Introduction

Why undertake a Community Governance Review (CGR)?

1. The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (LGPIH) devolved the power to take decisions relating to the creation or abolition of parishes, the boundaries of parishes, and the electoral arrangements of parish councils from the Secretary of State and the Electoral Commission to principal councils, such as WFDC. From 2008, district councils have had responsibility for undertaking CGRs and have been able to decide whether to give effect to the recommendations made in those reviews. In making that decision, Councillors need to account for the views of residents and give regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State and the LGBCE.  

2. Wyre Forest District Council has resolved to undertake a CGR, pursuant to Part 4, Chapter 3 of the LGPIH, with a view to asking the public in Kidderminster Foreign parish (and the Wyre Forest District more widely) about their views on the potential transfer of the Habberley Road development to the Kidderminster Town Council area. It also seeks views on whether there is a preference for there to be no wards in Kidderminster Foreign parish.

3. A CGR provides an opportunity for principal authorities to review and make changes to community governance within their area.  

4. A CGR is a review of the whole or part of the district to consider one or more of the following:

• Creating, merging, altering, or abolishing parishes
• The naming of parishes and the style of new parishes
• The electoral arrangements for parishes (the ordinary year of election, council size, the number of councillors to be elected to council, and parish warding) and 
• Grouping parishes under a common parish council or de-grouping parishes.

5. The Government has emphasised that, ultimately, recommendations made in a CGR ought to improve community engagement, result in more cohesive communities, yield better local democracy, and result in more effective and convenient delivery of local services.

6. Parish councils are a democratically elected tier of local government with their own Councillors, which provide a range of local services for a locally defined area. Councillors would be elected by local residents.

Scope of the review

7. The District Council has resolved to undertake a CGR to consider whether electoral boundaries of Kidderminster Foreign parish are:

1. Reflective and/or representative of the identities and interests of the community in that area and
2. Effective and convenient to the community in that area

In doing so, the review is required to take into account:

1. The impact of community governance arrangements on community cohesion
2. The impact of any population transfers on the number of electors per Councillor
3. The impact of any boundary changes on the parish council’s capacity to collect parish precepts

8. The area that is the subject of the review consists of the local government parishes of Kidderminster Foreign and Kidderminster (see attached map).  Kidderminster Foreign Parish is part of Wribbenhall and Arley district council ward and part of Cookley, Wolverley & Wribbenhall county council division. The adjacent part of Kidderminster Town Council concerned in this CGR belongs to the Franche and Habberley North ward of Wyre Forest District Council, and to the St Barnabas Division of Worcestershire County Council. 

Who will undertake the CGR?

9. As the principal authority, the District Council is responsible for undertaking all CGRs within its electoral area. 

10. Draft recommendations will be made to Full Council for consideration and, depending on the outcome of the consultation, this would include making of a reorganisation order. 

Consultation

11. Before making any recommendations or publishing final proposals, in line with legislative requirements, the District Council will take full account of the views of local people. The District Council will comply with legislative requirements by:

• Consulting local government electors for the area under review. In Kidderminster Foreign, each elector will have the opportunity to take part in a local advisory poll about whether or not they support the transfer of the transfer of the Habberley Road development to the Kidderminster Town Council area;
• Consulting any other person or body (including Worcestershire County Council and other local authorities) which appears to the principal council to have an interest in the review. This will also allow electors in other areas, such as the Franche & Habberley North ward of Kidderminster, to express their views; and
• Taking into account any representations received in connection with the review.

12. When taking account of representations, the District Council is bound to have regard to the need to secure that community governance within the area under review:

• Reflects the identities and interests of the community in that area, and
• Is effective and convenient

13. In order to ensure that this review is conducted transparently, as soon as practicable, the District Council will publish its recommendations and take such steps as it considers sufficient to ensure that persons who may be interested in the review are informed of the recommendations and the reasons behind them.

14. The District Council will also notify the outcome of the review to any persons or bodies who submit written representations.

Timetable for the review

15. A CGR must, by statute, be concluded within a twelve month period from the day on which the review commences. A CGR commences when the Council publishes its Terms of Reference. A CGR concludes when the District Council publishes the recommendations made in the review.

Principle guiding the review

Relevant legislation

16. In undertaking a CGR, the District Council will apply the guiding principles as appropriate from the following legislation and guidance:

• The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007
• The Local Government Act 1972
• Guidance on CGRs (DCLG/EC)
• Local Government (Parishes and Parish Councils) (England) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/625)

Electorate 

17. In considering the electoral arrangements of the parish stated within these Terms of Reference, the District Council is required to consider any change in the number or distribution of the electors which is likely to occur in the period of five years beginning with the day when the review starts. 

