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5 Jun 01Jules Jolliffe Judgement Board
A special Judgement Board, appointed from amongst members of the local community, met on Friday 18 May. They were given the task to consider the results of the Jules Jolliffe campaign and provide the Council with an opinion on how to interpret the results. The Judgement Board members were given a presentation on the findings of the campaign by the Jules Jolliffe team and a spokesperson from the Citizen’s Jury was also invited to give a presentation about the day and the reasons for the ‘verdict’. The Council had received over 28,000 responses (26.4%) from the residents of Poole which, to date, is the highest known response in the country. The results revealed that there were two preferred options - Directly Elected Mayor with a Cabinet and Leader with a Cabinet. After examining all the results, the Judgement Board concluded that the consultation campaign was very effective, imaginative, full and fair. They felt that the response was excellent and representative of the views of residents and other stakeholders of Poole and was of the opinion that the Council should give greatest weight to the response of electors as outlined in the Government’s guidance. The Judgement Board recommended to the Council that they adopt Option 2 - Leader with a Cabinet. Their reasons were as follows: The majority of responses on a ‘first past the post’ decision supported this option. The overall response demonstrated an overwhelming support for one of the two ‘Cabinet’ styles of Local Government. The qualitative results supported this option e.g. the Resident’s Panel and roadshows and other presentations where people voted on the electronic vote counter. The Judgement Board also noted the significant support for a Directly Elected Mayor with a Cabinet. However, they felt that if the Council held a formal referendum (to decide if people did want a Directly Elected Mayor), it would be unlikely to achieve as high a response as the Jules Jolliffe campaign. Indeed, the voting cards already sent out to all of Poole’s electorate may have been regarded as a referendum and holding a ‘formal’ one could be seen by the public as a waste of time and money. Brian Miles, spokesperson for the Judgement Panel said "Every member of the Jules Jolliffe Panel has been tremendously impressed with the Council’s consultation on this important matter. The response was tremendous, and we felt that all stakeholders had given a clear indication to the Council as to the way forward hence the conclusions of the Panel following examination of all the details." Leader of the Council, Brian Clements said "Although all councils have to meet the Government’s guidelines, Poole has received a far better response from its public than any other that I am aware of. Accepting the Panel’s recommendation would allow us to continue developing the ‘Leader with a Cabinet’ model in a way that reflects Poole’s own characteristics". The Board’s conclusions will be presented to all Councillors and Poole’s new political structure will be decided on 26 June at a public meeting of the Full Council at the Civic Centre, 7.00pm. The Council will then inform the DETR who must approve the decision before the new structure is implemented. The new structure will be in place before the end of 2002. Councillors will make the final decision about which option to adopt at a meeting of the Full Council on 26 June. The meeting starts at 7pm at the Civic Centre and is open to the public. The new system will be put in place no later than the end of 2002. More feedback on the campaign will be in the next edition of the Council’s newspaper, Poole News which will be delivered through your letterbox in mid July. The breakdown of all the responses received from the Jules Jolliffe campaign is: General public 28,485 responses - 26.4% of electorate (base of 107,868 electorate) Option Response Mayor and Cabinet 10,883 Leader and Cabinet 11,287 Mayor and Council Manager 5,647 Spoilt papers 668 Most of the responses indicated that they had sufficient information to come to a decision. The Panel were informed that there were 1,131 late responses as follows:- Option Response Mayor and Cabinet 189 Leader and Cabinet 171 Mayor and Council Manager 90 Spoilt papers 681 Roadshows 229 votes were cast using the electronic vote counter. Option Response Mayor and Cabinet 56 Leader and Cabinet 143 Mayor and Council Manager 30 Schools Forum 20 votes by Schools Forum Option Response Mayor and Cabinet 9 Leader and Cabinet 6 Mayor and Council Manager 5 People with personal disabilities - Fourways Option Response Mayor and Cabinet 7 Leader and Cabinet 18 Mayor and Council Manager 2
Organisations representing people with personal disabilities
Option Response
Mayor and Cabinet 2
Leader and Cabinet 6
Mayor and Council Manager 0
Residents’, Community Associations, Tenant Groups
10 replies
Option Response
Mayor and Cabinet 1
Leader and Cabinet 9
Mayor and Council Manager 0
Residents Amenity Groups
18 replies received.
Option Response
Mayor and Cabinet 5
Leader and Cabinet 6
Mayor and Council Manager 7
Business community
226 responses.
Option Response
Mayor and Cabinet 91
Leader and Cabinet 90
Mayor and Council Manager 45
Citizens Jury
Members of the one day Citizen’s Jury had a more informed view as a result of the day of examination and information.
Option Response
Mayor and Cabinet 1
Leader and Cabinet 12
Mayor and Council Manager 1
Catherine Corbin, Marketing Manager
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