Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Monkfield Room, First Floor. View directions

Contact: Patrick Adams (Agenda) Graham Watts (Minutes)  03450 450 500 Email: democratic.services@scambs.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

To receive Apologies for Absence from Committee members.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Raymond Matthews and Deborah Roberts.  Councillor Kevin Cuffley was appointed as  Councillor Matthews’ substitute for this meeting.

2.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made.

3.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 65 KB

To authorise the Chairman to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2015 as a correct record.

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 10 September 2015 were confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

4.

Consideration of Moving to All-out Elections pdf icon PDF 118 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Civic Affairs Committee:

 

(a)        RECOMMENDED to Council that it should resolve to move from elections by thirds to all-out elections with effect from the ordinary day of elections in May 2018.

 

(b)        RECOMMENDED to Council that it makes an order to change the ordinary day of elections for parishes in the district so that they all elect Councillors in 2018 and every four years thereafter.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which asked the Civic Affairs Committee whether it wished to make a recommendation to Council on moving to all-out elections.

 

The Chairman introduced the item and asked for Members’ views on whether a recommendation should be submitted to the Council in respect of moving to all-out elections or retaining the existing arrangement of elections by thirds.  The following comments were noted:

 

·         comments received as part of the consultation with Parish Councils were very helpful and should be used to inform the Council’s responses to later stages of the electoral review;

·         there was nothing wrong with the existing arrangements and maintaining the status quo should be considered, especially if no significant advantages could be identified by reverting to all-out elections;

·         guidance received from the Boundary Commission had stated that retaining elections by thirds would very likely result in the introduction of three Member wards across the district, therefore, maintaining the status quo may not be possible.  This would have a detrimental impact on some of South Cambridgeshire’s smaller communities.  In that perspective it made sense to recommend all-out elections in order that there could be a mix of one, two and three Member wards where necessary;

·         all-out elections would be cheaper for the District Council and Parish Councils to facilitate;

·         Peterborough City Council had recently achieved introducing elections by thirds but without the necessity for three Member wards, which was contrary to the guidance received by the Boundary Commission.  It was noted that this may be due to the fact that Peterborough City Council was a unitary authority. 

 

With 9 votes for and 1 vote against, the Civic Affairs Committee RECOMMENDED to Council that it should resolve to move from elections by thirds to all-out elections with effect from the ordinary day of elections in May 2018.

 

The Civic Affairs Committee unanimously RECOMMENDED to Council that it makes an order to change the ordinary day of elections for parishes in the district so that they all elect Councillors in 2018 and every four years thereafter.

5.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Civic Affairs Committee is scheduled for Thursday 12 November at 10am.

Minutes:

It was NOTED that the next meeting of the Civic Affairs Committee would be held on 12 November 2015 at 11.00 a.m.