Following on from the Electoral Boundary Review, Cornwall Council (CC) will now start the CGR.  The CGR is a review of the governance arrangements of all of the parishes in the CC area.

The CGR will consider whether it is appropriate to make changes to parish areas and parish electoral arrangements; and potentially the alteration, merging, creation and abolition of parishes, the naming of parishes and the adoption of alternative styles for new parishes. It might also involve changes to the electoral arrangements for parishes (the ordinary year of election; the council size; the number of councillors to be elected to the council, and whether to divide the parishes into wards for the purposes of elections).  In some cases it might be appropriate to group parishes under a common parish council.

Whilst the primary focus of the Review will be city, town and parish council matters, the outcome will be presented to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, which has responsibility for Cornwall Council ward matters. In a limited number of instances, the Council may wish to request the Commission to alter a unitary Council division boundary so that it is coterminous with a parish boundary.

There may also be a need to make changes that arise in consequence of the Review (termed “consequential matters”), and these might include provisions for the transfer of parish council staff, property and assets, or the setting of precepts for any new parish councils that may be formed.

Consequential Matters may include:-

• the transfer and management or custody of property;
• the setting of precepts for new parishes;
• provision with respect to the transfer of any functions, property, rights and liabilities;
• provision for the transfer of staff, compensation for loss of office (council staff redundancy), pensions and other staffing matters.

Cornwall Council will embark on the first round of consultation regarding the CGR in March 2019 with final recommendations being presented in mid 2020.  You can keep up to date with progress via Cornwall Council’s website or on the Governance Review page on our website which can be found under the news and events page – https://ggpc.org.uk/governance-boundary-review-cornwall/