Eastern region Initial proposals Contents Initial proposals summary .............................................................................. 3 1. What is the Boundary Commission for England? ........... 5 2. Background to the 2013 Review ...................................................... 6 3. Initial proposals for the Eastern region .................................... 9 Initial proposals for the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire sub-region ............................ 10 Initial proposals for the Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk sub-region ................ 12 Initial proposals for the Essex sub-region ............................................................................... 13 4. How to have your say ................................................................................. 16 Annex: Initial proposals for constituencies, including wards and electorates ........................................................................................ 19 Glossary ............................................................................................................................ 3 9 Initial proposals summary Who we are and what we do region is determined by the electorate of the combined local authorities. The Boundary Commission for England is an independent and impartial non-departmental public body which is responsible for reviewing Sub-region Existing Proposed Parliamentary constituency boundaries in allocation allocation England. Bedfordshire and 17 16 Hertfordshire 2013 Review Cambridgeshire, 23 23 We have the task of periodically reviewing Norfolk, and Suffolk the boundaries of all the Parliamentary Essex 18 17 constituencies in England. We are currently conducting a review on the basis of new rules Consequently, it has been necessary to laid down by Parliament. These rules involve propose some constituencies that cross a significant reduction in the number of county or unitary authority boundaries. constituencies in England (from 533 to 502), and require that every constituency – apart Of the unchanged constituencies, one is from two specified exceptions – must have an in the County of Cambridgeshire, one is in electorate that is no smaller than 72,810 and the County of Essex, one is in the County no larger than 80,473 (please refer to A guide of Norfolk, five are in the County of Suffolk to the 2013 Review for details of how this has and one is in the Borough of Thurrock. been calculated). Substantial change is required, however, Initial proposals throughout the region in order to comply with We have now completed the first stage of the new rules. the review process and have published our initial proposals for the new Parliamentary We have proposed three constituencies constituency boundaries in England. that contain electors from both Central Information about the proposed constituencies Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. is now available on our website or in hard copy at a local ‘place of deposit’ near you. Another proposed constituency contains electors from both Cambridgeshire and What is changing in the Eastern region? Norfolk, and includes the towns of Downham The Eastern region has been allocated 56 Market and Wisbech. constituencies – a reduction of two from the current arrangement. Additionally, we propose that electors from the town of Newmarket in the County of Our proposals leave nine of the 58 existing Suffolk be combined with the District of East constituencies unchanged. Cambridgeshire. As it has not been possible to allocate whole numbers of constituencies to individual counties or unitary authorities, we have grouped these into sub-regions. The number of constituencies allocated to each sub- Eastern region 3 Initial proposals summary How to have your say We are consulting on our initial proposals for a 12-week period, from 13 September 2011 to 5 December 2011. We encourage everyone to use this opportunity to contribute to the design of the new constituencies – the more public views we hear, the more informed our decisions will be when analysing all the views we receive. We ask everyone wishing to contribute to the design of the new constituencies to first read the Initial proposals report and accompanying maps before responding to us. In particular, we would like to know: • if you agree in full, in part or not at all with our initial proposals for the Eastern region; • which sub-regions you agree with and why; • which sub-regions you disagree with and why; and • if you can propose alternatives for areas you disagree with that meet the statutory rules we set out in our report. You can find more details of how to respond on our website, or you can write to us direct or email [email protected]. You can also find details of where and when we will be holding public hearings in your area on our website. 4 Eastern region 1. What is the Boundary Commission for England? 1. The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) is an independent and impartial non- departmental public body, which is required by Parliament to review Parliamentary constituency boundaries in England. We conduct a review of all the constituencies in England every five years. Our role is to make recommendations to Parliament for new constituency boundaries. 2. The Chair of the Commission is the Speaker of the House of Commons, but by convention he or she does not participate in the formulation of the Commission’s recommendations, nor in the conduct of the review. The Deputy Chair, Mr Justice Sales, and two further Commissioners take decisions on recommendations for new constituency boundaries. Further information about the Commissioners can be found in the ‘About us’ section of our website.1 3. Our website also contains all the information needed to view and comment on our initial proposals. You can also contact us with any general enquiries by emailing [email protected], by calling 020 7276 1102, or by writing to: The Secretary to the Commission Boundary Commission for England 35 Great Smith Street London SW1P 3BQ 1 At www.consultation.boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/about-us/ Eastern region 5 2. Background to the 2013 Review 4. In February 2011, the UK Parliament 7. This is a significant change to the old passed legislation2 stating that all four rules under which Parliamentary boundary Boundary Commissions covering the UK reviews took place, where achieving as (there are separate Commissions for Scotland, close as possible to the average number of Wales, and Northern Ireland) must conduct electors in each constituency was an aim a review of Parliamentary constituency but not an overriding legal necessity. For boundaries, and make recommendations example, in England, constituencies currently to the Government, by October 2013. The range in electorate size from 55,077 to four Commissions work separately, and this 110,924. Achieving a more even distribution report covers only the work of the BCE and, in of electors in every constituency across particular, introduces our initial proposals for England, together with the reduction in the the Eastern region. total number of constituencies, means that a significant amount of change to the existing 5. Parliamentary constituency boundaries map of constituencies is inevitable. are important, as they define the area that a Member of Parliament will represent once 8. A guide to the 2013 Review contains elected to Parliament. The next General further detailed background, and explains Election is expected to be in 2015 (as, at the all the policies and procedures that we are time of writing and subject to legislation, following in conducting the Review, in greater the Government intends to introduce ‘fixed- depth than in this consultation document. term’ Parliaments – i.e. that last for five years). We encourage anyone wishing to be involved Therefore any recommendations we make, in the Review to read this document to if accepted, are likely to be used for the first enable greater understanding of the rules time at the General Election in 2015. and constraints placed on the Commission, especially if they are intending to comment 6. The legislation we work to states that on our initial proposals. there will be 600 Parliamentary constituencies covering the UK – a reduction of 50 from the The rules in the legislation current number. For England, that means that 9. The rules contained in the legislation state the number of constituencies must reduce that every constituency in England (except from 533 to 502. There are also new rules two covering the Isle of Wight) must have an that the Commission has to adhere to when electorate of between 72,810 and 80,473 – conducting the review – a full set of rules can that is 5% either side of the electoral quota of be found in the BCE’s A guide to the 2013 76,641. The legislation also states that when ,3 published in the summer of 2011, Review deciding on boundaries, the Commission may but they are also summarised later in this also take into account: chapter. Most significantly, the rules state that every constituency we recommend (with the a. special geographical considerations, exception of two covering the Isle of Wight) including the size, shape and accessibility must contain between 72,810 and 80,473 of a constituency; electors. 2 The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, available at www.legislation.gov.uk 3 Available at www.consultation.boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/publications and at all places of deposit 6 Eastern region 2. Background to the 2013 Review