Agenda item

Report of the Leader of the Council

The Council received a report by the Leader of the Council in respect of the proposed draft Stage 1 submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) consultation on a pattern of divisions for Staffordshire County Council.  He also circulated to members copies of the following representations which had been received since the draft submission had been circulated to Members and were not therefore taken account of in that submission:

• Letter dated 4 February 2011 from Paul Farrelly MP.

• E-mail dated 7 February 2011 from Mr. S. Winterflood, Chief Executive, South Staffordshire Council.

• Letter dated 4 February 2011 from the Clerk to Brereton and Ravenhill Parish Council.

• Proposals submitted by the Conservative Group on the County Council.

The Leader of the Council expressed his thanks to those members of staff who had been involved in preparing the draft submission to the Commission and also to those elected members who had engaged in the consultation process which had helped to formulate the Council’s proposed submission.

Mrs. Perry and Mr. Lawrence stressed the need to retain Cheslyn Hay/Essington as a dual member division as, in their opinion, it was not possible to find an acceptable way of dividing the Division into two single member divisions.

Mr Locke indicated that he supported the proposal for the Kidsgrove and Talke dual member division to be split into two single member divisions but that he was of the view that the proposed Talke Division should not encompass Red Street.

Mr. Reade referred to the representations that had been received from the Chief Executive of South Staffordshire Council and indicated that half of Penn Common already fell within the Kinver County Electoral Division.

RESOLVED – (a) That the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, be authorised to make any necessary amendments to the draft response to reflect Members’ views, as set out below, and to then forward the response to the LGBCE by the deadline of 21 February 2011:

(i) That Cheslyn Hay, Featherstone, Essington and Great Wyrley be a dual member division as it is considered that keeping communities intact is important compared to numbers of electors.

(ii) That in Stafford Borough:

The total number of electors transferred in 2010 under the above proposals is 3,087 compared to 10,250 in the County Council’s published proposals. This lower level, 69.88% lower, is less radical and therefore should be looked on more favourably by the LGBCE.

(b) The officers are thanked for their work on reducing electoral variances but it is considered that keeping communities intact is also important compared to numbers of electors. However, despite that, the Staffordshire County Council’s submission, including the above amendments, still results in a substantial reduction in the number of divisions lying outside the “10% of average” guideline.