Belfast
City Council
Report to: Strategic Policy and
Resources Committee
Date: Friday, 20th November, 2009
Subject: Northern Ireland Office Consultation on the Filling
of Casual Vacancies on District Councils
Reporting Officer: Mr. Liam Steele,
Head of
Committee and Members’ Services (extension 6325)
Contact Officer: Mrs. Julie Lilley, Members’ Liaison
Officer (extension 6321)
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Purpose
of Report |
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To submit for the consideration of the Committee a
report regarding the consultation paper which has been issued by the Northern
Ireland Office entitled ‘Filling Casual Vacancies on District Councils’. |
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Summary of the Consultation Document |
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The consultation
paper seeks to examine proposals for reforming the process used currently in
Northern Ireland for the filling of casual vacancies arising on District
Councils in light of the implementation of the Review of Public
Administration in 2011 and the reduction in the number of Councils from 26 to
11. In addition, the paper also looks at the impact of the possible
introduction of a Severance Scheme for Members in advance of the next Local
Government elections and how co-options should be dealt with in this context.
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Key Issues |
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Introduction Casual vacancies
arising in District Councils in Northern Ireland can be filled by means of co-option. In most circumstances, District Councils
have generally acted within the spirit of the legislation and co-opted a
replacement from the same Political Party as the vacating Member, thereby
maintaining the Party balance on the Council. However, there have been recent
occasions when failure to agree on co-option has led to by-elections, which
have resulted in costs accruing to the ratepayer. Because proportional representation is the
method used to count votes polled in Local Government in Northern Ireland, by-elections
are likely to be won by a candidate from the strongest Party within an
Electoral Area and not necessarily by the Party which had won the seat in the
original electoral contest. These two issues –
cost and maintaining political balance as determined by the electorate – will
be even more important following the Review of Public Administration and the
Northern Ireland Office has put forward a number of alternatives and options
for change. Other Methods for Filling Vacancies
Identified in the Consultation Paper Amend Requirement for
Unanimous Agreement to Co-option Although strictly speaking not
an alternative to co-option, this method would involve relaxing the
requirement for unanimous agreement to be achieved before a co-option can
take place. Instead, a percentage threshold for agreement could be introduced
to ensure that a relatively small number of dissenting Members could not
prevent a co-option. However, it must be borne in mind that even with this
change to the current procedures there would remain scope for a dominant
Party to manipulate this rule to its advantage. Party
Nomination In
February 2009, changes were made to the method of filling vacancies arising
in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The new method provides for the Nominating
Officer of the Political Party to which the vacating Member belonged at the
time of the original election to nominate a replacement to fill the vacant
seat. Independent Members may provide the Chief Electoral Officer with a list
of up to six substitutes who will be asked, in ranked order, to fill the seat
in the event that it is a position held by an Independent Member which becomes
vacant. Similar changes are also being progressed for the filling of vacant
Northern Ireland seats in the European Parliament. The Countback Method In certain other jurisdictions the “countback” method of filling vacancies is used. This generally involves the re-examining of the ballots cast at the previous election, but under the assumption that the vacating Member was eliminated, in order to identify who the electorate’s next preferred candidate would have been. Alternatively, the vacating Member’s individual ballot papers can be re-examined, with the next preferred candidate invited to fill the vacant seat. This method is used currently in some Australian states and in the Maltese Parliament. Such a system would not be guaranteed to yield a reliable result since presumptions of voters intentions must be made which may not be accurate. Options for Reform A key
objective for the filling of vacancies arising in District Councils is to
ensure that the balance of representation secured at the time of the election
is maintained. This allows Councils to continue to reflect the values and
aspirations of the communities they serve.
By-elections can potentially distort this balance and the aim is to
minimise these as far as possible. The
options below set out potential alternatives to by-elections:
It
would appear that the most fair and equitable option of those listed above is
Option C, the Party Nomination system. However, to ensure that electoral
primacy is maintained it will be important to have clarity and rules as to
how Party nominations are managed where a vacating Member has changed
Political affiliation during the term of the Council. It would seem that the
most obvious solution, should this situation arise, would be to ask the
Nominating Officer of the Political Party to which the vacating Member
belonged at the time he or she was elected to nominate a replacement,
particularly since it is evident that voters in Northern Ireland tend to be
swayed more by the Parties to which candidates belong rather than the
individual views of the candidates themselves. In
order to ensure that Party nominations are managed and controlled effectively
within each Council, it would be appropriate that nominations be sought from
a Party representative within the affected Local Authority. Short-term Legislative
Reform Severance
Scheme for Members The
Department of the Environment undertook recently a consultation on proposed
severance arrangements for Councillors.
The Department indicated strongly that the introduction of a Severance
Scheme for Members should be accompanied by a reform of the system for
filling vacancies on District Councils partly because of the potential to
have large numbers of Councillors choosing to retire on or before the
reduction in the number of District Councils and the possibility of numerous
resulting by-elections. The Northern Ireland Office is strongly of the
opinion that, should a Severance Scheme be introduced in advance of the May
2011 Local Government Elections, special provision would be required to deal
with vacancies arising from Members availing of the scheme. Alternatives to
By-Elections The
consultation paper presents two options in relation to how to deal with
vacancies should a Severance Scheme for Members be introduced in the short
term. These are:
Option
1 would avoid the need for costly by-elections and all the associated
administration which needs to be put in place. In Belfast the existing
co-option policy has worked well and has been accepted by all the Political
Parties as the most efficient and democratic way to deal with vacancies
arising. Option
2 could result in some Councils having to operate for a period prior to 2011
with a severely reduced number of Members. However, the consultation paper
suggests that a solution could be to introduce a provision to ensure that
membership of a Council does not drop below two thirds in the period prior to
the elections in 2011. Given the level of support which has been shown by
Parties in respect of the Council’s co-option policy, of the two options
suggested in the consultation paper, Option 1 would appear to offer the best
process for the period up until May 2011.
However, the timing of the introduction of the Severance Scheme will
impact upon this. If the Severance Scheme were to be introduced so that it is
available for a specified period of time, then a situation could arise where
one Party on a Council could gain agreement to co-options for any of its
Members who wished to resign and at a later stage object to co-options
proposed by another Political Party, which would mean that the vacancies
could not be filled and the second Party would have to operate with a reduced
number of representatives. Clearly
this would be anti-democratic and, while it may not be likely to happen –
certainly in Belfast City Council, where the voluntary co-option policy has
been operated successfully and fairly by all the Parties for many years –
nevertheless it would appear to represent an anomaly which would be best
avoided. This could be achieved by
introducing the Severance Scheme in such a way that applications would have
to be received by a particular date so that all vacancies arising would occur
on the same day. The Council would
then have to decide whether it wished to approve all or none of the casual
vacancies arising from the Severance Scheme. On the other hand, on the basis that the Party
Nomination system can be recognised and acknowledged as being the most
appropriate option for dealing with casual vacancies within a Council following
the Review of Public Administration, and as no justifiable reason is provided
as to why this system could not be applied in the interim period, I would
take the view that this should be the process adopted as the Council’s
preferred option for the period up until May 2011.
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Recommendation |
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It is recommended that the Committee agrees to the comments outlined in this report being submitted to the Northern Ireland Office as the Council’s formal response on the filling of casual vacancies on District Councils. |
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Decision Tracking |
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Officer responsible: Liam Steele, Head of Committee and Members’ Services Date action to be completed by: Following approval at Council on 1st December, the Council’s response will be submitted to the Northern Ireland Office. |