The City of Worcester (Electoral Changes) Order 2002

Statutory Instruments

2002 No. 3225

LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ENGLAND

The City of Worcester (Electoral Changes) Order 2002

Made

18th December 2002

Coming into force in accordance with article 1(2) and (3)

Whereas the Boundary Committee for England(1), acting pursuant to section 15(4) of the Local Government Act 1992(2), has submitted to the Electoral Commission(3) a report dated July 2002 on its review of the city(4) of Worcester together with its recommendations:

And whereas the Electoral Commission have decided to give effect to those recommendations:

And whereas a period of not less than six weeks has expired since the receipt of those recommendations:

Now, therefore, the Electoral Commission, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 17(5) and 26(6) of the Local Government Act 1992, and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Order:

Citation and commencement

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the City of Worcester (Electoral Changes) Order 2002.

(2) This Order except articles 6(3) and 6(4) shall come into force—

(a) for the purpose of proceedings preliminary or relating to any election to be held on 6th May 2004, on 15th October 2003; and

(b) for all other purposes, on 6th May 2004.

(3) Articles 6(3) and 6(4) shall come into force on the day after that on which this Order is made.

Interpretation

2.  In this Order—

“city” means the city of Worcester;

“existing”, in relation to a ward, means the ward as it exists on the date this Order is made; and

any reference to the map is a reference to the map marked “Map referred to in the City of Worcester (Electoral Changes) Order 2002”, of which prints are available for inspection at—

(a) the principal office of the Electoral Commission; and

(b) the offices of Worcester City Council.

Wards of the city of Worcester

3.—(1) The existing wards of the city(7) shall be abolished.

(2) The city shall be divided into fifteen wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 1.

(3) The wards shall comprise the areas designated on the map by reference to the name of the ward and demarcated by red lines; and the number of councillors to be elected for each ward shall be the number specified in respect of the ward in column (2) of that Schedule.

(4) Where a boundary is shown on the map as running along a road, railway line, footway, watercourse or similar geographical feature, it shall be treated as running along the centre line of the feature.

Elections of the council of Worcester

4.—(1) Elections of all councillors for all wards of the city shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2004(8)(9).

(2) The councillors holding office for any ward of the city immediately before 10th May 2004 shall retire on that date and the newly elected councillors for those wards shall come into office on that date.

(3) The order of retirement of councillors shall be as set out in Schedule 2.

(4) Where the number of councillors elected in 2004 for any ward of the city is two or more—

(a) the first to retire shall, subject to paragraphs (6) and (7), be the councillor elected by the smallest number of votes; and

(b) the second to retire shall, subject to those paragraphs, be the councillor elected by the next smallest number of votes.

(5) In the case of an equality of votes between any persons elected which makes it uncertain which of them is to retire in any year, the person to retire in that year shall be determined by lot.

(6) If an election of councillors for any ward is not contested, the person to retire in each year shall be determined by lot.

(7) Where under this article any question is to be determined by lot, the lot shall be drawn at the next practicable meeting of the council after the question has arisen and the drawing shall be conducted under the direction of the person presiding at the meeting.

Wards of the parish of Warndon

5.  The parish of Warndon(10) shall be divided into two parish wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 3; each parish ward shall comprise the area of the city ward specified in respect of the parish ward in column (2) of that Schedule, and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be four.

Parish elections

6.—(1) The ordinary elections of parish councillors for the parish of Warndon in 2003 shall not take place; and any such parish councillor holding office immediately before 5th May 2003 who would, but for this paragraph, have retired on that date shall, unless he resigns his office or it otherwise becomes vacant, continue to hold office until the fourth day after the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2004.

(2) Elections of all parish councillors for the parish of Warndon shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2004, 2007 and every fourth year after 2007.

(3) The term of office of all parish councillors elected in accordance with the paragraph above shall be three years for those parish councillors elected in 2004 and four years for those parish councillors elected in 2007 and every fourth year after 2007; and they shall retire on the fourth day after the ordinary day of election of councillors in the year of retirement and the newly elected councillors shall come into office on the day on which their predecessors retire.

(4) Rule 8 of the Local Elections (Parishes and Communities) Rules 1986(11) (filling of casual vacancies) shall have effect, in the case of a casual vacancy occurring before 10th May 2004 in the office of a parish councillor for the parish of Warndon as if the references in paragraphs (1) and (4) of that rule to the day on which the councillor would regularly have retired were a reference to 10th May 2004.

Maps

7.  Worcester City Council shall make a print of the map marked “Map referred to in the City of Worcester (Electoral Changes) Order 2002” available for inspection at its offices by any member of the public at any reasonable time.

Electoral Registers

8.  The Electoral Registration Officer(12) for the city shall make such rearrangement of, or adaptation of, the register of local government electors as may be necessary for the purposes of, and in consequence of, this Order.

