Issue - meetings
HISTON and IMPINGTON: Amendments to Electoral Arrangements
Meeting: 22/03/2012 - Electoral Arrangements Committee (Item 19)
19 HISTON & IMPINGTON: Grouping Order 
PDF 18 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Electoral Arrangements Committee NOTED that a South Cambridgeshire District (Parishes of Histon & Impington) Grouping Order 2012 was made on 13 February 2012 and would come into effect on 1 April 2012, with the remaining electoral changes coming into force on 3 May 2012.
Cllr Mike Mason briefed the Committee on events since the Order had been signed including:
· The first meeting of the new council would be held on 2 April 2012; it was anticipated that a small presentation would be made to commemorate the occasion
· The agenda and attachments for the first meeting would be sent to this council’s legal office
· Additional assistance from other parish councils had been sought to prepare a new constitution that would be formally adopted at the inaugural meeting
· Appointments of the Chair, Vice-Chair etc, banks, solicitors and signatories would also be made at the inaugural meeting
· An agreement would be reached with the auditors about how the two existing accounts would be closed in readiness for approval at the second meeting of the new council
· The two existing councils would attend meetings together in the month between the commencement of the Order and the May elections
· Everyone was invited to attend the first meeting of the new common parish council.
Meeting: 24/11/2011 - Council (Item 61)
The Electoral Arrangements Committee has been asked to RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL either:
(a) the making of a Grouping Order (as requested) in the terms of the Draft Order attached to this agenda; or
(b) the making of a Grouping Order in the terms of the Draft Order annexed subject to such amendments as the Committee recommends; or
(c) to direct that a full Community Governance Review under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 be undertaken, to set the remit for such review including the possible reduction of councillors from 26 to 19 and to defer any decision pending the outcome of that Review; or
(d) that no order be made thus retaining the status quo, i.e., two parishes served by two parish councils.
The Electoral Arrangements Committee meets on 21 November 2011 and all members are invited to attend the meeting. The recommendations of the Electoral Arrangements Committee will be reported orally to Council.
The full reports presented to the Electoral Arrangements Committee are available on the Council’s website, www.scambs.gov.uk/meetings, under the Electoral Arrangements Committee meeting of 21 November 2011. Hard copies will be made available by Democratic Services if requested no later than 48 hours before the Council meeting.
Decision:
Council RESOLVED:
(a) the making of a Grouping Order to group the Parish Councils of Histon and Impington; and
(b) to delegate to the Chairman of the Electoral Arrangements Committee, in consultation with officers and the two parish councils, to finalise the wording of the Grouping Order.
Minutes:
Councillor Edd Stonham, local member, declared a personal and prejudicial interest in this item as a member of Histon Parish Council who previously had discussed and voted on it at Parish Council level, and withdrew from the meeting room during its consideration.
Councillor Robert Turner, Electoral Arrangements Committee Chairman, stated that he took great pleasure in proposing the Committee’s recommendation, emphasising that the two parish councils were being amalgamated into one for more efficient administration for the benefit of all the residents. He commended the two parish councils for the comprehensive business case they had prepared in support of their request for amalgamation. Councillor Raymond Matthews seconded the motion.
Councillors Jonathan Chatfield and Mike Mason, local members, welcomed the motion and commended the parish councils’ significant local engagement with residents and number of consultation events undertaken throughout the process.
Council RESOLVED:
(a) the making of a Grouping Order to group the Parish Councils of Histon and Impington; and
(b) to delegate to the Chairman of the Electoral Arrangements Committee, in consultation with officers and the two parish councils, to finalise the wording of the Grouping Order.
Councillor Stonham returned to the meeting.
Meeting: 21/11/2011 - Electoral Arrangements Committee (Item 14)
14 HISTON and IMPINGTON: Amendments to Electoral Arrangements PDF 52 KB
Additional documents:
- Appendix A - Business Case XIII, item 14
PDF 3 MB
- Appendix B - Draft Grouping Order, item 14
PDF 38 KB
Decision:
The Electoral Arrangements Committee RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL the making of a Grouping Order.
Minutes:
The Senior Lawyer presented a resolution made by the Parish meetings of Histon and Impington to request South Cambridgeshire Council to pass an order under section 11 of the 1972 Local Government Act to group the Councils of Histon and Impington.
He stated that there was no intention to join the parishes themselves, just the parish councils and that this would be purely administrative. A consultation process had been undertaken by the Parish Councils incorporating leaflets, a website, publications in Histon and Impington News, and a market stall. At just under 10%, the response rate was disappointing, although those received came from a broad geographic area and were mostly in favour of the change.
Members noted that, though Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1972 was normally used in relation to smaller parishes and no other example of two large parishes coming together could be found, there was no reason the same guidance couldn’t be applied in this case. The key considerations were whether the grouping order would make for more efficient governance; whether the community identities of each parish would be retained; whether the proposal had sufficient local support; and whether the scale of change would merit opting for the alternative of a full community governance review.
The Chairman of the Committee outlined to Members details of his attendance at a preliminary meeting with the two parish councils and the Legal and Democratic Services Manager approximately 2 years ago when this proposal was in relatively early stages and a similar meeting this year with the parishes and the Senior Lawyer . He had also attended the public meeting organised by the parishes on this issue in an observational role, and at no time had given any views to Parish Councils as to the outcome of this request.
On the invitation of the Committee, the Chairman of Impington Parish Council Denis Payne and Chairman of Histon Parish Council Max Parish gave further representations on their reasons for the request. Members noted that this high level of support had not been observed previously, and neither Parish Council wanted to lose their identity or independence. Due to the same issues usually being discussed in both Council meetings, this grouping order would save time for Parish, District and County Councillors, and would also save money as the number of parish councillors would be reduced, along with a reduction in meetings.
Members felt that, owing to the considerable joint effort from Histon and Impington Parish Councils, the consultation was as all encompassing and comprehensive as possible, and a further community governance review was therefore unnecessary. An amended recommendation was proposed by Councillor Kindersley, and seconded by Councillor Turner to remove the words “in the terms of the Draft Order attached to this agenda” from Option (a) as further discussions needed to take place between officers and the parish councils on the wording of the order itself. A vote was held, and the Electoral Arrangements Committee RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL the making of a ... view the full minutes text for item 14