Report of the Chief Executive attached

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Executive which informed of plans for conducting a future compulsory review of polling districts and polling places within the city. The review needed to take account of new Parliamentary Boundary changes that would come into effect for the next UK Parliamentary General Election (UKPGE).  The report also informed the committee of plans to support the annual canvass for updating the electoral register and plans to promote and implement existing Tranche 1 and new Tranche 2 duties of the Elections Act 2022.

The proposals for parliamentary constituency boundaries had now been finalised by the Boundary Commission for England and delivered to the Speaker of the House of Commons. The proposals recommended the following parliamentary constituencies which fell wholly or partly in the Manchester district:

·                Blackley and Middleton South (taking in the existing Manchester wards of Charlestown, Crumpsall, Harpurhey, Higher Blackley and Moston, as well as the Rochdale Council wards of East Middleton and South Middleton).

·                Gorton and Denton (taking in the existing Manchester wards of Burnage, Gorton & Abbey Hey, Levenshulme and Longsight, as well as the Tameside Council wards of Denton North East, Denton South and Denton West).

·                Manchester Central (taking in the existing Manchester wards of Ancoats & Beswick, Cheetham, Clayton & Openshaw, Deansgate, Miles Platting & Newton Heath and Piccadilly, as well as the Oldham Council wards of Failsworth East and Failsworth West).

·                Manchester Rusholme (taking in the existing Manchester wards of Ardwick, Fallowfield, Hulme, Moss Side, Rusholme and Whalley Range).

·                Manchester Withington (taking in the existing Manchester wards of Chorlton, Chorlton Park, Didsbury East, Didsbury West, Old Moat and Withington).

·                Wythenshawe and Sale East (taking in the existing Manchester wards of Baguley, Brooklands (Manchester), Northenden, Sharston and Woodhouse Park, as well as the Trafford Council wards of Brooklands (Trafford), Priory and Sale Moor.

In order to ensure that both parliamentary and local elections (standalone or combined) could be delivered using the same scheme and also that any parliamentary by-election could be run on existing boundaries, there were a small number of polling districts (with accompanying polling places) where the boundaries could not be changed ahead of the UKPGE as these polling districts were currently ‘cross-constituency’ (polling districts that fell within a different parliamentary constituency to the other polling districts within the same local authority ward). 

The Electoral Services Unit was planning to commence the Annual Canvass to encourage increased electoral registration at the end of July 2023 and would continue until the end of November in readiness for the new Electoral Register to be published on the 1 December 2023.  Elections Officers were engaging with Council staff and external stakeholders to publicise electoral registration across the city and to particular parts of the community

It was reported that a second tranche of legislation arising out of the Elections Act would start to come into effect over the next 12 months, and this would impact on the Local and Combined Authority Mayoral Elections in May 2024, and the next UKPGE. The Council’s Elections Team were closely engaging with the GM Strategic Lead for Elections to be fully prepared for these changes as well as indirectly engaging with the Government.

Decisions

The Committee:-

(1)        Note the need for, and issues with, a compulsory review of polling districts and polling places.

(2)        Note the changes to parliamentary boundaries that have been submitted by the Boundary Commission of England to the Speaker of the House of Commons and which will come into effect at the next UK Parliamentary General Election.

(3)        Note and support plans for the Annual Canvass of Electors, including ways the Electoral Services Unit, other sections of the Council and external stakeholders can encourage dissemination and engagement with a range of communities across the city of material and core messages to promote increased electoral registration.

(4)       Note the timeline for the next tranche of duties from the Elections Act 2022 and that officers will consider ways to promote these duties in a similar manner to the annual canvass.