Meeting documents

To approve the minutes of the Governance and Electoral Arrangements Committee held on 30 January and 15 May 2018.

The minutes of the meetings of the Governance and Electoral Arrangements Committee held on 30 January and 15 May 2018 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Committee agreed to consider a report on the Council Procedure Rules as the first item of business.

Council Procedure Rule 28.3 specifies which rules apply to meetings of Full Council and those that do not, as some rules are not relevant to committee meetings. Council Procedure Rule 17.3 requires minutes of meetings to contain all motions and amendments in the exact form and order in which the Chairman put them. CPR 28.3 specifies that this applies to all committee meetings.

Current practice was not to record all motions and amendments in the minutes for committee meetings, and this discrepancy had been brought to the attention of the Head of Legal and Democratic Services following a complaint about the minutes of the Planning Committee.

During the discussion it was felt that the purpose of minutes was to provide a clear and accurate record of what was finally agreed. Members therefore agreed to recommend that Council Procedure Rule 28.2 be changed to allow the current practice of committee meeting minutes recording only the final decision and not previous motions or amendments.

Councillor J Rush, at the invitation of the Chairman, addressed the Committee suggesting that Council Procedure Rule 20.2 be amended to enable members with a medical need to be granted an exemption from the requirement to stand when speaking at Full Council. During the discussion it was felt that it was important to ensure that the exemption only applied where there was a true medical need, and that agreement be sought from the Chairman in advance of a meeting.

Note: Councillor J Rush left the meeting at 6.40pm.

On 19 July 2017 the Council commenced a voluntary review of polling district and polling places. This was prompted by comments received after the UK Parliamentary General Election on 8 June 2017 relating to some of the buildings currently used as polling stations.

Comments and submissions on all polling districts and polling places in Chiltern District were invited from 19 July 2017 to 13 March 2018. Following consideration of those comments and submissions a report was published on 18 May 2018 proposing changes some polling places. Comments and submissions were then invited on the proposals.

Members supported the proposal to use Chalfont St Peter Leisure Centre as the polling place for Gold Hill, but a suggestion was made to check parking availability during peak times for example during school drop off and  collection to ensure sufficient parking was available to electors visiting the polling station at those times. Members also welcomed the use of alternative buildings to schools to avoid disruption to parents and students on polling day. It was noted that in some areas school buildings remained the most suitable location for polling stations due to the limited availability of suitable alternative buildings.

RESOLVED:

1)     That Chalfont St Peter Leisure Centre be designated the polling place for polling district ‘CN - Gold Hill’.

2)     That Newtown Baptist Church be designated the polling place for polling district ‘CT- Newtown’ and ‘CZ - Vale’.

3)     That Little Chalfont Methodist Church be designated the polling place for polling district ‘CR1- Little Chalfont North East’.

4)     That Cholesbury Village Hall be designated the polling place for polling districts ‘CMA- Hawridge’ and ‘CMB- St Leonards’.

5)     That Little Kingshill Village Hall be designated the polling place for polling districts ‘CS - Little Kingshill & Little Missenden’ ‘CVA - Prestwood & Heath End (2)’