1.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

2.      INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2.      

2.1     The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is underway with its boundary review. The second stage consultation with their draft proposals is expected at the beginning of July with the Commission considering them in mid-June.

2.2     Following that Boundary Review it will be necessary to conduct a Community Governance Review.  Whilst the LGBCE’s review focuses on the Borough Council’s wards, a Community Governance Review is conducted entirely by Maidstone Borough Council as the Principal Authority and focuses on Parish Councils in the Borough.  The review can create, dissolve, combine and change parishes. 

2.3     Community Governance Reviews can focus on a specific part of a Borough or the whole Borough and they can be conducted for specific purposes (i.e. issues have arisen in a particular parish) or more widely.  There is a general expectation that a community governance review will be conducted regularly (once every 10 to 15 years) for the whole Borough to ensure that Parish boundaries continue to reflect the communities of the Borough and are effective.  In this case Maidstone has not conducted a borough wide review for longer than that period so are due to conduct one.  This was under discussion by the Democracy and General Purposes Committee prior to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England agreeing to conduct their boundary review.  However, the significant impact of the Local Government Boundary Review substantially increases the need for a review.

2.4     There will be a significant amount of work to conducting a successful review.  The requirements are fairly broad and can be summarised as the Council needs to consult those impacted by it (i.e. parishes and other bodies) and the Council needs to ensure that community governance within the area under review will be:

·         Reflective of the identities and interests of the community in that area; and

·         Effective and convenient

Further information can be found in the Government guidance on conducting a review; a link to which is provided under background papers below.

2.5     The timetable set out for the Committee to note is not a precise timetable.  The aim at this stage is to programme the work in amongst a number of other activities, to give the community a heads up as to the timings, and to advise Members what to expect.

2.6     There are several key factors in arriving at this timetable:

·         The maximum length a review can run from publication of its Terms of Reference is 12 months. 

·         In order to feed into the Electoral Register for May 2024 elections the new boundaries will need to be in place and new polling districts in place in the register by November 2023

·         The timetable proposed schedules activities outside of election periods, and allows some contingency before November 2023.

2.7     Two consultation periods have been allowed for in the timetable.  The first consultation will be very broad and open in nature, looking to understand the needs of the community, whether any changes (such as additional parishes) are desired, and gather current issues with parish boundaries.

2.8     The second consultation will be on more specific proposals for parishes and communities to comment on.  As well as the consultation periods, discussions and activities with Members and parishes will be held to gather specific information.

2.9    

Note

·      Election time April 2023 and May 2023 time during the second consultation;

·      Electoral Register deadline for new polling districts – November 2023

3.   AVAILABLE OPTIONS

3.1     The Committee can note the report or consider suggested amendments to the timetable.

4.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1     That the report be noted.

5.       RISK

5.1    The direct risks arising from this report are minimal. The review itself will carry risks around not achieving its objectives and impacts on communities.  These will be considered in full when the review progresses.

6.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

6.1     The officer attended a meeting of KALC on 13 June 2022. Consultation with relevant stakeholders is a key part of the community governance review process and has been included in the timetable at paragraph 2.6.

7.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

7.1     Officers will work up more detailed review plans, including the Terms of Reference for the Committee, and others, to consider.  Once those are agreed and published the review begins and has 12 months to run.

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

Community Governance Review Guidance - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/8312/1527635.pdf