Boundary Commission for Scotland BCS Paper 2016/37

2018 Review of UK Parliament Constituencies Constituency considerations for Fife and council areas

Action required 1. The Commission is invited to consider a further design of constituencies for Fife and Perth and Kinross council areas in furtherance of its 2018 Review of UK Parliament constituencies.

Background 2. The Commission considered 3 options for 5 constituencies exactly covering the combined extent of Fife and Perth and Kinross council areas (Paper 2016/29) as part of its 2018 Review of UK Parliament constituencies. 3. The Commission was content that Options 2 and 3 were unsuitable as Option 2 divided 3 wards between constituencies and contained no constituencies comprised solely of whole wards. Option 3 was discounted as it proposed splitting the city of Perth between two constituencies. 4. The Commission agreed that Option 1 split the fewest wards between constituencies and appeared to offer the greatest degree of continuity of existing constituency boundaries. The Commission believed the design of Option 1 could be improved and asked the Secretariat to prepare an alternative version that amended the boundary by Ladybank and Methil. 5. The Commission agreed to adopt Option 1, subject to the suitable alternative design as outlined above as its Initial Proposals for constituencies in the combined area of Fife and Perth and Kinross council areas, and subject to identification of satisfactory proposals elsewhere in Scotland. 6. This paper presents an option (Option 4) that combines constituencies from options 1 and 2 of Paper BCS 2016/29.

Option 4

7. Option 4 combines constituencies from options 1 and 2 of Paper BCS 2016/29 and provides for 3 constituencies wholly within Fife council area, 1 constituency wholly within Perth and Kinross council area and 1 constituency combining parts of Fife and Perth and Kinross council areas. A map of option 4 constituencies is at Appendix A. An overview of option 4 constituencies relative to other electoral boundaries is at Appendix B.

8. Dunfermline constituency from option 1 of paper BCS 2016/29 comprises Fife wards 1 to 6, including the city of Dunfermline, the coastal villages in west Fife, Rosyth and Inverkeithing.

9. Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy constituency from option 2 of paper BCS 2016/29 comprises Fife wards 11 to 16, including the towns of Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Thornton and East Wemyss, and part of Fife ward 23 (Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss Villages), which is essentially divided along community council boundaries between Buckhaven and East Wemyss. A map of the boundary in Fife ward 23 can be found at Appendix C4 of Paper BCS 2016/29.

10. Cupar and St Andrews constituency from option 2 of paper BCS 2016/29 comprises Fife wards 17 to 22 and part of Fife ward 23 (Buckhaven, Methil and

Document name 1 BCS2016_37_(Constituency_Design_Fife_Perth_and_Kinross) Boundary Commission for Scotland BCS Paper 2016/37

Wemyss Villages), and includes the city of St Andrews, Cupar, Newburgh, Auchtermuchty and Buckhaven.

11. Kinross-shire and Cowdenbeath constituency from option 1 of paper BCS 2016/29 comprises Perth and Kinross wards 6 to 9 and Fife wards 7 to 10, including Crieff, Auchterarder, Kinross, Kelty, Cowdenbeath and Burntisland.

12. Perthshire constituency from option 1 of paper BCS 2016/29 comprises Perth and Kinross wards 1 to 5 and wards 10 to 12, including the city of Perth, Pitlochry and Invergowrie.

13. The electorate, ward composition, designation and suggested name of each constituency in option 4 is shown in Table 1 below:

Constituency name electorate wards Cupar and St Andrews CC 76,900 Fife – 17 to 22, 23(pt) Dunfermline CC 78,254 Fife – 1 to 6 Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy CC 71,677 Fife – 11 to 16, 23(pt) Kinross-shire and Cowdenbeath CC 75,780 Fife – 7 to 10 Perth and Kinross – 6 to 9 Perthshire CC 72,831 Perth and Kinross – 1 to 5, 10 to 12 Table 1: 2015 parliamentary electorates of option 4 constituencies.

14. The advantages of option 4 are:  The option requires the division of only 1 ward between constituencies;  The Cupar and St Andrews constituency is similar to the existing UK Parliament constituency in the area;  The suggested Perthshire constituency resembles the existing UK Parliament constituency of Perth and North Perthshire, expanded to contain all of Perth and Kinross ward 5 (Strathtay) and aligned to the northern boundary of Perth and Kinross ward 6 (); and  The proportion of electors from each council area in Kinross-shire and Cowdenbeath constituency is well-matched: 46% of electors are in Perth and Kinross council area and 54% in Fife council area.

Conclusion 15. The Commission is invited to agree its Initial Proposals for public consultation, subject to satisfactory constituencies elsewhere in Scotland.

Secretariat August 2016

Document name 2 BCS2016_37_(Constituency_Design_Fife_Perth_and_Kinross) Boundary Commission for Scotland BCS Paper 2016/37 2018 Review of UK Parliament Constituencies Appendix A Fife and Perth and Kinross council areas Initial Proposals - Option 4 Cons tituency N am e Electorate Cupar and St Andrew s 76,900 D unferm line 78,254 G lenrothes and K irk caldy 71,677 K inros s - s hire and Cow denbeath 75,780 Perths hire 72,831

Perthshire

Kinross-shire and Cowdenbeath

Cupar and St Andrews

Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy

suggested constituency Dunfermline existing constituency boundary Crown Copyright and database right 0 10 miles 2016. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey licence no. 100022179 ± 0 10 km Boundary Commission for Scotland BCS Paper 2016/37 2018 Review of UK Parliament Constituencies Appendix B Fife and Perth and Kinross council areas Initial Proposals - Option 4

existing council area boundary existing uk parliament constituency existing council ward boundary

existing community existing scottish parliament council boundary constituency