At 6.58pm, Jackie Hinchliffe, Liz Roy and Tile Hill left the meeting.

At 6.58pm, the meeting reconvened into public session.

At 6.58pm, Asmat Hussain, Steven Mair and Elaine Sheridan joined the meeting.

The report presented shared with General Services Committee the outcome and review of Elections for the Council by thirds, which took place on the 4 May 2023.

The following points were raised:

·       Member referred to paragraph 2.6, confirmation was given that the 8 Inspectors were staff of the returning officer.

·       Member referred to paragraph 3.2, 51 people refused ballet papers and questioned whether this figure could be broken down into wards as this would be useful to understand the reasoning. (see action point 1)

·       Member referred to paragraph 3.7, 218 voter authority certificates applications received and questioned how this compared to other local authorities close to Thurrock. Electoral Services Manager stated that a lot of local authorities had found the number to be lower than expected.

·       Member referred to paragraph 6.1, questioned whether the complaints regarding intimidation and fly posting were in the same ward. It was confirmed the fly posting occurred in the Stanford le Hope area with details not being to hand for the intimidation complaint. The Monitoring Officer confirmed the process undertaken in this instance.

·       Member noted from results of the survey that 100% respondents answered they had enjoyed their day.

·       Member stated the ID Data had limited value.

·       Members stated that it was disappointing that some electors were unable to vote.

·       Member praised the work undertook by the elections team.

·       Member questioned the overall cost for the election to which the Electoral Services Manager stated this was contained within the budget set for the election. (see action point 2)

·       Member requested that a post election report be provided after every election.

·       Member requested information on Postal Vote Amendments to enable members to help residents and provide support for those already on postal vote and for those residents not able to use IT. Electoral Services Manager would like to arrange to meet with group leaders and independent members to share the information coming from the Elections Act. Understand what help could be provided, help those who were digitally challenged, communications and what would help assist members working with the elections team. (see action point 3)

·       Members agreed it was important to reach out to those residents who were not digitally engaged but wanted to vote.

·       Member referred to the Voter Authority Certificate and how he had assisted residents and was amazed on the quick service.

·       The Electoral Services Manager stated measures were already in place to reach out to residents, such as Local Area Coordinators assisting residents, help line, contact centre and having the option of a postal vote.

Actions:

1.   Electoral Services Manager to check whether this information could be broken down into ward level and whether this information was available on the web site.

2.   Electoral Services Manager to share overall costings for the election.

3.   Electoral Services Manager to liaise with group leaders and independent members.

RESOLVED

The General Services Committee noted that a high-level report with data and general information be taken to General Services Committee for noting and comments.