11 Jun 2009
The independent Electoral Commission has directed the Boundary Committee for England to undertake an electoral review of Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
The review, which will decide the number of councillors who sit on the council and are returned from individual wards, and the names, number and boundaries of those wards, will begin its formal consultation stage in August. The Boundary Committee will not enter into the review with a predetermined idea of whether council size should be reduced or otherwise; rather it will be informed by the evidence it receives during public consultation.
Jenny Watson, Chair of the Electoral Commission, said: “It is clear from the Stoke Governance Commission’s review that there are significant challenges that face local governance in Stoke-on-Trent in the next few years. An electoral review is not, on its own, going to solve all of those problems, but there is considerable evidence that a review could be part of a package of reforms that can help to rebuild the confidence of residents who rely on key services.
“Our decision was made against statutory criteria we use when asking the Boundary Committee to undertake any electoral review. In this case, we believe carrying out an electoral review could be the first step in enabling the people of Stoke-on-Trent to secure effective and convenient local government in their city.
Max Caller, Chair of the Boundary Committee for England, said: “Our job when carrying out reviews like this is as much to listen and learn as it is to decide. Evidence provided to us by local people in our three stages of public consultation will play a really important part in informing our final recommendations.”
Further information on electoral reviews and guidance on what sort of information the Committee is available by clicking on the ‘about electoral reviews’ section of the Boundary Committee website at www.boundarycommittee.org.uk
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For further information contact:
Electoral Commission Press Office on 0207 271 0704
press@electoralcommission.org.uk
outside office hours: 07789 920414
Notes to editors:
1. The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. The Boundary Committee for England is a statutory body of the Commission. The Committee’s aim is to conduct thorough, consultative and robust reviews of local government areas in England, and for its recommendations to be evidence-based, accurate and accepted.
2. An electoral review considers whether the boundaries of wards or divisions within a local authority need to be altered. The Committee also looks at the number of councillors, the number of wards or divisions and whether the wards or divisions should be represented by a single councillor, or jointly by two or three councillors.
3. Electoral reviews run by the Boundary Committee are subject to three separate stages of public consultation. All responses to consultations are published on the Boundary Committee’s website at www.boundarycommittee.org.uk
