Agenda and draft minutes

The Chairman welcomed new members to the meeting and thanked former members of the Sub-committee, Councillors Romana and Sacha Gosine, for their support.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors  Barham, Edie, and Kelly.

Councilllor Butterfill attended as substitute for Councillor Barham, and Councillor Oliver attended as substitute for Councillor Kelly.

To receive declarations of interest from Members including the terms(s) of Grants of Dispensation (if any) from the Audit Board or the Chief Officer & Director of Corporate Services..

There were no declarations of interests.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Sub–Committee held on 3 February 2022 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting of the Electoral Provisions Sub-Committee held on 3 February 2022 were agreed as an accurate record.

The Chairman will announce if there are any urgent items and their position on the Agenda.

There were no urgent items.

There were no references from other committees.

A verbal report on the Elections Bill and expected changes for 2023.

The Electoral Services Manager gave a presentation highlighting the principal changes contained in the Elections Act 2022 and the challenges that these would have on the delivery of electoral services in the future which included:

·       The requirement for voters to present photo id when voting at a polling station at elections from May 2023. Where people did not have photo id they would be able to apply to the Electoral Registration Officer for a Voter id card, with the application process starting in December 2022. The requirement to produce photo id at polling stations would place additional challenges on polling staff who would be required to check the id and deal with any anomalies and was likely to result in queues to vote at some polling stations, although anyone in a queue at the close of poll would be able to vote. Applications for voter id cards would also place additional pressure on the Electoral Services Team as people could apply for an id card up until 5pm on the day before the poll and it was likely that there would be many late applications. It was estimated that at least 2% of the population does not have photo id which would equate to a possible 1,645 applications for a voter card in Dartford;

·       General responsibility for Returning Officers to take all reasonable steps to support voters with disabilities and provisions to allow disabled voters to be assisted by a companion providing they are over the age of 18 and are qualified to vote in that election, to come into effect from May 2023. The Electoral Services Team had already carried out a lot of work with local disability groups over accessibility but not all polling stations were readily accessible and, where possible, reasonable adaptations were made and staff were trained to assist voters with disabilities;

·       Tightening of the rules on the handling of absent votes including a prohibition on political parties and campaigners handling postal votes, a limit on the number of postal votes that can be handed in by a single person, a reduction in the timeframe for ‘refreshing’ applications from 5 to 3 years, limiting the number of people that a person can act as a proxy for to 4 people and requiring applications to go through a verification of identity;

·       Enabling electors to apply for an absent vote online from July 2023 and for an applicant’s identity to be verified for all absent votes, whether online or not. The method of verification would be contained in secondary legislation but it was anticipated that there will be a significant number of online applications;

·       Clarification on the voting and candidacy rights of EU citizens – which would now be confined to qualifying EU citizens from countries with reciprocal agreements and who have leave to remain in the UK (or who don’t require leave to remain in the UK) – currently Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Spain; or ‘EU citizens with retained rights’ who were resident in the UK before  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To report the outcome of the Review of Polling Districts and Polling Places 2022 and to recommend accordingly to the General Assembly of the Council.

The Electoral Services Manager introduced a report which detailed the response to the review of polling districts and polling places which was conducted between 7 March and 30 May 2022. The responses and proposals were detailed in the appendices to the report, which also included comments from the (Acting) Returning Officer both prior to the review and following its conclusion. In conducting the review consideration had not only been given to the accessibility, lighting and location of the polling places but also to the additional requirements of the Elections Act 2022, including the need for electors to present ID when voting at polling stations and the desirability for there to be a suitable area where staff would be able to check documents and hold confidential conversations with electors. The Sub-committee was asked to consider the final proposals and to recommend to the General Assembly of the Council accordingly. If approved by the General Assembly of the Council the revised arrangements would take effect following the republication of the register of electors in December 2022 and would be used at the next local elections in May 2023.

The Electoral Services Manager went through the recommendations on the polling places and districts individually, highlighting where changes were proposed and the rationale behind the changes, and also where no change was proposed to existing arrangements. It was hoped that conducting this review now, and engaging with the owners of premises that were proposed to be used for polling, would assist with the efficient administration of forthcoming elections and result in less challenges in terms of the .vailability of premises.

          RESOLVED:

1. That the comments received as part of the review of polling districts and polling places, at Appendices A, B(i) and B(ii) to the report be noted; and

2. That the recommended changes to the Polling Districts and Polling Places, detailed in Appendix C to the report, be endorsed and recommended to the General Assembly of the Council for approval.

To consider whether to carry out a Community Governance Review for the Swanscombe ward area of Swanscombe and Greenhithe Town Council and potential changes to ward boundaries.

The Chief Officer & Director of Corporate Services introduced a report which asked the Sub-committee to consider whether a Community Governance Review (CGR) should be carried out for the Swanscombe Ward area of Swanscombe and Greenhithe Town Council and whether the boundaries of Swanscombe and Ebbsfleet borough wards should be amended so that they were coterminous. Considerable development was taking place across Swanscombe and Ebbsfleet which would change the character and area of local communities and would result in electoral anomalies. The CGR was a process which allowed the Borough Council to consider whether existing parish arrangements were robust, representative and proving efficient delivery of local services. This process would include consulting electors, the Swanscombe and Greenhithe Town Council and interested parties before completing a Reorganisation of Community Governance Order. As a CGR of all parish arrangements across the borough had been carried out within the last five years, to coincide with the review of Borough wards conducted by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE), consent to any changes to the parish ward would also require the consent of the Chief Executive of the LGBCE. Subject to the outcome of the CGR the Sub-committee was also asked to consider the expediency of seeking to amend the boundaries of the Swanscombe and Ebbsfleet borough wards so that they are coterminous which would require the General Assembly of the Council to ask the LGBCE to make an order to confirm the amendment to the borough ward boundaries. This would need to be done by 1 October 2022 in order to stand a chance of an Order being made in time for implementation in the May 2023 local elections.

          RESOLVED:

1. That, to ensure that the town and parish council governance arrangements continue to reflect the identities and interests of the community and is effective and convenient, a Community Governance Review be conducted to consider amending the boundary of the Swanscombe Ward area of Swanscombe and Greenhithe Town Council, as delineated by a red line on the map, at Appendix B to the report;

2. That the Terms of Reference and timescale for the Community Governance Review, as detailed in Appendix C to the report, be approved;

3. That Members note that the Community Governance Review cannot make any changes to the Swanscombe Town Ward or Swanscombe and Ebbsfleet borough ward boundaries, without the consent of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England; and

4. That, subject to the outcome of the Community Governance Review, the Sub-committee considers whether the boundaries of Swanscombe and Ebbsfleet borough wards should be amended so they are coterminous and if the proposal is endorsed, subject to the consultation outcome, the General Assembly of the Council be recommended to ask the Local Government Boundary Commission for England to make an Order confirming the amendment.