201113CNPABdPaper2AAElection Process Review Plan Cttee Convener Election

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY Form­al Board Paper 2 13^th Novem­ber 2020

FOR DECISION

Title: Elec­tion Pro­cess Review and Elec­tion of Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Convener

Pre­pared by: Dav­id Camer­on, Dir­ect­or of Cor­por­ate Services

Pur­pose

This paper presents a review of the pro­cess used in Septem­ber 2020 to elect the Deputy Con­vener, with a num­ber of sug­ges­ted amend­ments to resolve points where there was some lack of clar­ity. The paper also seeks to ini­ti­ate the elec­tion pro­cess for the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Convener.

Recom­mend­a­tions

The Board is reques­ted to:

a) Con­sider the review points on the elec­tion pro­cess and to determ­ine wheth­er mem­bers wish to adapt pro­cesses as provided for as ​“poten­tial amend­ments” in Annex 1; b) Con­sider wheth­er there are any fur­ther points of review from their per­spect­ive of the Deputy Con­vener elec­tion which are not drawn out of the intern­al review pro­cess set out in Annex 1 and which require to be con­sidered pri­or to sub­sequent use of the elec­tion pro­cess; c) Agree to com­mence the elec­tion pro­cess for Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Con­vener with effect from the date of this Board meet­ing; d) Sub­ject to decision at point ​“c”, note the planned elec­tion timetable for con­duct of the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Con­vener election.

Elec­tion Process

1. The Board agreed an elec­tion pro­cess at its meet­ing of 28 August 2020. This pro­cess is based on Stand­ing Orders while reflect­ing cur­rent COVID19 busi­ness con­tinu­ity require­ments for use in elect­ing the Authority’s Deputy Con­vener. https://​cairngorms​.co​.uk/​r​e​s​o​u​r​c​e​/​d​o​c​s​/​b​o​a​r​d​p​a​p​e​r​s​/​2​8​0​8​2​0​2​0​/​2​0​0​8​2​8​C​N​P​A​B​d​P​a​p​e​r​1​A​A​B​o​a​r​d​E​l​e​c​t​i​o​n​P​r​o​c​e​s​s​e​s​V​1​.​0.pdf

2. One amend­ment was agreed to the pro­cess estab­lished in this paper: to allow 10 work­ing days (two cal­en­dar weeks) for the pro­cess of sub­mit­ting val­id nom­in­a­tion to the Prop­er Officer, as opposed to the 15 work­ing days pro­posed in para­graph 8 of the paper.

3. The elec­tion of the Authority’s Deputy Con­vener was con­cluded and res­ults announced on 2 Octo­ber 2020.

4. Fol­low­ing con­duct of the Deputy Con­vener elec­tion, a review of the elec­tion pro­cess used has been under­taken. Areas where lack of clar­ity were iden­ti­fied by mem­bers and poten­tial gaps noted in the pro­cess by the Dir­ect­or of Cor­por­ate Ser­vices are drawn out at Annex 1 to this paper, with poten­tial res­ol­u­tion to them should mem­bers wish to resolve the points in the man­ner indicated.

Decision Point 1

1. Mem­bers are reques­ted to con­sider the review points on the elec­tion pro­cess and to determ­ine wheth­er mem­bers wish to adapt pro­cesses as provided for as ​“poten­tial amend­ments” in Annex 1.

2. Mem­bers are also reques­ted to con­sider wheth­er there are any fur­ther points of review from their per­spect­ive of the Deputy Con­vener elec­tion which are not drawn out of the intern­al review pro­cess set out in Annex 1 and which require to be con­sidered pri­or to sub­sequent use of the elec­tion process.

Pro­posed Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Con­vener Elec­tion Process

1. The Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Con­vener was elec­ted in Decem­ber 2017 for a three-year term com­men­cing 1 Janu­ary 2018 to 31 Decem­ber 2020.

