Cllr Paul Greenall, Conservative member for Derby Ward, Ormskirk, is calling on members of the Borough Council to 'cut the cost of politics'.
Cllr Greenall is bringing a motion to Full Council on July 22nd calling on the Electoral Commission to review the number of Councillors in West Lancashire. Presently, there are 54 Councillors and Cllr Greenall wants to ask the Electoral Commission to reduce the number of Councillors by a third. Additionally, he wants to move the Council to all-out elections every four years, rather than the current elections by every third, and estimates these proposals will save Council Tax payers around £100,000 per year.
Cllr Greenall said "In recent years the Council has had to make big savings and this process will continue for a number of years to come. "
"While every area of the Council has been examined in order to make these savings, so far the political structure of the Council has escaped examination. "
"Reducing the cost of politics was a Conservative manifesto pledge in last May's local elections. Had we still been in control of the Council, we would have done exactly what I am now proposing."
"The time is right to look at whether we really need 54 councillors and three elections every four years, and that means a wide-ranging, independent review of every single ward. If enacted, my suggestion would save around £100,000 a year and I look forward to cross party support, because politicians should not be immune from the demands of the current economic climate".
Councillor Greenall's motion is as follows: "That this Council recognises the current economic climate and the difficult decisions which have been made in recent years and which may need to be made in the coming years. Mindful that major service reviews have been undertaken as part of the process of organisational downsizing, the Council now believes a similar exercise needs to be undertaken in relation to the political structure. Accordingly, this council requests the Managing Director(s) to write to the Electoral Commission to request:
1) That a formal review of the elected membership of this Council be undertaken, with a view to reducing the number of elected members by a third.
2) That a review of current Ward boundaries be undertaken so that the reduced number of elected members each represent single member wards and,
3) That the remaining members be elected en-bloc every four years in 'all-out' elections commencing in 2019, so as to avoid the County Council elections in 2017.
and that the Council anticipates the above changes could yield savings in the region of £100k p.a."