Community governance reviews

A community governance review (CGR) is a review of a whole or part of the district to look at one or more of the following: 

• creating, merging, or in any way altering parish boundaries
• the naming of parishes in the style of new parishes
• the electoral arrangements for parishes (e.g., the year of election, council size, the number of councillors to be elected to the council, and parish warding)
• grouping parishes under a common parish council or de-grouping parishes

A CGR aims to:

• enhance community engagement
• improve local democracy
• create effective delivery of local services

It must look at the community's identity, interests, existing representation and engagement arrangements.

A request might be considered unreasonable if it disrupts community cohesion or does not result in effective and convenient local government arrangements.

Community governance review process

A CGR can be triggered by:

• local residents through a valid petition to South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC)
• a parish council through an application (email or letter) or a valid petition
• officers at SCDC. For example, when a parish boundary no longer matches a natural settlement pattern.

Any petition provided to us must be signed by the required number of local electors. The 3 thresholds are as follows:

When an application or valid petition is made, this will be taken to the council’s civic affairs committee which would include draft terms of reference and a timetable for the review.

If the the civic affairs committee agrees to the application or petition, then a CGR will be carried out. This will include:

• consulting with electors and other persons or bodies who might have an interest
• further report(s) taking into account all representations to be given to the committee

The committee or council will make the final decision on whether to adopt any proposed changes.

Timescales

Any review will need to be completed within 1 year from when the valid petition/application is received.

The provisions of any Order made after a CGR will take effect on the following 01 April. Electoral arrangements will come into effect at the next scheduled elections for the parish or town council.

Upcoming elections are listed on the Council’s Elections webpage. If an unscheduled election is required before the next scheduled poll then the parish will be required to meet the full cost. The cost of a parish election will align to the size of the electorate.

National Recommendations

The Government’s latest guidance on community governance reviews can be found here.

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) have suggested the following number of councillors based on the number of electors: