Council agrees to explore the possibility of City Council elections every 4 years

Currently the term of office of one-third of the City Councillor expires each year, with County Council elections in the 4^th year. So over a 4 year cycle, all councillors have to stand down or seek re-election. The cost of running annual elections is significant and can be upwards of £100,000 a year.

So at its December meeting The City Council voted to explore the possibility of modifying its current electoral system in favour of “all up” elections every four years,

Conservative Group Leader Councillor Darius Laws (Rural North Ward), who jointly proposed the motion with the Labour and Liberal Democrat leaders, said changing to just one election every four years could save hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Cllr Laws said "the City Council has a very difficult task in balancing the books against a backdrop of rising costs, with a potential budget gap of £5m. Savings from a more efficient election  system would be most welcome.

Colchester Conservatives favour efficiency savings and exploring shared services across local authorities, as opposed to large increases in council tax. Inflationary pressures of the current magnitude are unknown for a generation and we look forward to seeing what the administration at the City of Colchester Council propose.”

Conservatives pledge to cut the cost of running the Council and divert funds into front-line services

2022-12-02