Agenda item

The Leader of the council will attend the meeting in order to be held to account for matters within the remit of this committee. 

Discussion:

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Rodney Chambers, gave a presentation to the committee which included:

·        Congratulations to the Returning Officer and electoral services staff for the organisation for the 5 May 2011 local elections

·        Turnout for local election had increased to just under 40%

·        AV Referendum on 5 May 2011

·        Introduction of the Individual Electoral Registration (IER) to replace household registration

·        Election of Police and Crime Commissioner in November 2012

·        Success of the Members’ induction programme

·        Continued support for the Mayor and the 263 Mayoral engagements that have taken place

·        Reduction in the number of Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings

·        Establishment of the shadow Health and Wellbeing Board

·        Future Member presentation on the Localism Act.

The committee raised concerns over the introduction of IER from 2015 onwards. Currently, 91% of households responded to the annual register of electors but results elsewhere showed that this had the potential to decrease significantly because the IER required date of birth and National Insurance details. The Leader was asked what plans were in place to ensure that annual responses did not fall, especially as Medway had a higher than average level of shared properties, students and English as a second language? The Leader responded that 85% of properties were personally canvassed and he would ensure that this exercise continued. Work was on-going with the universities to gain information to allow direct contact with students. He advised that the main problem the Council faced would be to ensure that householders listed all the names of people who lived in the property. He confirmed that he would be looking at the lessons learned elsewhere and on-going best practice.

Some Members voiced their concern about the election of the Police and Crime Commissioner in November 2012 and asked the Leader whether additional help would be available, so that the work for the election caused minimum disruption to the normal business of the Democratic Services and Electoral Services teams. The Leader responded that the public would see no change in the level of service, as there were sufficient personnel to administer this election. It was a difficult time of year to hold an election, coinciding with the annual canvass of the register of electors, but if more staff were required, he would ensure they were in place.

Members asked the Leader about:

·        Localism Act – which gives the power to revert to the committee system. Information about how the committee system worked compared with the current arrangements under the Local Government Act 2000 was requested for the Member briefing to be held on 8 February 2012.

·        Referendums – why was the council not engaging with the public about the proposed new airport? Elsewhere in Kent, the public was given the opportunity to give its views on large infrastructure projects.

The Leader responded that the Council had unanimously voted to oppose any new airport to be built in the Thames estuary and therefore a public referendum was not required.

·        Recent reduction in the number of Council meetings – this had extended meetings until late in the evening and affected the quality of debate. Could the number of council meetings be re-considered and more arranged for the future?

The Leader advised that he had no evidence to suggest that if more meetings were held they would be any shorter than at present.

·        The current decision-making system within the Council was top heavy. Could a more consensual, democratic system be introduced?

The Leader responded that it would be the Council, as a whole, that would decide whether it wished to change the current system. After the briefing to be held next week, Members could discuss the implications of the Localism Act including the decision-making processes within the Council.

Decision:

The Leader was thanked for his presentation and the responses he had given.