The Council is statutorily required to undertake regular reviews of its polling districts and polling places, with the most recent review having been undertaken in 2019/20.  The next review must be completed by 31 January 2025.

The review requires the Council to:

• Divide the Parliamentary constituency (Cannock Chase) into polling districts for the purposes of UK Parliamentary elections and to designate a polling place for each polling district.  Polling places should be within the polling district unless special circumstances make it desirable to designate an area outside the district.
• Seek to ensure that all the electors in the constituency have such reasonable facilities for voting as are practicable in the circumstances.
• Seek to ensure that so far as is reasonable and practicable, the polling places they are responsible for are accessible to all electors, and when considering the designation of a polling place, must have regard to the accessibility needs of disabled persons.

The following are not considered as part of the review:

• The changing of any District ward boundaries.  The review is concerned only with the administrative subdivision of a ward into polling districts which are then assigned polling places.
• The changing of polling districts in areas which are also aligned with parish boundaries and therefore cannot be amended during this review (these can only be amended through Community Governance Reviews).

The Electoral Commission defines a polling district, polling place and polling station as being:

• Polling District: "A geographical area created by the sub-division of a UK Parliamentary constituency for the purposes of a UK Parliamentary election."
• Polling Place: "The building or area in which polling stations will be selected by the (Acting) Returning Officer.  A polling place within a polling district must be designated so that polling stations are within easy reach of all electors from across the polling district."
• Polling Station: "The room or area within the polling place where voting takes place.  Unlike polling districts and polling places which are fixed by the local authority, polling stations are chosen by the relevant Returning Officer for the election."

The consultation stage of the latest review is now closed.   The outcome of the review will be reported to the full Council meeting scheduled for 22 January 2025.