Agenda item

The Council received a report on a request from Windlesham Parish Council (WPC) to conduct a Community Governance Review in order to re-instate an equal number of councillors representing each village in the parish area. WPC had passed a motion at its meeting on 27 November 2019 requesting this review.

In 2016-17 the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) had carried out an electoral review of Surrey Heath Borough and provided revised electoral arrangements for the borough, to be effective from May 2019. These arrangements included alterations to boundaries between Bagshot and Windlesham wards, with 550 households moving from Windlesham ward to Bagshot ward.

As a consequence of the borough review, the LGBCE had provided revised arrangements for Windlesham parish as legislation required that a parish ward must lie wholly within a single borough electoral ward. The revised boundaries for the parish reflected the revised borough boundaries, meaning that the electors in the north of Windlesham ward would transfer from Windlesham parish ward to Bagshot parish ward.  Taking into account electoral equality between the parish wards, the LGBCE had also made the following revisions to WPC’s electoral arrangements:

The Surrey Heath Borough Council (Electoral Changes) Order 2017 containing the LGBCE’s recommendations had been laid in Parliament on 25 October 2017 and made on 13 December 2017.

Members were informed that, as a principal authority, Surrey Heath Borough Council had the power to undertake a Community Governance Review (CGR), as requested by WPC. However, if the Council wished to alter the electoral arrangements put in place by the LGBCE within a 5-year period of that order it was required it to consult the LGBCE. In effect this placed a 5 year moratorium on the LGBCE’s decision, making the revised electoral arrangements for Windlesham Parish ‘protected electoral arrangements’.

Furthermore, in conducting a CGR this Council would need to be mindful of the LGBCE’s criteria, including electoral equality requirements. It was therefore considered that, even if the LGBCE was minded to allow the Council to conduct a CGR on its protected electoral arrangements, it was unlikely that the CGR would meet these requirements.

It was moved by Councillor Richard Brooks and seconded by Councillor Charlotte Morley that a Community Governance Review to alter Windlesham Parish Council’s electoral arrangements not be conducted at the present time.

The Council was informed that WPC had received legal advice which had indicated that its request carried the same weight as a Community Governance Petition and the Council therefore had a duty to conduct a CGR. Furthermore, the advice WPC had received had advised that the Borough Council could have rejected the alterations to parish ward boundaries at the time of the LGBCE review.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 14.11 (c), it was moved by Councillor Katia Malcaus Cooper and seconded by Councillor Rebecca Jennings-Evans that consideration of the request for a Community Governance Review be deferred in order for the legal position to be further clarified. The amendment was put to the vote and carried.

RESOLVED that consideration of the request from Windlesham Parish Council for a Community Governance Review be deferred in order for the legal position to be further clarified.