Ingleby Barwick Town Council halved by Boundary Commission errors

Only six councillors can be voted into the 12-strong town council in May

Officials drawing up boundaries which saw a town council cut in half admit it was down to a "collection of human errors" which included not passing on an email flagging to the first mistake.

A review of ward boundaries incorrectly allocated Ingleby Barwick Town Council six councillors instead of 12.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England has apologised.

Review manager Richard Otterway said there was a "succession of human errors at each stage of our checking process".

"They occurred in a way which has never happened before, in quite a remarkable way really," he said.

As the error was not spotted until after it was included in an electoral changes order, which went to Parliament, it means it cannot be changed before May's election, meaning only six councillors can be voted in.

The mistake "slipped through" as parish council information was not checked, Mr Otterway said.

It was quickly spotted by the town council clerk who alerted the commission but their email "was never forwarded to anyone", he told town councillors.

"It's a collection of human errors, the most fundamental of which is that when you informed us about the error, no-one else in the organisation was told."

The officer responsible had left the commission and no-one else knew there had been a mistake, he said.

'Mistake's implications'

It is expected Stockton Council will make a "community governance review" to put right the number of councillors, followed by another election for the full 12, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Otterway told the town council meeting: "We absolutely understand the implications this mistake will have on you and on residents here and we are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to sort this out as quickly as possible, as well as making sure this doesn't happen again in any other community."

Independent town councillor Ted Strike, thanked Mr Otterway for coming "into the lion's den", and said the town council would like the second election this year.

"I personally don't believe it's fair on this council that we run at half-capacity," he said.

"That's going to make our job almost impossible."