Agenda item

For Cabinet to provide a response on the recommendations outlined by the Communities Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor E Davies – Chair, Communities Scrutiny Committee presented the report of the Director: Policy & Governance.

The Scrutiny Committee met on three separate occasions as part of the review which consisted of one formal committee and two workshops.  Members heard from an expert witness, the Returning Officer and Senior Deputy Returning Officer in order to better understand the legal and practical considerations to ensure a fair and just election.

Following an in-depth review of the way in which elections were conducted across the borough and after considering the best practice in the field of elections, the Communities Scrutiny Committee developed recommendations for consideration.

Members examined recent legislative changes relating to conducting an election following the implementation of the Elections Act 2022 which included the implementation of photographic voter ID. They also received details of how this had impacted voter turnout and changes to postal vote handling.

The election review looked at communication around the introduction of voter ID, the timings of the count, staffing of the count, staff breaks and when results would be received. 

The Returning Officer and Deputy Returning Officer worked with members at the workshops and evidenced that the Council already undertook “lessons learnt” sessions as the desired to continually improve.  Legal requirements were extensive and the level and attention to detail was phenomenal.  Staff received over 12 hours of training and mock elections took place.  A staff training video was being considered to act as a reminder for staff prior to an election taking place.  The workshop discussed the implications if things went wrong and the external specialist who attended reassured Members that it was not about speed but the efficiency of the count and he highlighted the best practice that took place at Telford and Wrekin. In relation to voter ID due to the social media communication there were minimal people that had been turned away.

It was concluded that best practice was to adopt a continuous improvement approach to the delivery of elections with Electoral Commission guidance highlighting the key benefits of holding a learning review following each election.  The Returning Officer at Telford & Wrekin had, for some years, ensured that such learning reviews were undertaken.  The recommendations from the report were testament to how well the Council was doing already but further fine tuning would be undertaken to candidates and agents training, staff breaks and the indicative plan.  Voter ID had had a positive impact and was not a barrier to voting.

Cabinet Members welcomed the robust and in-depth report.  It was important to adopt the continuous improvement approach as there were always areas of improvement and it gave Members assurance.

The Leader of the Conservative Group welcomed the report and the work of Councillor Davies.  Elections were a technical and legal process and the work of the officers and staff involved should be commended.  It was evident that officer reviews took place and as representatives, Members should play their part in a positive and constructive manner and respect the process.  Within the recommendations it referred to ensuring attendance at briefings, opposition Group Leaders could only request that Members attend but could not ensure they would be there.

The recommendations were proposed and seconded.

RESOLVED – that the recommendations be approved.