Issue - meetings

Please find attached an e-mail from the Boundary Commission to the Council regarding the consultation on the review, which ends on 19 January 2015. Also attached is data from the Boundary Commission website giving details of the greatest variances in the current wards and the methodology used to determine the population figures.

The Committee are invited to submit a response on the following five points.

·         The total number of councillors elected to the council in the future.

·         The number of divisions.

·         The number of councillors representing each division.

·         Division boundaries.

·         Names of divisions.

The Civic Affairs Committee AGREED to submit a response to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England on the boundary review of Cambridgeshire, highlighting the following issues:

(a)        The Committee strongly disagreed with the housing permissions and allocations included in the elections forecasts for South Cambridgeshire.

(b)        The Committee expressed its disappointment at the inaccurate record of parish electorates by individual parish, particularly regarding Parish Council size.

(c)        The Committee asked that the principle of protecting the identities of local communities was considered very carefully as part of the boundary review.

Andrew Francis, Electoral Services Manager, presented details of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England’s review of Cambridgeshire County Council.  It was noted that the 12 week public consultation inviting proposals for new electoral arrangements closed on 19 January 2015, so the Civic Affairs Committee was invited to submit a response to the consultation on behalf of South Cambridgeshire District Council.

Members made the following points during discussion:

·         the housing permissions and allocations included in the electoral forecasts for South Cambridgeshire District Council were inaccurate and did not reflect planned new developments, particularly the growth figures for Northstowe which had been incorrectly split between Longstanton and Oakington;

·         there were a number of errors in the data for Parish Council sizes across the District, with Barrington, Girton and Melbourn cited at the meeting as examples.  It was apparent, however, that many of the Parish sizes were incorrect in the document and there were also cases where Parishes had been identified as consisting of one Parish Councillor when in fact they had Parish Meetings in place.  Mr Francis emphasised that this document had not been produced by South Cambridgeshire District Council and that his Elections Team had not been contacted or requested to provide any information as part of its production;

·         Members noted that protecting the identities of local communities was one of the central aims of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England and the Committee supported that principle.  It was agreed that this should be reflected within the Committee’s response, together with a request that this issue be considered  very carefully as part of the boundary review.

The Civic Affairs Committee unanimously AGREED to submit a response to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England on the boundary review of Cambridgeshire, highlighting the following issues:

(a)        The Committee strongly disagreed with the housing permissions and allocations included in the elections forecasts for South Cambridgeshire.

(b)        The Committee expressed its disappointment at the inaccurate record of parish electorates by individual parish, particularly regarding Parish Council size.

(c)        The Committee asked that the principle of protecting the identities of local communities was considered very carefully as part of the boundary review.

On 23 September, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England are scheduled to commence consultation on new electoral arrangements for Cambridgeshire County Council. The review will address council size along with numbers and boundaries of new divisions. The consultation is scheduled to end on 1 December 2014.

Andrew Francis, Electoral Services Manager, provided Members with an update on an electoral review of Cambridgeshire County Council that had recently commenced.

A formal consultation process would be undertaken in due course, with implementation of any changes planned for 2017.

The population figures for Cambridgeshire as part of this review would include the projected population in the county up to 2020, which took into account windfall sites, developments identified in the Local Plan and associated phasing.

The Civic Affairs Committee NOTED the update.