number of councillors

Question

our local authority is considering reducing the number of councillors from 9 to 7
it seesm slightly odd as councillors work for free so struggle to see how this is a cost reduction exercise what are the pros and cons of reduciing the number  i seem to recall the minimum is in fact 5 any thoughts at all as we are new but wish to submit thoughts on this matter

Answer 1

The argument advanced elsewhere for reducing the size is to create a more competitive envionment whereby contested elections become the norm. The theorey is more elections = better quality of candidates instead of people automatically getting on un-contested with endless vacancies and people on councils for decades doing absolutely nothing other than putting off good peopleoff. I do think it looks bit daft locally have some councils with 17 Seats with regularly no more than 9 filled.

Answer 2

What justification is the LA advancing to support or justify the reduction?  They must have a reason.
As progress has intimated, if it is supposed that fewer seats will engender more contested elections that strikes me as a complete load of rubbish without any basis in reality.

Answer 3

Many years ago I was involved in the establishment of a new parish council locally and believe there are government guidelines (not sure if it's in any legislation) which recommends the number of councillors relative to the population of the area.  This suggests that any change in the number of councillors should be related to changes in the population of the parish area.  For example if a large development has occurred it might be reasonable to expect a larger number of councillors.  Similarly, if a boundary review has reduced the population significantly it might be expected that councillor numbers might be reduced too.  However, I don't think the number of councillors can be changed at the whim of the principal authority; it would have to be part of a wider electoral review which itself would include formal consultation.