Wirral Council is beginning a consultation with residents on whether changes should be made to the current cycle of local councillor elections.
At present, the council operates a system whereby each of the 22 wards elects one councillor each year to serve a four-year term. Then every fourth year there are no elections held at all.
This is how Wirral Council currently elects its 66 members, which is the number of representatives agreed as necessary by the independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England.
The change that the council will be consulting on from next week would instead see ‘whole council’ elections held once every four years, with each ward electing all three of their representatives at the same time.
The decision to seek the view of residents on this change was made at a special meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee on Tuesday 30 November 2021. The consultation period will begin today (Monday 13 December) and run through to midnight on Sunday 20 February 2022.
Details of the proposed change – and the opportunity for people to get involved in the process – can be found here: https://haveyoursay.wirral.gov.uk/wirral-local-elections-consultation 
The recommendation to the council to consider moving to a different system came out of a recent independent report into the council’s governance arrangements, commissioned by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Printed copies of the questionnaire will be available for those who cannot access the online version at Wirral libraries. (Wallasey Central, Birkenhead Central, Bebbington Central, West Kirby, Pensby, Bromborough, Greasby, Eastham, Moreton, Wallasey Village, Rock Ferry, Irby, St James, Upton, Higher Bebington) An easy read version of the consultation paper will also be made available online.
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