Agenda and minutes

None.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on 25 January 2023 be confirmed and signed by the Chair. 

To approve the Committee’s Terms of Reference for the municipal year 2023-24.

Members received the Terms of Reference for the Committee, there had been no changes from previous years.

RESOLVED – that the Terms of Reference, as set out in Appendix A of the report, be approved.

To receive the report on the Community Governance Review for the Borough of Telford & Wrekin.

The Director: Policy & Governance presented the report which outlined the proposed Community Governance Review (CGR), following the Local Government Boundary Commission for England’s (LGBCE) review of electoral arrangements within the Borough in 2022. The proposed CGR would be the first Borough wide review for several years.

The report summarised the reasons for the CGR; to determine whether the current Town and Parish Councils were reflective of local electorate identities and Borough ward boundaries. The process of conducting a CGR would take approximately 12 months and included 2 rounds of public consultation, the draft recommendations from the review would then be presented to the Committee.

Members noted the importance of the review in order to recognise the local identities of communities.

RESOLVED – that:

a)    a Community Governance Review be undertaken subject to the finalisation of the Terms of Reference and Consultation Documents: and

b)    authority be delegated to the Director:Policy & Governance to prepare the final Terms of Reference and Consultation Documents to be considered at a future meeting of Boundary Review Committee.

To receive a verbal update on the Parliamentary Boundary Review.

The Elections Team Leader provided an update on the Parliamentary Boundary Review from the Boundary Commission for England. The Order establishing the Parliamentary Boundaries had recently been passed through Parliament and there were changes to both the Telford and the Wrekin Parliamentary Boundaries. The ‘Wrekin’ Constituency would retain its name and would include Cheswardine and Hodnet and the Telford Constituency would include Trench Lock and Hadley going forward. 

Officers were liaising with Shropshire Council to review polling stations for the Wrekin constituency, in order to accurately locate each polling station in line with the new boundaries.

Members were informed that no further changes were expected.