Agenda item

The Leader, Cllr Tindall, introduced the report and proposed the recommendations. 

Cllr Stevens seconded the recommendations on the following grounds;

The Boundary Commission requires Councils to determine the number of Councillors based on 3 criteria: submissions are required to show how these are met;

·         On Governance

·         Our representative roles

·         Discharge of our legal responsibilities

It is not a foregone conclusion that our recommendation for adopting an increase of 2 Councillors to 53 will be accepted. For the last Review in 2006 it reduced the number by 1 which is why we have 51 Councillors at present. Other Councils’ submissions have larger changes imposed.

In deciding ward sizes and changes to boundaries, this will be reviewed as Phase 2 during the summer, the Commission aims to limit deviation from the average Councillor/Elector ratio by +/- 10%

The last review was in 2006, so in the 16 years to 2022;

·         Numbers of electors increased by 6000 or only 6% to last FY 2022

·         Data from our Strategic Planning Team leads to a forecast in period to 2030 of an increase by another 12,000 or 10%

·         This implies around another 5 plus Councillors at similar elector/Councillor ratios.  The recommendation is for only +2 as;

·         Most of this increase will be in the central  Hemel Hempstead

·         The increases in other wards are relatively small over the coming years:  the recommendation should result in relatively minor changes to boundaries for a limited number of wards. This stability I think is important to strengthen community’s sense of place.

·         Although we looked at other size options, we were conscious that a much smaller membership could increase challenges to Committee workload and ability to properly represent our electors.

The submission sets out how our Governance roles are discharged in some detail with the numbers of committees, numbers of meetings and members needed to discharge our responsibilities.

Cllr Stevens expressed the committee’s thanks to our officers in steering us through this aspect of the Review in such a short period of time.

Cllr Stevens closed by advising, with the caveat that the Electoral Review Commission may have other suggestions, he proposes members adopt the 2 recommendations is set out in the Report.

Cllr Hannell spoke in support of the recommendations as follows;

As someone who has lived in Hemel Hempstead all their life, and who has no intention of living anywhere else, I have been privileged to sit on the electoral review committee, chaired by Councillor Stevens.

In May of last year I was elected onto a Council that had a healthy gender balance, not quite 50/50 but getting there, with a mix of citizens from different backgrounds, of all ages with different experiences. This combination makes for healthy, stimulating debates.

We were last reviewed by the Boundary Commission in 2005/06 and it is unlikely that we will be reviewed for another 15 years.

So tonight, we have the only opportunity in 35 years to reflect on Council numbers and decide what constitutes the right number for us, not just at present but in the future.

I reviewed 6 Councils who had recently gone through a Boundary Commission review. In total their electorate numbered almost two thirds of a million and they were represented by 273 Councillors to produce an average ratio of 1 Councillor for every 2442 electorate (1:2442).

However, on further analysis St Albans and Bracknell Forest Councils were more similar to our own in terms of an urban/rural mix. The ratio across these two Councils was just 1:2224

Under this recommendation the ratio will rise by 6% from the May 2023 figure of 1:2199 to a forecasted ratio in 2030 of 1:2344 but if we leave the number at 51 that rise will be 10.75% to a ratio of 1:2436.

Our constituents rightly expect a service from us their elected representatives. Emails and social media give them direct access to their Councillors. The aftermath of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis has left communities experiencing economic and social challenges. There has also been an increase in constituents and their families experiencing poor mental and physical health.

An ambitious and much needed house building plan will see a forecast rise in our electorate, particularly in central Hemel Hempstead and that will place a disproportionate burden on Councillors elected there.

Servicing our electorate through casework takes time and we should want to protect this mixture of citizens moving forward. To do that, we need to keep that ratio in check to allow those of us elected to not get overwhelmed and become less efficient and more importantly to encourage new citizens of all backgrounds to seek election without feeling that they too would be weighed down by an unreasonable workload.

Decision:  The recommendations as set out in the report were unanimously agreed.