Agenda item

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 the Democratic Services and Elections Manager, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, be authorised to make such minor alterations to improve the clarity of the draft Submission document as they may determine.”

The proposed alteration to the motion was put to the vote and was carried. Under the Remote Meetings Protocol, a roll call was taken to record the vote on the proposed alteration, the results of which were 21 councillors voting in favour, 7 against, and 18 abstentions, as follows:

The motion, as altered, therefore became the substantive motion for debate.

Following the debate on the substantive motion, Councillor Ramsey Nagaty proposed, and Councillor Tony Rooth seconded, the following amendment:

“That the Council refers this matter for further consideration by the Corporate Governance Task Group on Monday 14 December 2020 for the purpose of:

(a)   giving further consideration to the requirements of the review generally and in particular to that referred to on pages 137-138, 146, and 154 of the agenda

(b)   reviewing the contents of the Council Size Submission

(c)   consideration of the forecast increase in electorate by 2026

and reference back to an extraordinary (virtual) meeting of the Council on Thursday 17 December for final approval of the Council Size Submission”.

Following the debate on the amendment, it was put to the vote and was carried. Under the Remote Meetings Protocol, a roll call was taken to record the vote on the amendment, the results of which were 32 councillors voting in favour, 8 against, and 6 abstentions, as follows:

Following the vote on the amendment, the Council

RESOLVED: That the Council refers this matter for further consideration by the Corporate Governance Task Group on Monday 14 December 2020 for the purpose of:

(a)   giving further consideration to the requirements of the review generally and in particular to that referred to on pages 137-138, 146, and 154 of the agenda

(b)   reviewing the contents of the Council Size Submission

(c)   consideration of the forecast increase in electorate by 2026

and reference back to an extraordinary (virtual) meeting of the Council on Thursday 17 December for final approval of the Council Size Submission.

Under the Remote Meetings Protocol, a roll call was taken to record the vote on the substantive motion, as amended, the results of which were 31 councillors voting in favour, 8 against, and 7 abstentions, as follows: