Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Shippam and Prout.

To receive any declarations of interest Members may wish to make including the term(s) of the Grant of Dispensation(s) by the Standards Committee.

Councillor A Wells declared a personal interest in Agenda item 7, Review of Polling Districts and Polling Places 2011, as he is a Governor of West Hill Primary School which is used as a polling station.

Councillor B E Read declared a personal interest in Agenda item 7, Review of Polling Districts and Pollling Places 2011, as he is a member of Swanscombe and Greenhithe Town Council and the Town Hall is used as a polling station.

To note the minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2010.

RESOLVED:

The minutes of the meeting of the Sub-committee held on 18 October 2010 be agreed as a correct record.

The Chairman will announce his decision as to whether there are any urgent items and their position on the agenda.

There were no urgent items.

There were no references from other committees.

To note the terms of reference of the Electoral Provisions Sub-Committee.

            RESOLVED:

That the terms of reference of the Electoral Provisions Sub-Committee be noted, including its ability to make recommendations to the Council on matters within its terms of reference.

To review the polling districts and polling places in the Dartford constituency area in accordance with the requirements of the Electoral Administration Act 2006.

Members considered the report on the Review of Polling Districts and Polling Places 2011. The Member Services Manager reminded the Sub-committee that it was a requirement that each authority carried out a full review every four years and that the next review for Dartford was due to be completed by 31^st December 2011. In practice the review would need to be carried out before then in order for any changes to be incorporated in the annual Register of Electors to be published on 1^st December 2011. Members were advised that further reviews could be carried out at any time and that it was the Council’s practice to undertake “light touch” reviews annually, with the last being reported to the Sub-committee in October 2010. It was stressed that the review only related to the proposed polling districts and polling places as these were the responsibility of the local authority whereas the provision of polling stations remained the responsibility of the Returning Officer.

The legislative requirements for conducting the review were set out as follows:

·        The authority must publish the holding of the review by publishing a notice on its web site and in a conspicuous place in the borough;

·        The authority must consult the Returning Officer on its proposals as they apply to existing polling districts and polling places or on any proposed changes;

·        The Returning Officer must make representations to the authority which must include information as to the location of polling stations (existing or proposed) within polling places (existing or proposed);

·        The local authority must publish the Returning Officer’s representations within 30 calendar days of receipt;

·        The authority must seek representations from such persons as it thinks have particular expertise in relation to access to premises or facilities for persons who have different forms of disability. Such persons must have an opportunity to make representations and to comment on the Returning Officer’s representations;

·        Any elector in a constituency situated in whole or in part in the authority’s area may make representations;

·        Representations made by any person in connection with a review of polling places may include proposals for specified alternative polling places;

·        On completion of the review the authority must give reasons for its decisions in the review and publish such other information as is prescribed (this includes all documentation forming part of the review including any representations or returns made during the consultation exercise).  

The four main stages of the review were also explained:

·        Stage 1 – Notification of the review (by means of publication of a notice on the council’s web site and by display in at least one conspicuous place within the authority

·        Stage 2- Administering the Review – The local authority should undertake a preliminary review of the current polling districts and polling places with a view to establishing their suitability

·        Stage 3 – Consultation – the consultation stage was for representations and comments on the existing and proposed arrangements for polling districts and places. There were two parts to this stage:

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