Issue - meetings

The Council noted that the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) had given notice that it would be undertaking an electoral review of the Council in its 2020-21 programme. The LGBCE intended to carry out electoral reviews of all English local authorities that had not been reviewed in twelve or more years. Guildford was last reviewed in 1998.

The purpose of an electoral review was to consider the total number of councillors elected to the council, the names, number and boundaries of the wards, and the number of councillors to be elected to each ward.

The Council considered a report which summarised the process for the review, the first stage of which was an invitation from the LGBCE to make a Council Size Submission, that is the total number of councillors to be elected to the Council.  The LGBCE would consider all submissions received and decide on the Council Size number for the purpose of the second stage of the review (warding patterns) by considering three broad areas:

·       The governance arrangements of the Council and how it takes decisions across the broad range of its responsibilities.

·       The Council’s scrutiny functions relating to its own decision making and the council’s responsibilities to outside bodies.

·       The representational role of councillors in the local community and how they engage with people, conduct casework and represent the council on local partner organisations.

The LGBCE emphasised that any submission to them on council size (whether for an increase, reduction or maintaining current arrangements), should ensure that it addressed these areas and that the view on council size is backed up by evidence.

A copy of the draft Submission, which proposed a small reduction in the number of councillors to 44, was appended to the report.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Joss Bigmore proposed, and the Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Caroline Reeves seconded the following motion:

“That the Council Size Submission, attached as Appendix 2 to the report submitted to the Council, and its stated preference for a Council size of 44 Councillors, be approved and presented to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE). “

Under Council Procedure Rule 15 (o), Councillor Bigmore as the mover of the original motion, indicated that, with the consent of his seconder and of the meeting, he wished to alter his motion so that it read as follows (changes shown in italics):

“(1)   That, subject to paragraph (2) below, the Council Size Submission, attached as Appendix 2 to the report submitted to the Council, and its stated preference for a Council size of 44 Councillors, be approved and presented to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE), subject to the inclusion of the following amendment to Part 5 of the Submission (Local Authority Profile) on page 165 of the agenda:

“Guildford town centre is a principal regional shopping centre, with a vibrant night-time economy, and is the only town in Surrey to be awarded Purple Flag status”.

(2)  That  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51