Agenda item

Councillor Chapman introduced the report, and invited the officers and portfolio holder to offer any comments on it. 

J Doyle referred to the recent elections conducted by DBC; he said that all reports and feedback indicated that they were successfully completed, and that the process had been praised by all parties and their agents.  He was very pleased with the continual improvements in the way elections are conducted.  J Doyle confirmed he was happy to take any questions from the Committee that related to Democratic Services. 

Councillor Harden passed comment on the new counting process.  He said that in the past elections, members had expressed concerns to S Marshall and J Doyle about the slowness of the count, and the time taken for the result to be declared.  Because of this, the election team had completely changed the counting process, and had put in place a new system, which was operated during the most recent two elections.  Councillor Harden said that as a result of this the speed of the count was very much improved.  He was extremely encouraged by the team taking on members concerns, learning lessons on what did not work, and developing a new improved system.  Councillor Douris wished to endorse this comment, and added that he thought the recent elections had been excellent; He was sure that members of all parties would wish to endorse this. 

Councillor Silwal referred to pg 52 of the agenda pack, specifically the red Inherent Risk Score of ‘16’; he asked why this was so high? J Doyle said that the red was the impact if something were to go wrong with the election process.  He said that in this case, the financial penalties would be substantial, as well as significant reputational damage, if a mistake in the election process were occur.  J Doyle went on to emphasise that all the planning and execution of the recent elections meant that this had not been allowed to happen, however it was essential to highlight that if something were to go wrong, there would be significant consequences. 

Councillor Harden added that the current controls that had been put in place were what produced this risk score.  He said that there were 16 red warnings to highlight any potential risks.  J Doyle said that election planning meetings had been regularly conducted since January 2017, where the Senior Management Team went through the proposed election plan, and then met more and more frequently as the election approached, to ensure that the plan was being met.  He said that it was indicative of the strength of the plan that DBC were able to cope so well with the announcement of a snap parliamentary election. 

R McLean said that he would like to take the opportunity to formally record his thanks to J Doyle and the entire Democratic Services team for all their support during his mayoral year, both with the High Sheriff tours, and town and parish liaisons.  Although he was reticent to highlight individuals, he considered that particular thanks should be given to Sharon Collins. 

Councillor Douris referred to pg 48 of the agenda pack; the successfully defended Judicial Review (JR) claim relating to the proposed Berkhamsted Multi Storey Car Park.  He asked Councillor Elliot if we had received payment of these legal costs.  Councillor Elliot agreed to report back after the meeting 

Action Point: Councillor Elliot to confirm if awarded legal costs in respect of successful JR had been paid. 

Outcome: At the invitation of the Chairman, the Committee noted and agreed the contents of the Legal Governance and Democratic Services report for Quarter 4 2016/2017.