Issue - meetings

Report by Assistant Chief Executive

4.1       The Committee considered a report by the Assistant Chief Executive in relation to the County Council’s submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England in respect of the review of East Sussex County Council electoral boundaries

4.2       The Committee RESOLVED - to approve the County Council’s response to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England’s proposals for East Sussex County Council electoral divisions as set out in the appendix to the report subject to the proposed county electoral division of Hartfield being named Forest Row and Groombridge

Report by Assistant Chief Executive

37.1     The Committee considered a report by the Assistant Chief Executive regarding the Council’s submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England in respect of the review of East Sussex County Council electoral boundaries

37.2     The Committee noted that the LGBCE hadagreed to an extension of the deadline to 12 July but with consequential effects. These are:

·         The extension does not apply to the Borough and District Councils

·         It will delay the Commission’s consideration of the Council’s submission from August to September; this in turn will constrain the Commission’s ability to allow for any further draft recommendations for the County Council should that facility be needed. Should this need occur, the Council  would miss the opportunity to use the new boundaries at the 2017 election

·         The LGBCE have requested a copy of the Council’s draft submission ahead of 12 July submission date, preferably around the close of consultation for the districts and boroughs on 16 June. This draft submission would therefore need to be approved by mid-June.

37.3     In light of this and in order not to delay the process and to ensure that this is dealt with in an efficient manner, it was proposed that the LGBCE be informed that the Council will meet the 16 June deadline. In order to achieve this it is proposed that:

·         any County Councillor who wishes to make specific comments for inclusion in the County Council’s submission is requested to liaise with Member Services officers as soon as practicable, and at the latest by 26 May 2016 to enable responses to be considered;

·         the cross party Boundary Review Reference Group be requested to meet and consider areas where the LGBCE proposals differ from the County Council’s submission

·         the County Council delegates authority to the Governance Committee to consider all proposed amendments from County Councillors and the Boundary Review Reference Group and agree the Council’s final submission to the LGBCE

37.4     The Committee RESOLVED - to recommend the County Council to delegate authority to the Governance Committee to agree the Council’s response to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England’s review of East Sussex County Council boundaries

Report by Assistant Chief Executive

24.1     The Committee considered a report by the Assistant Chief Executive regarding the Council’s submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England on county electoral division boundaries

24.2     The Committee RESOLVED to recommend the County Council to agree the submission attached as Appendix 1 as the Council’s submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England on county electoral boundaries for each of the district and borough areas of East Sussex.

Report by Assistant Chief Executive

4.1       The Committee considered a report by the Assistant Chief Executive which outlined a draft response of the County Council to the initial phase of the electoral review of East Sussex currently being undertaken by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE).

4.2       The Committee RESOLVED to:

1)         recommend the County Council to recommend to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) that:

a) The report and evidence on current and future member roles at Appendix 1 be agreed as the draft County Council’s submission to the LGBCE.

b) The current number of members on the County Council should remain unchanged at 49 whilst also maintaining the current number of county councillors in each of the five districts and boroughs.

c) If there is an absolute need to change the size of the Council (for example to address electoral inequalities that cannot be resolved by any other means) then the number of councillors in Hastings and/or Rother should not be reduced; instead, a marginal increase in council size to 50 would be acceptable.

d) There should, as a matter of principle, be a consistent picture of (49) single-member county electoral divisions across the county with no multi-member divisions.

e) There should be coterminosity between county electoral division and district/borough ward boundaries; under no circumstances should any county electoral division straddle a district or borough boundary.

2)         authorise the Assistant Chief Executive to produce the final version of the submission on Council size to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England taking into account any additional information requested by the Commission.