Reigate & Banstead Borough Council is carrying out an interim review of polling districts and polling places and is asking residents, disability groups and other interested parties to give their views.

The review is to ensure that electors have suitable facilities for voting and that every polling place is accessible to those with disabilities, as far as is reasonable and practical.

The review looks at:

• Polling districts, which are the areas created by dividing electoral wards into smaller sections with roughly the same number of electors.
• Polling places, which are the locations, normally the buildings, in which polling stations are situated.

As part of this review a public consultation will run until Thursday 30 November 2023.

Mari Roberts-Wood, Local Returning Officer, explains: “Local authorities are required to carry out a review of Polling Districts and Polling Places every five years."

“We are inviting views on our proposals for the size and boundaries of polling districts, and the location and suitability of polling places, with particular regard to access for residents with disabilities. It’s important everyone is able to vote at a polling station if they want to do so.”

The public consultation document can be viewed on our website at www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk/polling-district-and-place-review-2023

Comments should be submitted in writing to [email protected] or by post to Electoral Services, Town Hall, Castlefield Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 0SH.

Representations received will be made available for inspection and will be published on the Council’s website at the conclusion of the review.

Following the consultation, recommendations will be presented to full Council for consideration in January 2024.

The review is being carried out ahead of the next Parliamentary General Election, which must be held by January 2025.

A further review will be conducted in 2024, after the final recommendations have been published for the ongoing review of Surrey County divisions, in readiness for the next scheduled Surrey County Council elections in 2025. This review therefore does not have regard to the draft proposals for future County divisions.