Agenda item
Elections/Polls update – Thursday 5 May 2022
Minutes:
Will Tuckley, Chief Executive, introduced the report by informing the Committee of the administrative progress and the preparations being undertaken for the Mayoral and the Borough Council Elections in May 2022. Mr Tuckley emphasised that having reviewed the experiences of the 2014 elections and each of the electoral events since then, have fed into the management plan for the May 2022 elections. Mr Tuckley stressed how important and significant the forthcoming elections were in his role as Returning Officer in two ways; firstly, the access to democracy to maximise people's ability to take part in the democratic process and secondly by making sure that the process was safe and secure despite having had challenges in the past. To address these two items, a project group had been established which was chaired by Mr Tuckley himself and included representatives from the Police Service, as well as other services across the Council and the Electoral Commission.
Mr Robert Curtis, referred to the report contained in the agenda and highlighted the hierarchy structure which was slightly different than the elections in 2014 and 2018, this included the introduction of three formal deputies with full powers, the Director of Legal (Monitoring Officer), the Corporate Director Health, Adults and Community and Deputy Chief Executive and Mr Curtis himself.
It was confirmed that several meetings had taken place with external stakeholders to assist in the project planning and risk assessments being undertaken. The membership of the Project Board was referred to and it was noted that IT, Communications and Facilities would have separate delivery plans which would feed into the main project plan.
It was noted that the Police would be putting together their own project plan which will cover the whole of London but there would also be elements in there that would cover and relate to Tower Hamlets specifically and these would be presented at the Project Board. Mr Curtis mentioned that the publication of the notice of election was Monday 28th March 2022, when the election would formally start, and this was the date for when purdah would commence for the Council. The implications of the purdah would be formally communicated to all Members and Officers directly from the Monitoring Officer.
Mr Curtis confirmed that the Count venue would be East Winter Gardens in Canary Wharf. The count would be separated into two separate days with the verification of the ballot boxes and count for Mayoral Election on Friday 6th May 2022 and the Borough Council Elections would commence on Saturday 7th May 2022. It was noted that due to Covid there would continue to be a number of safety measures in place that were previously used for the GLA elections in 2021.
Concerns were raised about the number of people that would attend for the verification process which could potentially include the Mayoral candidates, all the Borough Council candidates as well as party agents/representatives and that could result in a huge number of people attending for the first part of the process. The Committee were assured that there had been lessons learnt from the 2014 elections and that there would be robust security measures and controls in place and guests invited to observe the count would be required to provide photograph barcoded invitation upon on entry as well as this the invitation list would be tightly managed and controlled. Mr Tuckley said that the venue had the capacity to accommodate the numbers anticipated but these issues were being tested strenuously and if there were any risks, then other mechanisms would be explored to ensure that the venue is safe and secure.
The Chair thanked Mr Tuckley and Mr Curtis for the update and requested that Members of the Committee are kept up-to date with the progress and preparations leading up to the elections in May 2022.
Accordingly, the General Purposes Committee;
RESOLVED
1. The report be noted.
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