Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 September 2014 were taken as read, confirmed and signed.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 35.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5).

There were no urgent items for consideration.

The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting.

It was noted that all members had personal interests in Item 6 Electoral Review of Leicestershire County Council.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Executive, the purpose of which was to seek the views of the Committee on the proposed submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) regarding Council size. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 6’ is filed with these minutes.

The Committee was advised that the Electoral Review had come about because more than 30% of the Council’s divisions had an electoral imbalance of more than 10%. The first stage of the Review had begun which involved deciding Council size. In making this decision the following would be taken into account:

(i)         The Council’s decision making processes.

(ii)        The scrutiny arrangements and Regulatory committees.

(iii)       The local representational role of members

(iv)       Electorate forecasting for 2021

The Committee were advised the following:

(i)         A company called Edge Analytics had been engaged to undertake             electoral forecasting for 2021 and they had presented their findings to the Working Party. Discussion had taken place with the LGBCE          regarding the inclusion of housing developments in Blaby and North         West             Leicestershire which had outline planning permission.          As a    result of those discussions the figures from Edge Analytics on the          projected electorate for Blaby and North West Leicestershire had been   revised. A copy of the revised figures was circulated and is filed with          these minutes.

(ii)        Based on the revised figures, the Council size which would give the          best average variation would be 42 followed by either 49 or 55. The     Working Party had agreed to a Submission on Council size based     around 55 Councillors. The Submission, if agreed, would go before the     County Council on 25 March 2015 for approval.

(iii)       Officers were working on a proposed County Council scheme for    electoral division boundaries which would be presented to the Working          Party on 30 March. In devising a scheme the main issue officers had to           take into account was seeking to achieve electoral equality. Electoral         divisions could not cross district boundaries however parishes and      town councils could            be split.

(iv)       It was open to political parties to produce their own scheme to be     submitted to the LGBCE alongside the County Council scheme.

(v)        Two member divisions would be considered where these offered the          opportunity for achieving electoral equality.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the report on the Electoral Review of Leicestershire be noted.

(b)       That the submission to the LGBCE in relation to Council size be      submitted to the County Council for approval.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Executive regarding the

proposed establishment of the Local Pension Board. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 7’ is filed with these minutes.

The County Solicitor explained that the Local Government Pension

Scheme (Amendment) (Governance) Regulations 2015 required that a Local Pension Board be established by 1 April 2015. The Board required 2 members from the County Council and Mr A. M. Kershaw CC and Mr D. Jennings CC had been nominated.

RESOLVED:

That the County Council be recommended to approve:

(a)       The terms of reference of the Local Pension Board, as set out in      Appendix A to the report, and the approval of Messrs Jennings and      Kershaw thereto;

(b)       The renaming of the Pension Fund Management Board as the Local         Pension Committee.