working group to review local polling districts and polling places, particularly in respect of the flexibility that this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.