Revocation

9.  The City of Worcester (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977(13) is revoked, save for articles 8 and 9(6).

Signed by the members of the Electoral Commission

Pamela Gordon

Commissioner

12th December 2002

Glyn Mathias

Commissioner

12th December 2002

Neil McIntosh

Commissioner

12th December 2002

Karamjit Singh

Commissioner

18th December 2002

Sam Younger

Commissioner

12th December 2002

Graham Zellick

Commissioner

12th December 2002

Article 3

SCHEDULE 1 NAMES AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

(1)	(2)
Name of Ward	Number of councillors
Arboretum	2
Battenhall	2
Bedwardine	3
Cathedral	3
Claines	3
Gorse Hill	2
Nunnery	3
Rainbow Hill	2
St Clement	2
St John	3
St Peter’s Parish	2
St Stephen	2
Warndon	2
Warndon Parish North	2
Warndon Parish South	2

Article 4(3)

SCHEDULE 2 ORDER OF RETIREMENT OF COUNCILLORS

(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Name of Ward	Number of councillors to retire in 2006	Number of councillors to retire in 2007	Number of councillors to retire in 2008
Arboretum	0	1	1
Battenhall	1	0	1
Bedwardine	1	1	1
Cathedral	1	1	1
Claines	1	1	1
Gorse Hill	1	0	1
Nunnery	1	1	1
Rainbow Hill	1	0	1
St Clement	0	1	1
St John	1	1	1
St Peter’s Parish	1	1	0
St Stephen	0	1	1
Warndon	1	0	1
Warndon Parish North	1	1	0
Warndon Parish South	1	1	0

Article 5

SCHEDULE 3 WARDS OF THE PARISH OF WARNDONNAMES AND AREAS OF WARDS

(1)	(2)
Name of Ward	Area of Ward
North	The city ward of Warndon Parish North
South	So much of the city ward of Warndon Parish South as comprises the parish of Warndon

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order gives effect to recommendations by the Boundary Committee for England, a committee of the Electoral Commission, for electoral changes in the city of Worcester.

The changes have effect in relation to local government elections to be held on and after 6th May 2004, and in relation to certain parish elections that would otherwise have taken place in May 2003.

Article 3 abolishes the existing wards of the city and provides for the creation of 15 new wards. That article and Schedule 1 also make provision for the names and areas of, and numbers of councillors for, the new wards.

Article 4 makes provision for a whole council election in 2004 and for reversion to the established system of election by thirds in subsequent years.

Schedule 2 provides for the order of retirement of councillors.

Article 5 makes electoral changes in the parish of Warndon.

Article 6 provides for elections of Warndon parish council.

Article 8 obliges the Electoral Registration Officer to make any necessary amendments to the electoral register to reflect the new electoral arrangements.

Article 9 revokes the City of Worcester (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977 (S.I. 1977/414), with the exception of articles 8 and 9(6).

The areas of the new city wards are demarcated on the map described in article 2. Prints of the map may be inspected at all reasonable times at the offices of Worcester City Council and at the principal office of the Electoral Commission at Trevelyan House, Great Peter Street, London SW1P 2HW.

(1)

The Boundary Committee for England is a committee of the Electoral Commission, established by the Electoral Commission in accordance with section 14 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41). The Local Government Commission for England (Transfer of Functions) Order 2001 S.I. 2001/3962) transferred to the Electoral Commission the functions of the Local Government Commission for England.

(2)

1992 c. 19. This section has been amended by S.I. 2001/3962.

(3)

The Electoral Commission was established by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41). The functions of the Secretary of State, under sections 13 to 15 and 17 of the Local Government Act 1992, to the extent that they relate to electoral arrangements within the meaning of that Act, were transferred with modifications to the Electoral Commission on 1st April 2002 (S.I. 2001/3962).

(4)

The non-metropolitan district of Worcester has the status of a city.

(5)

This section has been amended by S.I. 2001/3962. There are amendments to this section made otherwise than by S.I. 2001/3962 that are not relevant to this Order.

(6)

This section has been amended by S.I. 2001/3962.

(7)

See the City of Worcester (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977 (S.I. 1977/414).

(8)

Article 4 provides for a single election of all the councillors and for reversion to the system of election by thirds, as established by articles 8 and 9(6) of the City of Worcester (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977 (S.I. 1977/414).

(9)

For the ordinary day of election of councillors of local government areas, see section 37 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2), amended by section 18(2) of the Representation of the People Act 1985 (c. 50) and section 17 of, and paragraphs 1 and 5 of Schedule 3 to, the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (c. 29).

(10)

The area of the parish of Warndon was altered by the City of Worcester (Parishes) Order 1994 (S.I. 1994/218).

(11)

S.I. 1986/2215, to which there are amendments not relevant to this Order.

(12)

As to electoral registration officers and the register of local government electors, see sections 8 to 13 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2).

(13)

S.I. 1977/414.