PAPER B

 

                                                                                                            Purpose : For Decision


Committee :   FULL COUNCIL

 

Date :              18 OCTOBER 2006

 

Title :               ESTABLISHMENT OF A PARISH COUNCIL FOR NEWPORT

                       

REPORT OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE  

 


 

 

PURPOSE

 

1.                  On 18 August 2006 the Isle Of Wight Council received a petition calling for the creation of a “Newport Parish Council”, with the boundaries as detailed in paragraph 12 and as shown in the map included with Appendix A. The Council, within three months, has to pass the petition onto the Secretary Of State and the Electoral Commission, as received, along with the Council’s views on the petition and any information the Council has relating to local opinion on the proposal. The Council may also make recommendations on various “electoral matters”, and on the proposed boundary of the Parish Council.

 

CONFIDENTIAL/EXEMPT ITEMS

 

2.                  None. Since the Petition was received we have undertaken a period of consultation including the use of an Official Notice, notification to neighbouring Parish Councils and Town & Village Management Committees, Isle of Wight Council members whose Electoral Divisions are both contained within and adjacent to the petition area, the Isle of Wight Youth Council, the Isle of Wight Society of Local Council Clerks, the Isle of Wight Association of Parish and Town Councils, Andrew Turner MP, and a Public Meeting.

 

BACKGROUND

 

3.                  The petition was received on 18th August 2006, and the petition, along with associated maps, comments and recommendations must be passed to the Secretary Of State and the Electoral Commission by 18th November 2006. Appendix A contains a summary of the feedback that has been received during the consultation process.

 

4.                  Members will recall that on 19th April 2006 Council debated the petition for a separate “Carisbrooke Parish Council”, and an amendment was moved and resolved “THAT whilst this Council acknowledges the petition for the creation of a “Carisbrooke Parish Council”, and recognises the efforts of the local member in raising the petition, the Council is also aware that within the next few days a petition will be submitted which seeks to collectively emparish the eight Isle of Wight Council electoral wards within the Newport area, including that of Carisbrooke, but excluding those areas that already form part of established Parish Councils.

This Council is wholly supportive of the emparishment of the Isle of Wight, but recognises the advantages to be gained by having a larger Parish Council for the Newport area, and therefore regrets that, on this occasion, it cannot support the emparishment of smaller fragmented areas, including the area contained within the Carisbrooke petition.”

 

The recommendations within this report are made to Council within the context of the above decision.

 

STRATEGIC CONTEXT

 

5.                  The Isle Of Wight Council has an existing policy of supporting the creation of Parish Councils, and indeed the emparishment of the whole Island forms one of the specific targets of “Aim High”, the Isle of Wight Council’s Change Management Plan.

 

CONSULTATION

 

6.                  Due to the tight timescales imposed by the Local Government and Rating Act 1997, a period of public consultation was commenced upon receipt of the petition. The details of this consultation are attached in Appendix A.

 

FINANCIAL/BUDGET IMPLICATIONS

 

7.                  Some expenditure has already been incurred with the consultation process, all of which has been met from within existing budgets.

 

8.                  The costs of running any Parish Council created as a result of this petition will be met from any precept levied by that Parish Council. The costs of running elections can be controlled by ensuring that boundaries are, where appropriate, coterminous with Electoral Divisions to avoid small and fragmented Polling Districts. Little additional expenditure would be anticipated, as changes to Polling Districts can be effected easily via our existing computer systems.

 

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

 

9.                  The petition has been submitted under the Local Government and Rating Act 1997 and, as detailed above, the Isle of Wight Council has to, within three months, pass the petition as received and associated maps to the Secretary of State and the Electoral Commission along with any comments that the Council may make on the petition and any information the Council has relating to local opinion on the proposal.

 

10.             It will be for the Secretary of State (currently Ruth Kelly at the Department of Communities and Local Government) to determine if a Parish Council is created as a consequence of the petition. The Council can only express views on the proposal.

 

OPTIONS

 

11.             The Isle of Wight Council can make recommendations to the Secretary Of State on a number of options:

 

·        The Council may conclude that it does not wish to make any recommendations or comments on the petition;

 

·        The Council may conclude that it supports the creation of the Parish Council;

 

·        The Council may make recommendations on the number of Councillors who should serve on the Parish Council, and how the number of Councillors should be distributed between the Wards of the Parish Council.

 

EVALUATION/RISK MANAGEMENT

 

12.             The Petition for “Newport Parish Council” seeks to emparish the currently unparished areas of the existing Electoral Divisions of Carisbrooke West, Carisbrooke East, Fairlee, Mountjoy, Newport North, Newport South, Pan and Parkhurst, and does not include any area of land that is currently parished.

 

13.             The Isle of Wight Council is also being asked to make recommendations on the warding of the Parish Council and the number of Councillors who should serve on the Parish Council.

 

14.             Warding: Section 2, Schedule 11 of the Local Government Act 1972 requires that Town and Parish Councils be divided into Wards where existing Electoral Division boundaries bisect or divide the Parish Council area. Given this requirement the proposed Parish Council would be divided into eight Wards, along the boundaries of the eight existing electoral divisions.

 

15.             Number of members:  At the Public Meeting, the majority of those present were in favour of having 16 members serving on the Parish Council, with each Ward having two members.  The electorate of the proposed Parish Council area will be roughly 17180, and this equates to one member per 1074 electors

 

16.             Risks are minimal with this process. Officers must ensure that any recommendation for emparishment is put forward to the Secretary Of State and the Electoral Commission in accordance with the provisions contained within the Local Government and Rating Act 1997.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

17.             Given the feedback obtained from the Public Meeting and other sources, it is recommended:

 

a.      That the Isle of Wight Council support the petition for the establishment of the “Newport Parish Council”.

 

b.      That the external boundaries of the Parish Council be as defined by the map set out in Appendix A, to include the currently unparished areas of the existing Electoral Divisions of Carisbrooke West, Carisbrooke East, Fairlee, Mountjoy, Newport North, Newport South, Pan and Parkhurst,

 

c.      That the Parish Council area should be divided into eight Wards along the boundaries of the eight existing Electoral Divisions, where those boundaries fall within the Parish Council as proposed by the “Newport Parish Council” petition.

 

d.      That the Parish Council should consist of sixteen members, with each Ward electing two members each.

 

 

BACKGROUND PAPERS

 

18.             Appendix A – Consultation, Feedback and map of proposed Parish area

 

Contact Point :           Clive Joynes,  Elections and Land Charges Manager (01983) 823342

                                                [email protected]

 

 

JOE DUCKWORTH

Chief Executive