Corporate Scrutiny Committee	7 July 2025
Report of the Director of Governance

Boundary Commission Electoral Review – Council Size, Task and Finish Group

Summary

1. This report presents the information in relation to a planned Task and Finish Group to consider the Boundary Commission Electoral Review into Council Size.  Members should decide whether or not to endorse the proposal contained at Annex A.

Background

2. The Boundary Commission for England has announced its intention to undertake an Electoral Review to examine and propose new electoral arrangements for the City of York Council. These are:

· The total number of councillors to be elected to the council.

· The names, number and boundaries of wards.

· The number of councillors to be elected from each ward.

The first part of the review will determine the total number of councillors to be elected to the council in the future - ‘council size’. Ward boundaries will not be considered until this phase is completed.

The Commission will make its judgment on council size by considering three broad areas:

· Governance arrangements of the council and how it takes decisions across the broad range of its responsibilities.

· The council’s scrutiny functions relating to its own decision making and the council’s responsibilities to outside bodies.

· The representational role of councillors in the local community and how they engage with people, conduct casework and represent the council on local partner organisations.

3. Membership of the Task and Finish Group is yet to be determined, it will be comprised of two Labour, two Liberal Democrat and one Conservative.

Aim

4. The aim of the Task and Finish Group (TFG) is to gather residents’ views and seek cross-party agreement for a proposal on council size.

Consultation and Methods

5. The Local Government Boundary Commission England (LGBCE) will work with officers to provide demographic data on electors projecting out to 2031 for the TFG to consider. TFG members will need to demonstrate how they have taken into account the areas listed above on which the Commission will make its judgement on council size. They should examine the evidence on council size provided as part of Electoral Reviews conducted for other local authorities and take into consideration the number of electors per councillor in York compared with similar local authorities.

Timeframe

6. The timescales are as follows:

· 29 September 2025, draft recommendation to Corporate Scrutiny Committee.

· 7 October 2025, agreed recommendation to Executive.

· 16 October 2025, Executive recommendation to Extraordinary Council meeting.

· 17 October 2025, the proposal must be submitted by the council to the Boundary Commission.

Options

7. Members should consider the following options:

a. Endorse the draft remit, objectives and timeframe as proposed;

b. Amend the draft remit, objectives or timeframe;

c. Add further objectives the Committee agrees are relevant.

Analysis

8. There is no analysis at this stage.

Council Plan

9. Not applicable.

Implications

10. There are no implications to be addressed at this stage in the process.  Any relevant implications will be identified by the Task & Finish Group during their review.

Risk Management

11. Any identified risks associated with the findings from this review will be included in the draft final report arising from this review.

Recommendations

12. The Committee is asked to:

Consider and endorse the proposed remit, aim, and timeframe for a Task and Finish scrutiny review of the Boundary Commission Electoral Review – Council Size.

Reason:  To enable the Task and Finish Group to proceed with work on the agreed review in line with scrutiny procedures.

Contact Details

Author:	Chief Officer Responsible for the report:
Jane Meller Democracy Officer Democratic Governance jane.meller@york.gov.uk Guy Close Democratic Services Manager Democratic Governance guy.close@york.gov.uk	Bryn Roberts Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer
	Report Approved	ü	Date	27 June 2025
Wards Affected:					All	ü
For further information please contact the author of the report

Annexes: Annex A:     Task and Finish Group proposal for the Boundary Commission Electoral Review – Council Size