Bath and North East Somerset Council has given notice that the second petition it has received for an elected mayor for the area has reached the amount of valid entries legally required for a referendum.
The Council has notified the organiser of the petition that the total number of valid petitioners has met the statutory number, and it is anticipated that the referendum will be held early next year. Further details of the referendum process will be announced in due course.
In assessing and verifying the petition dated August 7th, 2015, the Council established that there were 6,818 entries which matched the electoral register and 2,789 entries which did not. The total number of valid entries required to validate the petition was 6,437.
In order to be a valid entry, each person must be on the local register of electors and everyone signing the petition is required to provide their full first name, surname and address and the date on which he or she signs the petition.
The petition will be available for members of public to view at the Electoral Services office at the Guildhall, High Street, Bath, during normal office hours and free of charge until August 8th, 2021.
Campaigners in favour of an elected Mayor for Bath and North East Somerset say that a Mayor chosen by voters would in turn choose a Cabinet consisting of the best Councillors for the job, making the process less political and more accountable.
On the other side of the debate, those opposed say an elected Mayor would be costly, not necessary for the area, and would not work geographically, with areas outside of Bath suffering. Paul Crossley, past Lib-Dem Leader of B&NES Council, has said that an elected Mayor having all of the power is less democratic than the current system of a Council Leader and Cabinet.
If Bath and North East Somerset were to have an elected Mayor in future, it could be treading the path of neighbouring Bristol with its elected Mayor, George Ferguson.