Community Governance Review
Daventry District Council
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007
Community Governance Review
Terms of Reference
Introduction
Daventry District Council has resolved to undertake a Community Governance Review (CGR) pursuant to Part 4, Chapter 3 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 to consider parish matters.
Table 1
Parish/Area
Matters to be considered
Boughton
The number of Parish Councillors for the Parish Council, following a request from the Clerk for an increase by one following new development.
Byfield
The number of Parish Councillors for the Parish Council, following a request from the Clerk for a decrease in numbers from eleven to nine.
Brixworth
Review boundaries to take into consideration Brampton Valley Way and alignment of electoral area.
Crick
Review boundaries of the parish to include the parts of DIRFT currently within the parishes of Kilsby, Yelvertoft and Lilbourne.
Daventry
Town Review of the northern boundary with Welton following planning permission for development (Micklewell Park).
Review of the north eastern boundary with Norton (NE SUE).
Review of parish ward boundaries within Daventry.
Review of number of seats on Town Council.
Farthingstone
Review of the number of Parish Councillors for the Parish Council following a request from the Clerk for a decrease in numbers from seven to five.
Great Oxendon
Possible merger with Kelmarsh Parish Meeting.
Guilsborough
Review of boundaries to include field below cemetery that crosses Ravensthorpe boundary.
Harlestone
Possible creation of a separate Parish for new(er) development areas.
Hollowell & Teeton
Following a request from Hollowell and Teeton Parish Council, review Hollowell/Teeton boundary at 3 locations:
On the boundary around Ravensthorpe Reservoir
At the property of Gulliver’s Lodge on the Teeton Road
Across Hollowell Reservoir
Norton
Request from Clerk to keep boundaries as is until the new development reaches a sufficient size to have a stand-alone parish.
Overstone
Possible creation of a separate Parish or increase in seats on Parish Council for new development area.
Ravensthorpe
Review of boundaries with Guilsborough and Hollowell & Teeton parishes.
Stowe IX Churches Review of boundary with Weedon Bec.
Weedon Bec Possible merger of Weedon Bec, Flore and Dodford.
West Haddon
Following request from Parish Clerk possible merger with Winwick parish meeting and therefore to increase number of Councillors.
As a result of the requests received above, the following parishes will also be included within the review as consultees:
Table 2
Parish/Area
Reason why included in the review
Church with Chapel Brampton As a result of the request from Brixworth.
Cottesbrooke As a result of the request from Brixworth.
Creaton As a result of the request from Brixworth.
Daventry Town Future development issue raised by Daventry District Council and Norton Parish. Change of number of parish wards and numbers of Councillors.
Dodford As a result of the request from Weedon Bec.
Flore As a result of the request from Weedon Bec.
Guilsborough As a result of the request from Ravensthorpe.
Hollowell & Teeton As a result of the request from Ravensthorpe.
Kelmarsh As a result of the request from Great Oxendon.
Kilsby As a result of the request from Crick.
Lilbourne As a result of the request from Crick.
Norton Future development issue raised by Daventry District Council.
Overstone Future development issue raised by Daventry District Council.
Ravensthorpe As a result of the requests from Hollowell and Teeton and Guilsborough parishes.
Spratton As a result of the request from Brixworth.
Weedon Bec As a result of the request from Stowe IX Churches.
Welton As a result of the request from Daventry Town.
Winwick As a result of the request from West Haddon.
Yelvertoft As a result of the request from Crick.
There are currently 20 Parish Meetings across the District. A Parish Meeting is created when the number of electors in a parish is too small to create a Parish Council.
Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1972 allows a ‘Grouping Order’ to be made which allows smaller parishes to come together under a common council.
The Parish Meetings have been asked to discuss whether or not they would like to be considered for such an arrangement. Therefore, the Parish Meetings and their neighbouring Parish Councils are also included, in the event that any of them wish to be considered for a grouping arrangement:
Table 3
Neighbouring Parishes Parish/Area
Althorp East Haddon
Harlestone
Brington
Ashby St Ledgers Barby
Kilsby
Watford
Welton
Braunston
Brington Brockhall
Preston Capes Canons Ashby
Woodford Cum Membris
Hellidon Catesby
Staverton
Badby
Charwelton
Hellidon Charwelton
Badby
Everdon
Preston Capes
Woodford Cum Membris
Byfield
Welford Clay Coton
Cold Ashby
Yelvertoft
Creaton Cottesbrooke
Naseby
Lamport
Guilsborough
Norton Dodford
Whilton
Flore
Weedon Bec
Newnham
Cold Ashby Elkington
Winwick
Welford
Yelvertoft
Badby Fawsley
Hellidon
Newnham
Charwelton
Cottesbrooke Haselbech
Naseby
Kelmarsh
Maidwell
Catesby Hellidon
Badby
Charwelton
Staverton
Brington Holdenby
Church Brampton
East Haddon
Hollowell & Teeton
Spratton
Arthingworth Kelmarsh
Great Oxendon
Clipston
Naseby
Maidwell
Sibbertoft Marston Trussell
Clipston
East Farndon
Yelvertoft Stanford on Avon
Welford
Sibbertoft Sulby
Naseby
Cold Ashby
Welford
Cold Ashby Thornby
Naseby
Guilsborough
Winwick
Yelvertoft Winwick
Cold Ashby
Thornby
Guilsborough
West Haddon
Watford
Crick
The Council will undertake the review in accordance with the Guidance on community governance reviews issued by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) in March 2010 (“the guidance”).