18. The parish of Kidderminster Foreign has 748 electors as of 2022. The 2029 estimates of electors, used by the LGBCE, show that WA-KF2 polling district will grow by around 228 electors. This can be primarily attributed to the development at Habberley Road. In total, 120 dwellings are expected at the Habberley Road development, for which planning permission has been granted. However, if the development were to be transferred to the Kidderminster Town Council area, the electorate of WA-KF2 would fall to about 390 electors, with the additional circa 228 electors associated with the development being allocated to an appropriate polling division in Franche & Habberley North. 

Justification and General Considerations for the Review

19. As the principal Council, Wyre Forest District Council has a legal duty to carry out a CGR of Kidderminster Foreign Parish following the receipt of an application by the Parish Council. The application “formally request[ed] that Wyre Forest District Council undertake a CGR in respect of the current Parish Council, given the housing growth at Habberley Road”. The request did not seek any particular outcome or propose what the electoral arrangements would be.

20. The Council wishes to ensure that electors should be able to identify clearly with the parish in which they are resident. It considers that this sense of identity and community:

• Lends strength and legitimacy to the parish structure
• Creates a common interest in parish affairs
• Encourages participation in elections to the parish council
• Leads to representative and accountable government
• Engenders visionary leadership, and
• Generates a strong, inclusive community 

The Council considers that parishes should reflect distinctive and recognisable communities of interest, with their own sense of identity; the feeling of local community and the wishes of local inhabitants are therefore primary considerations in this Review.

21. The Council is anxious to balance carefully the considerations of changes that have happened over time, through population shifts or additional development for example, and that have led to a different community identity with historic traditions in its area. The Council notes the Government's Guidance that community cohesion should be taken into account in this Review.

22. If the review leads to the transfer of the Habberley Road development to Kidderminster Town Council area, no additional costs for either parish council are anticipated, since the area to be transferred contain no parks, public toilets, market spaces, clocks, or anything that could constitute a financial commitment for a parish council.  

23. WFDC believes that local views in the parish would support Kidderminster Foreign Parish remaining as a single ward for the purposes of parish council elections, regardless of whether or not the land transfer occurs. The review therefore proposes to remove the warding arrangements that are being implemented as a result of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England’s final recommendations on the county council electoral review. Views are particularly sought on removing the warding arrangements within Kidderminster Foreign.

24. If the land transfer goes ahead, it would be necessary for the District Council to make a reorganisation order to give effect to the new arrangements.

25.   If the review results in the retention of existing boundaries, a reorganisation order would also be required but only in respect of the electoral arrangements for Kidderminster Foreign, if there is support for removing the warding arrangements. 

Reorganisation of Community Governance Orders and Commencement

26. If changes are agreed, a reorganisation order would be required and would be the subject of separate consultation. This would be implemented in accordance with Government guidance. More detail on what would be contained in a reorganisation order is set out for information earlier in this consultation paper.

27. The review will be completed when the Council adopts a ‘Reorganisation of Community Governance Order’. Copies of this Order, the map(s) that show the effects of the order in detail, and the document(s) which set out the reasons for the decisions that the Council has taken (including where it has decided to make no change following a review) will be deposited at the Council’s Offices and on the Council’s website.

28. In accordance with the guidance issued by the Government, the Council will deposit and make available for public inspection maps to illustrate each recommendation as soon as possible after making the order. The Council will inform the Secretary of State, the Electoral Commission, the Office of National Statistics, and the Director General of the Ordnance Survey.

Consultation – How to take part and how to contact us.

29. Local government electors in Kidderminster Foreign will be able to take part in a local advisory poll on 1 May 2025. All interested parties will be invited to express their views in the period from 10 September to 10 December 2024. Participants will be asked the following yes/no question:

“Should the Habberley Road development be transferred from the parish of Kidderminster Foreign to the town of Kidderminster?”

30. Participants will be asked for any additional comments they would like to submit about the review under these Terms of Reference including in respect of the proposed removal of warding arrangements in Kidderminster Foreign. These can be submitted to the following email address: kfcommunitygovernancereview@wyreforestdc.gov.uk  

or by post to:

C S Newlands
Solicitor to the Council
Wyre Forest District Council, Wyre Forest House
Finepoint Way, Kidderminster, DY11 7WF

Publication of Terms of Reference

31. These Terms of Reference will be published on the District Council’s web site: www.wyreforestdc.gov.uk and will be available for public inspection at The Hub, Green Street, Kidderminster DY10 1HA.