Issue - meetings

To consider a proposal to recommend to Council that the final decision concerning the outcome of the Polling Districts and Polling Places Review be delegated to the Constitution Committee at its meeting on 17^th November 2011.

The Committee considered a proposal to recommend to Council that the final decision concerning the outcome of the Polling Districts and Polling Places Review be delegated to the Constitution Committee at its meeting on 17^th November 2011.

The Electoral Administration Act 2006 had introduced a statutory duty for local authorities to carry out a review of their parliamentary Polling Districts and Polling Places by 31^st December 2007, and at least every four years thereafter. The Committee had appointed a Sub-Committee with delegated powers to undertake the Review and report back to the Committee with final recommendations.

The timetable for the review indicated that the final decision needed to be made by the full Council in accordance with the requirements of the Council’s constitution. The final decision also needed to be made before the 1^st December 2011 in order to meet the statutory timescale for the review. To meet the timescale, a special Council meeting would therefore need to be convened. The most likely date for such a meeting would be 18^th November 2011. However, it was now apparent that there would be no other items of business requiring decision at such a meeting. It was therefore suggested that Council could be asked to  delegate the final decision on the review to the Constitution Committee at its scheduled meeting on 17^th November 2011, thereby removing the need for a Special Council meeting.

RESOLVED

That Council be recommended to agree that the final decision concerning the outcome of the Polling Districts and Polling Places Review be delegated to the Constitution Committee at its meeting on 17^th November 2011, thereby removing the need for a Special Council meeting to be convened on 18^th November 2011.