Agenda item

(Returning Officer) To consider the attached report.

The Select Committee received a report regarding the running of the Elections and EU Referendum 2016 from the Assistant Director of Governance and Performance Management.

The report discussed the planning processes and implementation of the following elections during 2016:

(1)          The election of a Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Essex on 5 May.

(2)          21 District Council wards.

(3)          11 contested Parish Council wards.

(4)          The EU Referendum on 23 June.

On 1 December 2015, with the publication of the Electoral Register, the district’s register held 100,862 electors.

(a)          8,700 postal packs were sent out for May, 250 of these had an issue error and were re-issued. 5,874 packs were returned and counted, a 67.5% return rate.

(b)          10,200 postal packs were sent out for the EU Referendum, 1,500 more than May. A further issue of 1,850 were sent out over a week later. 11,069 were returned and counted, a 91.9% return rate.

All the District’s polling stations were operational for both the May and the June events. Heavy rainfalls caused concerns for some rural stations with localised flooding on rural roads although staff managed to open all stations on time and contingency arrangements were put in place. The Elections Office were busy on both days (22/23 June) as many callers needed advice on the voting process.

In May the verification of District, Parish and PCC votes took place on May 6 2016 at Theydon Bois Village Hall commencing at 8.30a.m. and was completed by 11.30a.m. In addition, the first stage PCC count commenced at 1.00p.m. and was completed by 2.15p.m. as no individual candidate polled more than 50% of the vote at this stage, a second stage count was completed at 5.15p.m. The Returning Officer had correctly decided that District and Parish/Town Counts should be held over to the Saturday as these counts could not have commenced until 6.00p.m.

The counting of District, Town and Parish ballot papers in May and the EU Referendum count in June took place at Debden Park High School. The school was particularly helpful to staff. It was the view of officers that this was the best venue where single type elections were concerned. In May, the first result was declared at 9.17a.m. and the last at 12.00 midday.

In June counting started as soon as the polling finished with postal voters. The process went smoothly using a mini count system. Officers had, by analysis, attempted to balance the likely number of votes on each table and this worked well. The district verification figure was supplied by 1.15a.m. and the final result transmitted at 3.25a.m.

Members asked about Whitebridge School, Loughton which was due for refurbishment during 2017-18, there was a need for locating a suitable polling station locally. The Select Committee was advised that officers would be meeting the Head Teacher of Whitebridge School to discuss any way forward on using the site as a polling station during this refurbishment period. It was advised by Members that a good alternative would be St Michael’s and All Angels Church Hall in Roding Road.

A suggestion was raised that at the count, the ballot boxes being counted could have their numbers displayed on the relevant tables so observers were better aware of what was happening. A further point was to re-arrange the table layout into a “W” configuration so observers could see all of the counting.

Members queried the possibilities of using a portacabin or caravan for a polling station in Lower Sheering. There was no bus service between there and Sheering, the distance was over a mile and could be considered a dangerous journey to undertake on foot with narrow roads and traffic. Officers replied that the costs of hiring a portacabin or caravan were considerable, they needed to be delivered and electricity connected. However they would work with the Parish Council to resolve this problem, an option was paying for a local house to be used as a polling station. A further concern was the use of Theydon Bois Village Hall did not give adequate public access to the counting process. An alternative was Debden Park School.

Future Elections and Lessons Learned

In May 2017 there would be County Council elections only. In May 2018 there were solely District elections. Lessons learnt would be fed back into the process for next year which would be beginning shortly. It was advised that in 2020 the district had scheduled quadruple elections, Parliamentary, PCC, District and Parish.

Boundary Commission Proposals

The Select Committee were advised of initial proposals from the Boundary Commission on Parliamentary boundaries which proposed no change for the Epping Forest Constituency but did make proposals to both Harlow and Brentwood and Ongar. There would be further updates as details became clearer. A report would be submitted to the November 2016 Select Committee and an item placed in the Council Bulletin advising all members inviting comments.

The Select Committee extended their gratitude to the Elections Team staff for their hard work during the period of these elections and referendum.

RESOLVED:

(1)           That the Review of Elections and EU Referendum be noted;

(2)           That officers explore using St Michael’s and All Angels Church Hall, Roding Road, Loughton as a polling station in place of Whitebridge School, Loughton during the school’s refurbishment;

(3)           That officers consider arranging the layout of tables at future counts to allow greater access for observers;

(4)           That officers liaise with Sheering Parish Council in regard to finding a suitable polling station for this area; and

(5)           That a report be submitted to the November 2016 Select Committee regarding the Boundary Commission’s proposals on Parliamentary boundaries for Harlow and Brentwood and Ongar and that notification be circulated in the Council Bulletin of the proposals.