Decision details

The appointment of a temporary employee w.ef 2 March 2016 to carry out a review of Electoral Services within BDC and NEDDC.

The temporary contracts is for approx 20-25 days over a 15 month period at a daily rate of £577 per day. It is anticipated that the maximum cost will be one of £15,000 split equally between the two Councils.

The cost will be met from the Transformation Reserve at BDC and from Invest to Save Reserve at NEDDC.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England has advised that it intends to carry out a full review of the electoral arrangements in Bolsover and NE Derbyshire.

Both elections teams have elections in May and an EU Referendum on 23 June, as well as County Council and possible combined Authority Mayoral elections in 2017, together with the usual IER annual canvas arrangements.

Whilst a lot of the research will be gathered in-house, the Councils do not have sufficient in-house capacity to pull together the relevant submissions and draw together a substantiated case to put forward to the leaders.

The person engaged is a former Association of Electoral Administrators consultant who has expert knowledge and has managed a number of local authority electoral reviews.

The option to carry out the submission work in house was rejected due to capacity issues and the need to have the submission completed in full by September 2016.

There is no requirement to appoint someone on a permanent basis and therefore a short-term employment contract seemed a viable alternative.

Advertising a temporary position was not appropriate given the timescales involved, the temporary nature of the project, the limited cost and the specialist nature of the work.