People asked when they want to vote

ROSSENDALE council is undertaking a public consultation on how often electors should vote for councillors.

Residents’ views are being sought on whether the council should change to ‘whole-council elections’ every four years or retain the existing system of election ‘by thirds.’

‘By thirds’ means that in three years out of four, one-third of council seats are up for election.

Under current legislation, the council has the power to change its electoral arrangements to ‘whole council elections’, which would mean that all seats would be elected at the same time, once every four years.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England will soon be reviewing the council’s ward boundaries and the numbers of councillors in each ward.

If the council stays with elections by thirds, the Commission will aim for all wards to have three members each.

If the council changes to whole-council elections then each ward can have a varying number of members, or the council can ask for single member wards.

In a statement, the council said they will “take into account the opinion of its residents, stakeholders and members and are asking residents to let them know which system they would prefer.

“Following the consultation, a special meeting of Full Council will be held to consider the consultation and make the final resolution. If a change to ‘whole-council’ elections is approved, it cannot be changed again until a period of five years has passed.”

The consultation closes on July 11, 2022 at 12noon. To complete the survey visit bit.ly/ RBC elections