Issue - meetings

To determine the Council’s future policy on the funding of parish elections.

The Committee reviewed the Council’s policy on recharging for parish elections.

The practice of the three former district authorities had been to recharge the cost of by-elections but to bear the cost of all-out combined elections themselves.

The annual cost of parish by-elections could be around £40,000 a year, assuming 8 by-elections at an average cost of £5,000. 

In future, the Council and all parish councils would have all-out elections on the same day. If parish councils were recharged for all-out elections, the potential cost to parish councils would currently be approximately £200,000.

The current available budget for elections in Cheshire East was £498,000 and the implications of this proposal and how best to use this budget were still being assessed.

Members considered the relative merits of recharging or otherwise for by-elections and all-out elections. Members noted in particular the impact that recharging for all-out elections could have on parish council budgets and on participation in local democracy.

RESOLVED

That

(1)   the policy of recharging parish councils for parish by-elections be continued; and

(2)   the cost of all-out combined elections be not recharged to parish councils.