Agenda item

Report from the Chief Executive.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet recommend to Council that: -

1.    The submissions made in respect of the review of polling districts and polling places for the Borough of Rotherham be noted.

2.    Approval of the adoption of the polling district boundaries as outlined in Appendix 2 and the maps found in Appendix 5.

3.    Approval of the final proposals for polling places as detailed in Appendix 2 to this report. 

4.    The Electoral Registration Officer is requested to make the necessary amendments to the polling districts to take effect from publication of the revised register on 1 December 2023.

5.    The Electoral Registration Officer is requested to make the necessary amendments to the RVB and RVD polling district boundaries to take effect from publication of the revised register following the next UK Parliamentary General election.

6.    Power to designate polling places in accordance with section 18B of the Representation of the People Act 1983 is continued to be delegated to the Chief Executive.

Consideration was given to the report which detailed the responses and final proposals following the Polling Districts and Polling Places Review 2023 that had been undertaken between 2nd October and 30th October, 2023. Cabinet had agreed the timetable for the review in September 2023 as per Minute No. 55. 20 responses had been received commenting on 27 polling districts. A summary of the responses and the Returning Officer’s comments were provided in Appendix 3 of the report submitted.

As a result of the representations made during the consultation, the final proposals contained 4 changes in addition to the initial proposals:

a.    Brinsworth Ward: It is proposed to amend the polling district boundary between BWD and BWC to move Nos. 69 to 83 Whitehill Lane and 4 properties on Orchard Way from polling district BWD to BWC.

b.    Brinsworth Ward: It is proposed to move the polling district boundary between BWD and BWB to move Nos. 58 to 68 Brinsworth Lane from BWD to BWB.

c.     Brinsworth Ward: It is proposed to move the polling district boundary between BWD and BWE to move No. 56 Brinsworth Lane from BWD to BWE.

d.    Greasbrough Ward: It is proposed that Greasbrough Library is designated the polling place for GRA polling district, instead of Greasbrough Primary School.

Further details of the final proposals and the polling place scheme were set out in Appendix 2.

At the meeting, the Elections Manager confirmed that, due to the introduction of Voter ID requirements, the Electoral Commission had lowered the recommended maximum number of polling station electors that should be allocated to a polling station. The recommended maximum had reduced from 2,500 to 2,250. Currently 7 polling districts exceeded this new lower maximum station electorate figure; therefore, changes were proposed as part of the Returning Officer’s proposals.

If agreed by Cabinet, the recommendations would be presented to full Council in November 2023 for approval.

Resolved:-

That Cabinet recommend to Council that: -

1.    The submissions made in respect of the review of polling districts and polling places for the Borough of Rotherham be noted.

2.    Approval of the adoption of the polling district boundaries as outlined in Appendix 2 and the maps found in Appendix 5.

3.    Approval of the final proposals for polling places as detailed in Appendix 2 to this report.

4.    The Electoral Registration Officer is requested to make the necessary amendments to the polling districts to take effect from publication of the revised register on 1st December, 2023.

5.    The Electoral Registration Officer is requested to make the necessary amendments to the RVB and RVD polling district boundaries to take effect from publication of the revised register following the next UK Parliamentary General election.

6.    Power to designate polling places in accordance with Section 18B of the Representation of the People Act 1983 is continued to be delegated to the Chief Executive.