Community Governance Review of Horsforth Town Council

Terms of reference

Context

Leeds City Council has resolved to undertake a Community Governance Review of Horsforth Town Council.

Legal Framework

In undertaking the Review, the council will be guided by:

Part 4 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007
the relevant parts of the Local Government Act 1972
Guidance on Community Governance Reviews issued in accordance with section 100(4) of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 by the Department of Communities and Local Government and the Local Government Boundary Commission for England in March 2010

and the following regulations which guide consequential matters arising from the Review:

Local Government (Parishes and Parish Councils) (England) Regulations 2008
Local Government Finance (New Parishes) Regulations 2008

[The 2007 Act has transferred powers to the principal councils which previously, under the Local Government Act 1997, had been shared with the Electoral Commission's Boundary Committee for England.]

Section 81 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 requires the council to publish its Terms of Reference in a Review.

Publication of terms of reference

This document is being published online and at:

Electoral Services, 4th Floor West, Civic Hall, Leeds LS1 1UR
Horsforth Town Council noticeboard

What is a Community Governance Review?

A Community Governance Review is the process used to consider parish arrangements. It is a review of the whole or part of the district area to consider one or more of the following:

creating, merging, altering or abolishing parishes;
the naming of parishes and the style of new parishes;
the electoral arrangements for parishes (the ordinary year of election; council size; the number of councillors to be elected to the council, and parish warding), and
grouping parishes under a common parish council or de-grouping parishes.

In the case of this review, it is to consider the electoral arrangements, namely creation of an additional ward (proposed Broadgate & Drury Fields ward) and redistribution of the existing number of councillors.

Reason for the review

Why is the council undertaking a Community Governance Review at this time?

The reason for the review is:

A request from the Town Council to review electoral arrangements within the Town Council area.

Present structure of Horsforth Town Council

Horsforth Town Council is a warded Town Council with 22 councillors. The distribution of councillors across wards is shown in the table below.

All parish and town councils have elections every four years, the next being in May 2027.

Electorate

The council has used the Register of Electors of September 2024, providing the existing electorate figures for Horsforth Town Council. The number of registered electors for the parish on that register is 15,995.

What considerations cover the number of parish councillors?

Leeds City Council notes the number of parish councillors for each parish council shall not be less than five. There is no maximum number. There are no rules relating to the allocations of councillors.

The government's guidance is "each area should be considered on its own merits, having regard to its population, geography and the pattern of communities," and therefore the Council is prepared to pay particular attention to:

existing levels of representation,
the broad pattern of existing council sizes which have stood the test of time and
the take-up of seats at elections in its consideration of this matter.

The Aston University Business School found the following levels of representation which may be used as a guide:

Electorate	Councillor Allocation
less than 500	5 to 8
501 to 2,500	6 to 12
2,501 to 10,000	9 to 16
10,001 to 20,000	13 to 27
greater than 20,000	13 to 31

In parishes where there has been a history of uncontested elections and/or the need to co-opt members to fill vacancies, the Council will consider whether the present levels of representation are appropriate or whether there is a "democratic surplus" in a parish.

By law, the principal council must have regard to the following factors when considering the number of councillors to be elected for the parish:

the number of local government electors for the parish;
any change in that number which is likely to occur in the period of five years beginning with the day when the review starts.

Parish governance in our area

Leeds City Council believes parish councils play an important role in terms of community empowerment at local level.

The Council wants to ensure parish governance in our district continues to be robust, representative and enabled to meet the challenges that lie before it.

Furthermore, it wants to ensure there is clarity and transparency to the areas Parish Councils represent.

It wants to ensure that the electoral arrangements of parishes – the warding arrangements and the allocations of councillors – are appropriate, equitable and readily understood by their electorate.

Who undertakes the review?

Leeds City Council is statutorily responsible for carrying out the review.

The conduct of the review will be overseen by the Council's Electoral Working Group.

Formal decisions on the recommendations arising from the review will be made by General Purposes Committee and Full Council in accordance with the Council's constitution.

Officer contact details for the review are:

Susanna Benton
Head of Electoral Services
0113 3784771
susanna.benton@leeds.gov.uk

Consultation

The Council has drawn up and now publishes this Terms of Reference document. This document lays out the aims of the review, the legislation that guides it and some of the policies the Council considers important in the review.

A timetable for the review can be found at Appendix A to this document.

The Council will consult by:

Writing to Horsforth Town Council
Writing to all parish councils within and adjoining the Community Governance Review area
Publicising the review at www.leeds.gov.uk/elections
General press releases and social media posts

In accordance with the Act, representations received in connection with the Review will be considered, and steps will be taken to notify consultees of the outcome of the Review. This will be done by:

Publishing online
General press releases and social media posts
Personal communication

Completion of the review

The Review will be completed when the Council adopts the Reorganisation of Community Governance Order.

Any financial and administrative provisions of the reorganisation order will be come into force on a date to be confirmed.

The electoral arrangements for a new or existing parish council will come into force on 6 May 2027.

How to contact us

If you have any questions about the Community Governance Review, please contact:

Susanna Benton
Head of Electoral Services
0113 3784771
susanna.benton@leeds.gov.uk

Date of publication: 6 January 2025

Appendix A