Meeting documents

15.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST, IF ANY

No declarations were made at the meeting.

16.

ELECTORAL REVIEW – PROPOSALS FOR NEW WARD BOUNDARIES

The Committee considered a report which gave background information on the current stage of the Electoral Review of Doncaster being carried out by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE).  It was noted that the LGBCE was now considering new ward boundaries to accommodate the proposed reduced number of Councillors (54) which had been recommended by the LGBCE in the first part of its Review.  To this end, the LGBCE was carrying out a public consultation exercise to gather information and receive submissions of draft warding proposals from interested parties.  The Council’s Cross-Party Working Group had been holding meetings to draw up draft warding proposals for consideration and subsequent recommendation by this Committee to the Full Council, details of which were tabled at the meeting (see Appendix to these minutes).

The Chair, Councillor Moira Hood explained that she was a member of the Cross-Party Working Group, which had met 6 times over a number of weeks to consider the future warding arrangements in the Borough.  She stated that at the Working Group’s most recent meeting held earlier that same afternoon, an alternative proposal, comprising 27 wards with 2 Councillors in each, had been presented by the Conservative Group.  This had been put in front of the Working Group after the Working Group had already developed what it considered to be its one main submission on proposed warding arrangements for consideration by this Committee.  She stressed that the Conservative Group had not shared its proposals until today with the Working Group.  The Committee was informed that the Working Group had concluded that the proposal submitted by the Conservative Group had not been fully developed for necessary detailed consideration by the Working Group and there was insufficient time for additional work on the proposal to be carried out in advance of this Committee meeting.

Councillor Phil Cole then gave a summary of the draft warding proposals prepared by the Working Group, describing each new ward in turn and explaining the reasoning behind the proposed new boundaries. 

With regard to the Thorne ward, which under the new proposals would be a ward with 2 Councillors and a forecasted electorate of 9469, Councillor Cole explained that there was an argument for having a Thorne Moorends ward, but he explained that the Working Group had noted that it was difficult to create a 3 Member ward covering that area, which was not excessively large.  He stressed that the Working Group had reluctantly acknowledged that the division between Thorne and Moorends was an unfortunate necessity in order to achieve a ‘best fit’ and meet the criteria set down by the LGBCE.

Discussion followed, during which Councillor Martin Williams expressed concern over the proposed reduction in size of the Thorne ward.  He felt that the Working Group should have given greater consideration to alternative options such as removing the proposed Roman Ridge ward rather than reducing the Thorne ward in size.  In registering his objection to the proposals put forward by the Working Group, Councillor Williams felt that it was a shame that the strong historical connection between Thorne and Moorends could not be reflected in the plans.

It was explained that the proposals drawn up by the Working Group had necessitated compromises being made by all sides, and it was pointed out that all Members had had an opportunity to feed their comments into the Working Group via their respective representatives on the Group.

With regard to the timeframe for the process, the Officers advised that the LGBCE would consult on its draft recommendations from 13th May – 28th July 2014, with a final decision being made on 28th November 2014.  [Note:  Following this meeting, the LGBCE advised that it would delay the start of its consultation period by 2 weeks to avoid the date of the Borough Council and European Elections on 22nd May 2014.]

It was then proposed by Councillor Hilary McNamee, seconded by Councillor Nuala Fennelly, that the draft warding proposals submitted by the Cross-Party Working Group and tabled at the meeting be endorsed and recommended to the Full Council for approval.  On being put to the vote, with 7 Members voting for, 1 against, the proposition was carried.  Note:  Councillor Martin Williams asked that his objection to the proposal be recorded.

Following the vote, the Assistant Director of Legal and Democratic Services clarified that, in addition to the recommendation from this Committee, further warding proposals could be considered by the Full Council at its meeting on 30 January if these were put forward.

After Members of the Working Group had thanked the Officers who had supported the Group in its work, it was

            RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO THE COUNCIL that the draft warding proposals submitted by the Cross-Party Working Group, as set out in the Appendix to these minutes, be supported.

Ward N

Map Ref

No. of Cllrs Proposed

Electorate 19

Electorate Per Cllr

Variance

Broad Area/Name

Comment

1

a

3

12362

4120.7

-2.8%

Conisbrough & Denaby

Passes Threshold

2

b

3

13101

4367.0

3.0%

Edlington & Warmsworth

Passes Threshold

3

c

1

4512

4512.0

6.5%

Tickhill

Passes Threshold

4

d

3

12924

4308.0

1.7%

Rossington & Bawtry

Passes Threshold

5

e

3

12861

4287.0

1.2%

Finningley

Passes Threshold

6

f

3

12048

4016.0

-5.2%

Hatfield

Passes Threshold

7

g

2

9469

4734.5

11.7%

Thorne

Over threshold (distinct community)

8

h

2

8612

4306.0

1.6%

Sprotbrough & Barnburghⁱⁱⁱ

Passes Threshold

9

i

3

11833

3944.3

-6.9%

Brodsworth Grangeⁱ

Passes Threshold

10

j

3

12161

4053.7

-4.3%

Bentley^iv

Passes Threshold

11

k

3

11684

3894.7

-8.1%

Bessacarr

Passes Threshold

12

l

3

11232

3744.0

-11.7%

Armthorpe

Under threshold (distinct community)

13

m

3

12761

4253.7

0.4%

Mexborough & Dearneⁱⁱⁱ

Passes Threshold

14

n

3

12141

4047.0

-4.5%

Barnsdaleⁱ

Passes Threshold

15

o

3

11866

3955.3

-6.7%

Kirk Sandall, Edenthorpe & Barnby Dun

Passes Threshold

16

p

3

13605

4535.0

7.0%

Balby

Passes Threshold

17

q

3

13918

4639.3

9.5%

Townⁱⁱ

Passes Threshold

18

r

3

13885

4628.3

9.2%

Greater Wheatleyⁱⁱ

Passes Threshold

19

s

2

8574

4287.0

1.2%

Roman Ridge^iv

Passes Threshold

20

t

2

9291

4645.5

9.6%

Stainforth & Moorends

Passes Threshold

54

228840

NOTES

ⁱ OD Split 659 into ward 9 and 860 into ward 14 * OE Split 590 into ward 14 and 218 into ward 9

ⁱⁱ DA Split 989 into ward 17 and 1324 into Ward 18

ⁱⁱⁱ TB Split 857 Into ward 8 and 747 in ward 13

^iv MC Split 657 into ward 10 and 1175 into ward 19