The District of Adur (Scheme for Elections of Specified Council) Order 2003

Statutory Instruments

2003 No. 984

LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ENGLAND

The District of Adur (Scheme for Elections of Specified Council) Order 2003

Made

1st April 2003

Laid before Parliament

9th April 2003

Coming into force

6th May 2003

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by sections 86, 87 and 105 of the Local Government Act 2000(1) hereby makes the following Order:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) This Order shall be cited as the District of Adur (Scheme for Elections of Specified Council) Order 2003, and shall come into force on 6th May 2003.

(2) In this Order, “the district” means the district of Adur.

Specified authority

2.  The council of the district is specified under section 86 of the Local Government Act 2000 for the purposes of this Order.

New scheme for the ordinary election of councillors

3.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this article, the scheme for the ordinary election of councillors for wards of the district shall be a scheme under which—

(a) the term of office of councillors is four years;

(b) the elections are held on the ordinary day of elections of councillors(2) in 2006 and every second year after 2006;

(c) one half (or as nearly as may be) of the councillors are elected in each year in which the elections are held; and

(d) one half (or as nearly as may be) of the councillors retire in each year in which the elections are held.

(2) Of the councillors to be elected for each ward of the district in 2004(3)—

(a) one councillor shall retire in 2006 and accordingly the term of office of that councillor shall be two years; and

(b) the other councillor, or, in the case of Widewater ward, the other two councillors, shall retire in 2008 and accordingly the term of office of each such councillor shall be four years.

(3) The councillor who shall retire first in each ward for the purpose of paragraph (2)(a) above shall, subject to paragraph (4), be the councillor who was elected by the smallest number of votes.

(4) In the case of an equality of votes between the persons elected for any ward which makes it uncertain which of them is to retire first, that question shall be determined by lot.

(5) The lot shall be drawn at the next practicable meeting of the council after the question has arisen and the drawing of the lot shall be conducted under the direction of the person presiding at the meeting.

(6) All councillors retiring in any year of retirement shall do so on the fourth day after the ordinary day of election of councillors in that year, and the newly-elected councillors who succeed those retiring shall come into office on the day on which their predecessors retire.

Amendment and revocation

4.—(1) For paragraphs (3) to (7) of article 4 of the District of Adur (Electoral Changes) Order 2002, there shall be substituted—

“(3) Subject to paragraph (4), the number of councillors to be elected for each ward shall be two.

(4) The number of councillors to be elected for Widewater ward shall be three.”.

(2) Schedule 2 to that Order shall be revoked.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State

Christopher Leslie

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State,

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

1^st April 2003

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order provides for a new scheme for elections of councillors in the district of Adur.

Under the new scheme the term of office of councillors is four years, except for those councillors who retire in 2006 after a two year term. Elections are to be held in 2004 and biennially thereafter. One half (or as nearly as may be) of the councillors are elected in each year in which the elections are held (article 3).

Article 4 amends and revokes provisions in the District of Adur (Electoral Changes) Order 2002 which have been superseded by the provisions of this Order.

(1)

2000 c. 22.

(2)

For the ordinary day of elections 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 paragraphs 1 and 5 of Schedule 3 to the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (c. 29).

(3)

The District of Adur (Electoral Changes) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/2991) provides for a single election of all councillors in 2004, see paragraphs (1) and (2) of article 4 of that Order.