Agenda item

Questions

Minutes:

City-wide Elections

Deputy Brian Mooney asked a question of the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee concerning the recent City-wide elections and seeking details as to the level of turnout and postal voting compared to the 2013 elections.

 

Responding, the Chairman advised that the total turnout figure for the recent City-wide elections was 33.41%, representing some 4779 votes cast. Of these 4779 votes, 2803 (just under 59%) were postal votes.

 

This compared to an overall turnout of 24.93% at the previous 2013 City-wide election, which also saw just over 57% of voters use postal votes. However, it was important to bear in mind that the figures did not represent a like-for-like comparison, as the electoral register was now smaller and much more accurate as a consequence of an exercise to “clean up” the register following the last election.

 

In response to a supplementary question from Deputy Mooney concerning the possibility of introducing electronic voting, the Chairman reminded Members of the response he had previously provided on this issue at the December 2016 meeting of the Court. He confirmed that the legal and practical barriers outlined at the time were still in play and cautioned that acting in isolation would be unwise. He reiterated his agreement that e-voting was, in principle, the obvious next step in terms of democratic engagement, but that until the technology was in place, it would not be something the City of London Corporation was in a position to pursue. However, the City Corporation would continue to monitor developments and engage as appropriate with Government and others on this issue.

 

Reference was also made to the hard work and professionalism of the City Corporation’s electoral team during the City-wide elections.

 

Business Rate Reform

Henry Colthurst asked a question of the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee regarding action being taken by the City Corporation to promote a fundamental review of business rates.

 

The Chairman agreed that there was a clear need to look into a tax that was more representative of the way business was now conducted, especially with growing online trading operations; indeed, this was a challenge faced not just by UK local and central government, but one recognised by colleagues in other major global cities.

 

Detailed work on suggestions for a replacement tax had not yet been started by the City Corporation however, as the focus of work on the business rates system had changed in recent months in response to the Chancellor's budget announcement of a London pilot for fiscal devolution. Notwithstanding this however, he assured Members that the City Corporation would be proactively monitoring the development of central government policy following the forthcoming General Election, particularly any developments in business rates policy.