Plymouth wants more councilors

A 60-member council is being proposed

An increase in casework, particularly in deprived areas, is one of the reasons why Plymouth City Council wants three more people to become councillors.

It has suggested increased in size from 57 members to 60 across 20 wards, as part of a review into local elections.

The change would cost approximately £39,000 for three councillors on the basic allowance of £13,000, plus expenses, training and IT costs.

The last time the Boundary Commission reviewed the structure of Plymouth was more than 20 years ago.

Casework, governance arrangements and the role of scrutiny will all be looked into as the council examines how it wants to organiseitself for the next 15 to 20 years.

The authority says that casework each month had risen by about 45 to 532 over the past financial year and was higher in deprived areas. There are additional pressures because of the cost of living crisis too.

Plymouth is among the 20 per cent of most deprived districts in the country, according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Two in three councillors spend more time on council business than they used to and on average 16 hours a month on casework, according to a survey earlier this year.

A rise in the city’s population by a predicted 2.2 per cent to 270,000 by 2030 would mean an increase of 128 voters per councillor if the authority keeps to 57 councillors.

“Based on our housing led projection of the increase in our electorate in 2030, increasing our council size to 60 members would mean that the average number of electors per councillor would be 3,400,” said the council.

The Boundary Commission will cousult on arrangements  later this year.