Agenda item

Report of the Group Director of Operations

The Group Director of Operations submitted a report (previously circulated) to enable Members to give consideration to the outcome of the recent review of Polling Districts, Polling Places and Polling Stations, ahead of the Police and Crime Commissioner Election and the Tees Valley Combined Authority Mayoral Election on 2 May 2024, and prior to the UK Parliamentary (General) Election, which must take place prior to January 2025.

The submitted report stated that the Representation of the People Act 1983 required that local authorities conduct reviews of the Polling Districts, Polling Places and Polling Stations within their local authority area, and that the next compulsory review was due to commence within a sixteen-month period beginning on 1 October 2023. It was stated that at the July 2023 Council meeting a timetable for the next compulsory review had been agreed.

The submitted report set out the process that the review undertook and recommended a small number of changes to the Polling Districts, Polling Places and Polling Stations that had been used in past elections.

RESOLVED – (a) That the consultation responses received be noted.

(b) That the changes proposed to the existing Polling Districts, Polling Places and Polling Stations ahead of the Police and Crime Commissioner Election and the Tees Valley Combined Authority Mayoral Election on 2 May 2024, and prior to the UK Parliamentary (General) Election, which must take place prior to January 2025, be approved, as follows:

(i)                  That the Polling Districts within the Brinkburn and Faverdale Ward, be renamed BFA, BFB, BFC and BFD (as opposed to BFA(S), BFA(D), BFB and BFC respectively).

(ii)                That the name of the Polling Place at The Rydal Academy, used in Polling Districts BLB and BLC, reflected the use of the Community Hub in the title.

(iii)              That St. Mary’s Church, Piercebridge remain listed as the Polling Place for Polling District HCG, however that the Polling Station be sited at an alternative Polling Place until the works to upgrade the Church to ensure that it is fit for purpose are completed.

(iv)              That an amendment to the North Western boundary between Polling District HUA and HUB be made. The North Western boundary currently follows Snipe Lane, to the right of Blackwell Moor Farm and Snipe Meadows, up to the A66.  The amendment would move the boundary further west to follow the railway line, which would result in Blackwell Moor Farm, Snipe Meadows and a few other properties, together with the development comprising of Gill Beck Lane, Ash Brook Lane, Elder Brook Avenue and Buckthorn Court, moving from Polling District HUA to Polling District HUB.  This would have no impact on the number of voters across the Ward, however would mean a change in Polling Station for a small number of voters. The amendment can be viewed at Hurworth Ward and Polling Districts (darlington.gov.uk).

(v)                That the use of the Skerne Park Youth and Community Centre as a Polling Place in Polling District PEE be discontinued, and that the electors resident in Polling District PEE vote in the Polling Place at The Coleridge Centre, Coleridge Gardens, Darlington.

(vi)              That the electors from Polling Districts SME, SMG and SMH now vote at Sadberge Village Hall, Sadberge, as opposed to St. Anne’s Church Hall on Welbeck Avenue, Darlington.

(c) That the publication of the proposals for Polling Places, as set out in Appendix D of the submitted report, be authorised.

REASONS - (a)To ensure that polling places and polling stations are accessible to voters and have reasonable facilities for voting.

(b) To comply with the requirements of the Representation of the People Act 1983, the Equality Act 2010 and the Elections Act 2022.

(c) To enable the decisions to be made, publicised and implemented in good time for the elections scheduled for May 2024.