Issue - meetings

This item was considered at the first part of the meeting on 16 November 2021.

Under s100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chair of the meeting was of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances. These circumstances were because there were some amendments where the proposals cut through parkland (specifically the border between APK-B and APK-C and between WOD-A and WODB). The polling district boundary had been moved to the perimeter of the park. The red line was the original proposal and the green was the revised. Therefore the boundaries in this whole borough map should replace those shown on the individual polling scheme maps for these districts. This was a technical change and made no alteration to the electorate for either of the areas but required approval of the committee to be included in the polling scheme (Appendix 1b), as set out in Recommendation 1.

The Assistant Director Direct Services introduced the report which set out recommendations for each polling district and the associated polling place, including where feedback was received and any changes that were made as a result of the consultation phase.

It was explained that the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) concluded in December 2019 and recommended that Haringey should continue to have 57 councillors, should have 21 wards rather than 19, and that all ward boundaries should change. This was enacted by Parliament. The Electoral Services Team was responsible for developing proposals to create polling districts for these new wards and to identify polling places within each district. It was noted that there had been input from a member working group and an officer working group. It was also noted that a public consultation had commenced on 31 August 2021, including an all-member briefing, and that this had resulted in some changes which were set out in the report.

It was added that, if approved, the polling districts would be uploaded to the council’s electoral register and would be operational for the council elections in 2022. It was highlighted that a full communications plan for the elections would make sure that people were informed about the location of their polling stations. It was noted that the proposals were due to be reviewed next year following the parliamentary boundary review which was due to report in 2023.

It was highlighted that a drawing which showed the new districts on a boroughwide map had been circulated as a late paper. It was noted that this drawing also showed locations where there had been minor boundary amendments to align with parkland boundaries. It was explained that this was a technical change which did not alter the electorate but that this needed to be approved by the Committee for inclusion in the polling scheme (Appendix 1b), as set out in the report recommendations.

It was noted that it was proposed to reduce the number of polling districts from 83 to 76 and it was enquired why there were some differences in the sizes of polling districts.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7