Community Governance Review - stage 2 - Shefford

Responses and recommendations

Responses from consultation

Parish council: no proposal received

5 responses

Comments:

“17 - because of the growth in the town”

Feedback received through the public consultation indicated a mix of views on the current level of representation with some suggesting the number of councillors should be increased. There were no other suggested changes. This view has been considered alongside the working group’s rationale to ensure that any final draft recommendation reflects the aims of the terms of reference as well as the views of the community.

Draft recommendations

  1. that the parish name of Shefford should remain unchanged
  2. that the number of parish councillors on Shefford Town Council are reduced from 15 to 11

Reason for recommendations

The recommendation to reduce the number of councillors is made in accordance with the terms of reference due to the number of councillors being disproportionate to the electorate or to avoid uncontested elections and the subsequent need to co-opt members to fill the outstanding vacancies.

Map

Proposal

Parish and ward information (Shefford)
Shefford parish topic Value
Current number of councillors 15
Working group proposed number of councillors 11
Electorate as of 1 May 2025 5,797
Current ratio of electors to councillors 386
Forecast electorate for 2030 5,804
Revised ratio of electors to councillors 528

Election history and number of candidates

Seats and candidates
Number of seats 15
Number of candidates in 2023 12
Number of candidates in 2019 13
Number of candidates in 2015 12
Number of candidates in 2011 13