Agenda item

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The Interim Corporate Governance Manager and Corporate Governance Graduate presented the results of the first consultation on establishing a Town Council for King's Lynn, highlighting strong resident support, key concerns, and next steps. The consultation ran for six weeks from early February to the end of March, with submissions accepted online, by paper, email, or letter. Information was distributed to nearly 20,000 properties in the unparished area, resulting in 915 individual respondents, surpassing the 1-2% response rate goal.

Approximately 86% of respondents supported the creation of a town council, with the leading theme being the desire for increased local voice and representation, especially in the context of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). Concerns about being absorbed into larger authorities and funding biases were prominent.

Around 10% of respondents opposed the creation of a town or parish council, primarily due to financial concerns such as council tax increases and the lack of a cap on the precept.

Over 86% of respondents favoured maintaining mayoral and civic heritage, citing the importance of historical continuity and civic pride. Opposition was mainly due to cost concerns, with some suggesting the mayoralty could be maintained at reduced expense. Few respondents suggested alternatives to a town or parish council, with options like ward forums and community associations receiving minimal support.

Councillor Rust thanked Officers for the presentation and questioned the financial impact on residents with the chartered trustee model. The Interim Corporate Governance Manager explained that the chartered trustee model would have limited financial impact as it does not deliver services, and further financial modelling will be conducted if a second consultation proceeds.

The chartered trustee model was discussed as an interim arrangement to preserve civic functions and the mayoralty if a parish council was not established, with limited financial impact as it would not deliver services.

In response to Councillor Kemp, the Interim Corporate Governance Manager explained the precept for a new parish council would depend on the assets and services transferred, with the Borough Council funding the initial year if established before unitary status. Provisions such as a parish clerk would also be provided initially.

Councillor Colwell thanked the officers for the presentation and recognised this consultation compared to others done by the Borough Council had received a good response and residents were interested. He questioned if there was an expected drop in responses to the second consultation and potential extended consultation. In response the Interim Corporate Governance Manager highlighted the second consultation was to focus on technical details such as the name, implementation date, election arrangements, precept, civic heritage, and warding. She noted the response rate may dip due to timing, but significant resident interest was still anticipated. She recognised a consultation period of the summer was not best practice but may be required due to time constraints and the deadline of January 2027.

Councillor Sayers questioned the responses for residents not within the unparished area and the impact on the statistic if those responses were removed. The Corporate Governance Graduate advised she did not have the specific data however the highlighted 90% of the responses were from residents from the unparished area.

In response to questions from Councillor Bone and Kemp, the Interim Corporate Governance Manager explained Officers were drafting recommendations based on the consultation feedback, to be presented to the Electoral Arrangements Committee on 29th June and then to Full Council in July. If approved, a second, more technical consultation will follow, with the aim of establishing a new parish council by April 2027, subject to tight legislative timeframes.

Councillor Kemp raised concerns about warding arrangements, especially in deprived areas losing representation under the unitary model. The Interim Corporate Governance Manager confirmed that draft recommendations on councillor numbers per ward would be published, and no ward was proposed to have only one councillor.

Councillor Kemp raised further question about who decides on warding and councillor numbers, with the Interim Corporate Governance clarified that current proposals were drafts developed with an external consultant and will be subject to further input and consultation.