Issue - meetings

The report of the Chief Executive is attached.

It was RESOLVED that the report of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England setting out the new ward boundaries for the Borough of Rushcliffe be noted.

The Leader, Councillor Robinson, presented the report of the Chief Executive concerning the review of wards and boundaries by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

Councillor Robinson explained that the consultation for the review had been carried out from May to July 2021 and that Full Council had considered and responded to the recommendations made by the Boundary Commission at its meeting in December 2021.  Council’s comments on the initial recommendations had related to the areas of Bingham, Radcliffe-on-Trent and Upper Saxondale.  The Boundary Commission had now decided that its original recommendations would stand.  He explained that the Boundary Commission recommendations stated that Rushcliffe would have 44 Councillors with 24 wards compromising of six wards with three councillors: eight wards with two councillors and 10 wards with a single councillor.  He reminded Cabinet that the process of the review was about fairness and representation and added that Councillors, Parish Councillors, and the public had fully participated in the review.

In seconding the recommendation, Councillor Edyvean explained that the Boundary Commission was an independent body that was also non-political, which had been important for the independence of the review.  He acknowledged that, following the changes proposed, there remained some anomalies in population in parts of the Borough but added that it was expected that by 2027 these anomalies would be more aligned to the average of 2,400 voters per Councillor, which would help address potential increases in population size due to the amount of development across the Borough.

It was RESOLVED that the report of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England setting out the new ward boundaries for the Borough of Rushcliffe be noted.