Local Authorities must comply with a number of legislative requirements regarding the location and accessibility of Polling Districts and Polling Places. The mandatory review process comprises a number of specified steps set out in Schedule A1 to the Representation of the People Act 1983, which includes a public consultation.
The last review for Tamworth Borough Council was conducted in 2019. A full polling place and polling district review will now be conducted.
The review will consider any representations from local residents and stakeholders in the borough, including any issues regarding access to premises or facilities for persons with disabilities. Any elector can make their views known and the process of doing so will be publicised. In addition, the review will consider the impact of the next four years’ worth of planned residential developments on existing electoral arrangements.
In encouraging views, it is of course the case that the availability and suitability of polling places is the key determining factor in the makeup of polling districts. Therefore, in asking for comments, we will request that alternative proposals should include suggestions for polling station locations.
It is the Returning Officers role to select the polling stations. It will be for Full Council which will make the decisions on any proposed changes to polling districts or polling places. The final scheme for polling arrangements will be adopted by the Chief Executive in accordance with the Council’s constitution.
The polling districts, polling places and polling stations finally decided on will be used for the May 2025 local elections.
Scope of the Review
Tamworth is divided into 50 polling districts covered by 52 polling stations. Polling districts, geographic subdivisions of each ward, as well as polling places for each of these districts are within the scope of this review. The review is considering the continued suitability of existing arrangements and, where necessary, will make proposals for:
- The creation or removal of polling districts,
- “Change” or “no change” to the boundaries between polling districts,
- “Change” or “no change” to the referencing of those polling districts,
- “Change” or “no change” to the polling stations within those polling districts.
Not in scope
Borough ward boundaries, county council boundaries and parliamentary constituency boundaries are not in scope of this review. The legislation requires that ward/county boundaries are reviewed by the Local Government Boundary Commission and not by Local Authorities themselves. We do not have a mandate to suggest alterations to the boundaries between wards.
The review will not consider comments regarding local authority boundaries, neighbouring parliamentary constituencies, the name of local authorities or other electoral areas within or bordering Tamworth Borough Council.
Glossary of terms
| Polling District | A polling district is a geographical sub-division of an electoral area. |
| Polling Place | A polling place is the area in which the Returning Officer selects the polling station. In Tamworth, polling places represent the same area as the polling district plus the adjoining polling district(s) to allow a greater degree of flexibility in deciding where a polling station should be located. |
| Polling Station | The polling station is the room or building where the poll takes place. |
Accessing information
To illustrate those recommendations for each ward, maps of the existing arrangements as well as maps of our proposed arrangements are available on www.tamworth.gov.uk
In the polling station information tables provided for each ward, the expression “Electorate” refers to the total number of registered voters in the polling district, as of Monday 2 September 2024.
In the polling station information provided for each ward, the expression “Polling Station Electorate” the total number of registered electors in the polling district who have opted to attend a polling station to vote, as of 2 September 2024. This figure excludes electors from the polling district who may have opted to vote by other means. This figure informs us of the maximum number of electors who may attend the polling station on polling day.