2. An elec­tion for the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Con­vener using the elec­tion pro­cess agreed on 28 August, as amended fol­low­ing con­sid­er­a­tion of this paper, is pro­posed to be ini­ti­ated from the date of this Board meet­ing. This will allow for com­ple­tion of the elec­tion pro­cess in Decem­ber 2020, for the elec­ted mem­ber to take up the role of Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Con­vener with effect from 1 Janu­ary 2021 until 31 Decem­ber 2023.

Decision Point 2

1. The Board is reques­ted to agree to com­mence the elec­tion pro­cess for Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Con­vener with effect from the date of this Board meeting.

Elec­tion Timetable

1. Should the Board agree to amend busi­ness con­tinu­ity and stand­ing order pro­cesses as set out in this paper, the fol­low­ing rep­res­ents an illus­trat­ive timetable for con­duct of the elec­tion of the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Convener:

a) 13 Novem­ber: Board con­firms pro­cess for elec­tion. b) 27 Novem­ber 17:00: final date and time for receipt of val­id nom­in­a­tions and asso­ci­ated papers. This provides the 10 work­ing days allowed for in the elec­tion pro­cess approved by the Board on 28 August. c) In week com­men­cing 30 Novem­ber: Issue bal­lot papers and can­did­ates’ state­ments. Tar­get issue of these papers by Wed­nes­day 2 Decem­ber. d) Wed­nes­day 16 Decem­ber 17:00: tar­get final date and time for receipt of bal­lots. e) By Fri­day 18 Decem­ber: tar­get count of bal­lot and announce­ment of res­ult, sub­ject to avail­ab­il­ity of mem­bers in the event of any tie break.

1. The Board is reques­ted to note the elec­tion timetable at para­graph 10.

Dav­id Camer­on, davidcameron@​cairngorms.​co.​uk 7 Octo­ber 2020

Annex 1: Review of Deputy Con­vener Elec­tion Pro­cess and Poten­tial Adjust­ments to Process

Review Point	Mat­ter for Con­sid­er­a­tion	Poten­tial Amendments
Allow 10 work­ing days (2 cal­en­dar weeks) for nom­in­a­tion process	Timetable agreed by Board on 28 August for use in Deputy Con­vener election.	No action pro­posed. Retain arrange­ments used in Deputy Con­vener election.
Nom­in­at­ing and second­ing a candidate	Cur­rent stand­ing orders as draf­ted do not lim­it mem­bers to mak­ing only a single nom­in­a­tion or second­ing a single candidate.	Add to [4a] and as para 9e of elec­tion pro­cess as set out in 28 August paper: A mem­ber may nom­in­ate or second a single can­did­ate only in any elec­tion process.
Pub­lic­a­tion of names of mem­bers who have nom­in­ated and seconded a candidate	There is no pro­vi­sion in the stand­ing orders, nor the agreed elec­tion pro­cess, to pub­lish the names of mem­bers who have nom­in­ated and seconded candidates.	Add to [4b] and para 10 of elec­tion pro­cess as set out in 28 August paper: The Prop­er Officer will val­id­ate nom­in­a­tions and pub­lish a list of mem­bers nom­in­ated along with names of mem­bers nom­in­at­ing and second­ing each nom­in­ated candidate.
Anonym­ity of process	There was a sug­ges­tion that post office frank­ing on envel­opes used to return bal­lots would rep­res­ent a breach of anonym­ous vot­ing processes.	No action pro­posed. Retain arrange­ments used in Deputy Con­vener election.

Note: ref­er­ences in square brack­ets are to agreed Stand­ing Orders: https://​cairngorms​.co​.uk/​r​e​s​o​u​r​c​e​/​d​o​c​s​/​b​o​a​r​d​p​a​p​e​r​s​/​1​4​0​6​2​0​1​9​/​1​9​0​6​1​4​C​N​P​A​B​d​P​a​p​e​r​4​A​n​n​e​x​1​B​o​a​r​d​S​t​a​n​d​i​n​g​O​r​d​e​r​s.pdf

Ref­er­ences to para­graph num­bers are to the elec­tion pro­cess paper presen­ted to the Board on 28 August 2020.