What is a Community Governance Review?
A CGR is a review of the whole or part of the Council 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, such as the ordinary year of election, council size, number of councillors to be elected to the council and parish warding
• Grouping parishes under a common parish council or de-grouping parishes
The Council is required to ensure that community governance within the area under review will be:
• Reflective of the identities and interests of the community in that area; and is effective and convenient
In doing so, the Review is required to take into account:
• The impact of existing community governance arrangements on community cohesion
• The size, population and boundaries of any local community or proposed parish or town council
Why is the Council undertaking the review?
The guidance states that it is good practice for principal councils (in this context that means this council) to undertake CGRs every 10-15 years.
Who undertakes the review?
A working group has been established to deal with the day to day work of the review, in conjunction with officers from the Elections Team. Chaired by the Governance and HR Manager, the Working Group will be responsible for considering each request and consultation processes received, before formulating recommendations to Council. The final decision relating to each recommendation sits with full Council.
Consultation
A full consultation document will be produced, detailing the proposals for each of the areas. The document will be emailed to the parishes concerned and published on a dedicated ‘Community Governance Review’ page on the Daventry District Council website. Paper copies will also be available on request for anybody without access to the internet.
If any requests are received regarding merging or splitting existing parishes, a specific document will be produced for those areas, outlining the implications of merging or splitting the parish. The document will be delivered to every address in the parish and will include a pro-forma style return slip and pre-paid envelope so that residents can let the council know if they support the proposals. Officers from the Elections Team will also look to hold consultation drop-in events in the affected parishes, the details of which will be finalised as and when they are required.
Additional consultation briefings or explanations may be arranged as required, or incorporates into existing events, such as Parish Clerk Forum meetings.
All consultation documents will also be available via the consultation portal on the Daventry District Council website, so that people can respond electronically if they so wish.
All consultation responses will be logged and reported back to the working group and full Council. Names and addresses of individual respondents will not be included in the central log for data protection purposes. Responses received from parish councils will be highlighted as such and will be assumed to be an official response on behalf of the whole parish council.
Timetable for the Review
The 2007 Act requires that the principal council must complete a CGR within 12 months of the date of the publication of the Terms of Reference. The proposed timetable below complies with the legal requirement.
Monday 19th March 2018
Consideration of Terms of Reference by SMT
Wednesday 16th May 2018
Consideration and agreement of Terms of Reference by full Council (then Notify NCC of Review)
Thursday 17th May to Wednesday 18th July 2018
Consultation period for Parishes and District Councillors to raise issues (Stage 1)
Wednesday 18th July 2018
Deadline for submission of issues to be looked at (from parishes and district councillors)
Friday 27th July 2018 Final Terms of Reference Published (CGR Order to be completed one year from now)
Between Friday 28th July and Friday 10th August 2018 (exact date to be determined
Meeting with working group to discuss requests received and prepare consultation (Stage 2)
Friday 10th August to Friday 14th September 2018
Prepare consultation information
Monday 17th September to Friday 16th November 2018 (9 weeks)
Consultation period with members of all affected areas (Stage 3 – Electorate and other stakeholders)
Between Monday 19th November and Monday 10th December 2018 Meeting with working group to discuss consultation responses received, recommendations formulated.
(Stage 4)
Monday 21st January 2019
Report to SMT with Recommendations
Thursday 7th February 2019
Report to Strategy Group with Recommendations
Monday 25th February to Monday 25th March 2019
Consultation on Recommendations (Stage5)
Between Friday 29th March and Thursday 4th April 2019
Meeting with working group to discuss consultation responses received and recommendations finalised
Thursday 11th April 2019
Final report to Strategy Group
W/C Monday 29th April 2019 Final recommendations published and CGR Review Order drafted
Wednesday 15th May 2019 Final report to Council and finalise CGR Order
May 2020
Implement Order
How to respond
If you have any questions or comments on these Terms of Reference or the Community Governance Review process as a whole, please email electoralservices@daventrydc.gov.uk, or write to:
CGR
Elections Team
Daventry District Council
Civic Offices
Lodge Road
Daventry
Northants
NN11 4FP