Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillors Christopher Newbury and Ashley O’Neill.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 21 October 2019.

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 October 2019 were presented for consideration and it was,

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes as a true and correct record.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations.

To reecive any announcements through the Chair.

There were no announcements

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this

agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item.

Please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda for any further

clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such

questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on 24 October 2019 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on 29 October 2019. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

No statements or questions were submitted.

To consider the terms of reference for a Community Governance Review.

The Committee received a report setting out details of a proposed Community Governance Review, a process to alter the governance arrangements of parishes within the Wiltshire Council area. Following a request by the Committee to parish concils for expressions of interest, 79 requests had been received. The Committee had considered these at a workshop, and terms of reference for a review prepared setting out proposed areas and a proposed timetable for the review.

Bearing in mind the length of time needed to complete a review in advance of the May 2021 elections, resource requirements and the complexity of schemes requested, not all areas requested could be reviewed during the upcoming review. The Committee agreed to focus on areas on the edge of market towns impacted by the final recommendations of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England in their Electoral Review of Wiltshire Council, as well as a petition for a new parish which they were required to review, and requested areas relating to Wilcot Parish, where a potential anomaly in its status had been identified.

The Committee discussed the terms of reference and agreed to amend the period of information gathering to allow for deeper consultation on specific schemes ahead of the formulation of draft recommendations. It was stated unitary members and parishes would be contacted for further information in November and December 2019, and that there may be public sessions if appropriate in 2020 for some areas. It was also considered that for a parish merger proposal, residents in both parishes should be contacted for their views.

It was also agreed that proposals to change the names of parishes would be dealt with under the processes of S75 of the Local Government Act 1972 at an appropriate time.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

To approve the Terms of Reference for a Community Governance Review as detailed at Appendix B as amended, to formally commence on 1 November 2019.

To agree to progress Scheme 12 (Cheverell Parva), Scheme 27 (Fittleton) and Scheme 36 (Wilcot) and Scheme 72 (Fyfield and West Overton JPC) in respect of changing the names of the parishes in question, under S75 of the Local Government Act 1972 at an appropriate time.

To confirm the date of the next scheduled meeting as 28 January 2020.

Additional dates would be circualted to the Committee.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

The Committee noted the upcoming Polling District and Polling Place Review recommendations to Full Council on 26 November 2019, and whether the announcement of a General Election for 12 December 2019 would impact this. It was stated in response that owing to the nature of the recommendations not to adjust polling districts, and make minimal changes to polling stations, the recommendations could proceed, and that for a General Election at short notice many alternative venues might need to be used in any case.