Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Jonathan Goodrum, Senior Governance Officer. Tel. 01302 736709 

Items
No. Item

5.

Declarations of Interest, if any.

Minutes:

There were no declarations made at the meeting.

6.

Minutes of the Elections and Democratic Structures Committee Meeting held on 11th July, 2017 pdf icon PDF 51 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Elections and Democratic Structures Committee held on 11 July, 2017, be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

7.

Doncaster Devolution Community Poll pdf icon PDF 172 KB

Minutes:

The Committee received a report, which updated Members on the ‘Community Poll’ taking place to seek the views of the Doncaster Electorate about the next stages in Devolution proposals. 

 

In presenting the report, the Monitoring Officer reported that following the extraordinary Council meeting on Thursday, 9th November, 2017, Council had agreed that Doncaster Council would hold a Community Poll in December, seeking the views of Doncaster’s electorate as to whether they would prefer Doncaster to pursue a Devolution deal based upon either a Wider Yorkshire area or upon the Sheffield City Region arrangement.  The Local Government Act 2003 provides that Councils can carry out a Community Poll of their inhabitants on issues regarding the delivery of services. The Act provides that the Returning Officer of the Council can decide the means used to take the views of its residents.  It was noted that whilst the results of the poll are not legally binding, the Council has agreed to do its best to respect the outcome of the Poll.

 

The Monitoring Officer advised that for reasons of efficiency, costs and practicalities, the Council was to carry out a postal vote exercise to those persons registered on the electoral roll, who would receive a voting pack in the first week of December, comprising of an introductory letter from the Mayor, a leaflet providing information about both devolution options, a ballot paper and a return envelope. People would be given the option to either complete returns on-line or by post. There will be no polling stations utilised for this Poll. The ballot paper would be marked with a unique identifyingcode for security purposes, but would not require the voter’s signature.  It was noted that the cost of the community poll was estimated to be in the region of £120,000, which would include costs for postage and printing.  Costs may vary, dependent upon the number of postal vote returns. There is a significant saving if voters use the on-line option.  It was explained that the higher the turnout the more expensive it would be.

 

It was further reported that the election process is to be carried out by the Electoral Reform Services (ERS).  ERS are leading experts in this area and have previously carried out devolution ballots in other local authorities. The Council’s internal Electoral Services Team would not be involved to a great extent, but would provide ERS with data, deal with the more complicated telephone enquiries and provide general support to the process.  It was further reported that postal vote returns would go directly to an ERS address, were they are opened securely and then scanned and the scanner reads the results.  ERS have given an undertaking to turn around the postal vote results within 24 hours when the poll closes on 1200 noon on 20th December 2017.

 

Discussion followed, during which the Electoral Services Manager and Monitoring Officer responded to various questions from Members and clarification was provided in respect of the following issues:-

 

8.

Annual Canvass Update pdf icon PDF 161 KB

Minutes:

The Electoral Services Manager submitted a report, which provided an update on a number of key work streams being undertaken by the Electoral Services Team, in relation to the Register of Electors Annual Canvass.

 

The Electoral Services Manager summarised the key points in the report and tabled for Members’ information, an updated copy of Appendix A to the report, which provided a breakdown of the Household Enquiry Forms (HEF) by return method in comparison to 2015 and 2016.  It was explained that the HEFs were sent out to the property and not the electors.  Members noted that at the start of the canvass, HEFs had been sent out to approximately 137,000 properties. Of the first letters that were sent out, there had been a 57% response rate from households, which were either responded to on-line, by phone, by text and by post.  It was noted that further to the second reminder being sent out, a good response was received.  A third reminder was subsequently sent out to chase up responses from those properties which hadn’t responded. The Electoral Services Team employed canvass staff  to visit properties to try and obtain a response. In addition to visiting properties they were also contacting people by telephone and social media and the One Stop Shop, the Councils Contact Centre and Council Tax departments were also trying to obtain a response when a member of the public contacted them.

 

It was reported that throughout the canvass, it had resulted in 13,073 people being sent an invitation to register, (ITR) form and the Council had obtained new people that had since been added to the register.  The Electoral Services Manager explained that these people had either moved or had reached the age of 18, 16-17 year old attainder’s, or people who had moved into the Borough that hadn’t completed the HEF s on line automatically.  It was further reported that the Council was currently investigating 7,712 electors on the register to identify if they may had been duplicated, due to a change of name.  It was reported that the Electoral Services Team endeavoured to encourage people to respond to the HEFs.

 

The Electoral Services Manager then outlined the activities taking place to help increase the response to the annual canvass and increase the number of electors on the register which included telephone canvassing, dedicated personal visits to care homes and HMO’s, targeting hard to reach/unapproachable areas, working with schools and colleges and social media.  It was noted that the annual canvass would end this week and the annual electoral register would be published on 1st December, 2017.

 

In referring to the statistics, Members were pleased to note that the total percentage return rate had increased from 71.58% in 2015 to 82.87% in 2016.  The Electoral Services Manager reported that Doncaster was currently at the same response rate to that of last year’s figures, with an additional £2,500 properties been added to the register and she hoped that this would increase up to another 5% once  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Elections/By-Elections Update pdf icon PDF 157 KB

Minutes:

Members received a report, introduced by the Electoral Services Manager, which provided an update on recent Elections that had taken place since the last meeting of the Committee, in relation to Thorne Moorends Town Council, held on 13th July, 2017.

 

A by-election was held in the Thorne Town ward on 13th July 2017, as a result of a casual vacancy occurring due to the death of Town Councillor.  It was reported that out of 9,261 eligible electors to vote in the Thorne Town ward election, 1,498 electors cast their vote, marking a turnout of 16.18%

 

In addition, a further vacancy had recently occurred due to a Councillor resigning and it was not called by electors for the vacancy to be filled by an election.  Therefore, on the 6th November 2017 the Clerk was notified to arrange for the casual vacancy to be filled by co-option.

 

The Electoral Services Manager reported that currently there were two casual vacancies that had been advertised in Bawtry Town Council, which was due to close on 7th December and Cantley with Branton Parish, Council which was due to close on 5th December.

 

A short question and answer session followed seeking points of clarification on matters referred to in the report.  Members noted that the costs for Parish/Town Councils elections were paid for by Parish/Town Councils.  The costs varied and were dependent upon the number of electors, postal vote electors and the number of polling stations required.  The next all out Parish Council elections were to take place in 2021, which would coincide with the Mayoral and Borough elections.

 

RESOLVED that the report on the Elections/By-Elections update, be noted.

10.

Boundary Commission Parliamentary Constituency Boundary Review 2018 - Revised Proposals pdf icon PDF 167 KB

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report, presented by the Electoral Services Manager, which provided an update on the revised proposals for new 2018 Parliamentary constituency boundaries for Doncaster.  The Electoral Services Manager reported that she had sent an email to Members regarding the revised proposals. 

 

The Electoral Services Manager summarised the key points within the report and drew Members’ attention to the Boundary Commission’s revised proposals for the new Parliamentary constituency boundaries, which were set out in paragraphs 7 to 9 of the report.  The Electoral Services Manager explained that the figures in the report were based on 2015’s electorate.  It was noted that consultation on the Boundary Commissions revised proposals was to take place from 17th October to 11th December 2017.  A detailed copy of the report in relation to the revised proposals could be accessed via the Boundary Commissions website, as set out within paragraph 11 of the report.  It was reported that the Boundary Commission have received responses to the proposals from Councillors, members of the public, and MP’s and those comments have been taken on board.  New Mappings of the ward boundaries were available to view at the Council’s One Stop Shop.

 

During discussion on this item, a Member sought confirmation of when the revised proposals would come into effect.  It was noted that the next cycle of Parliamentary elections was 2022 and the proposals for new 2018 Parliamentary constituency boundaries were currently out for consultation.  When the boundaries were finalised, they would be presented to Parliament for endorsement prior to implementation.

 

Members discussed the revisions to the Parliamentary boundaries and the consequence of the Dearne South ward being moved from the Borough of Barnsley to the Doncaster North constituency. Whilst it was felt that the proposals were an improvement on the initial proposed constituencies, Members raised some concern regarding communities from a neighbouring Borough being divided and transferred to another area.  Members discussed the implications for Doncaster and how this would impact on the election process in terms of verification and the counting of ballot papers.

 

RESOLVED that the report, be noted.