Draft recommendations on the future electoral arrangements for Shropshire May 2003 © Crown Copyright 2003 Applications for reproduction should be made to: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office Copyright Unit. The mapping in this report is reproduced from OS mapping by The Electoral Commission with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, © Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown Copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Licence Number: GD 03114G. This report is printed on recycled paper. 2 Contents page What is The Boundary Committee for England? 5 Summary 7 1. Introduction 13 2. Current electoral arrangements 17 3. Submissions received 21 4. Analysis and draft recommendations 23 5. What happens next? 43 Appendices A Draft recommendations for Shropshire: detailed mapping 45 B Code of practice on written consultation 47 3 4 What is The Boundary Committee for England? The Boundary Committee for England is a committee of The Electoral Commission, an independent body set up by Parliament under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The functions of the Local Government Commission for England were transferred to The Electoral Commission and its Boundary Committee on 1 April 2002 by the Local Government Commission for England (Transfer of functions) Order 2001 (SI 2001 No. 3692). The Order also transferred to The Electoral Commission the functions of the Secretary of State in relation to taking decisions on recommendations for changes to local authority electoral arrangements and implementing them. Members of the Committee: Pamela Gordon (Chair) Professor Michael Clarke CBE Robin Gray Joan Jones CBE Anne M Kelly Professor Colin Mellors Archie Gall (Director) We are required by law to review the electoral arrangements of every principal local authority in England. Our aim is to ensure that the number of electors represented by each councillor in an area is as nearly as possible the same, taking into account local circumstances. We can recommend changes to the number of councillors elected to the council, division boundaries and division names. 5 6 Summary We began a review of Shropshire County Council’s electoral arrangements on 9 July 2002. • This report summarises the submissions we received during the first stage of the review, and makes draft recommendations for change. We found that the current arrangements provide unequal representation of electors in Shropshire: • in 28 of the 44 divisions, each of which are currently represented by a single councillor, the number of electors varies by more than 10% from the average for the county and 11 divisions vary by more than 20%; • by 2006 this situation is expected to worsen with the number of electors forecast to vary by more than 10% from the average in 27 divisions and by more than 20% in 12 divisions. Our main draft recommendations for Shropshire County Council’s future electoral arrangements (see Tables 1 and 2 and paragraphs 125-126) are that: • Shropshire should have 48 councillors, four more than at present, representing 46 divisions; • as the divisions are based on district wards which have themselves been changed as a result of recent district reviews, the boundaries of all divisions, except Albrighton, will be subject to change. The purpose of these proposals is to ensure that, in future, each county councillor represents approximately the same number of electors, bearing in mind local circumstances. • In 26 of the proposed 46 divisions the number of electors per councillor would vary by no more than 10% from the average. • This level of electoral equality is expected to improve further with the number of electors per councillor in 27 divisions expected to vary by no more than 10% from the average by 2006. This report sets out draft recommendations on which comments are invited. • We will consult on these proposals for eight weeks from 28 May 2003. We take this consultation very seriously. We may decide to move away from our draft recommendations in light of comments or suggestions that we receive. It is therefore important that all interested parties let us have their views and evidence, whether or not they agree with our draft recommendations. • After considering local views we will decide whether to modify our draft recommendations. We will then submit our final recommendations to The Electoral Commission, which will then be responsible for implementing change to the local authority electoral arrangements. • The Electoral Commission will decide whether to accept, modify or reject our final recommendations. It will also decide when any changes will come into effect. 7 You should express your views by writing directly to us at the address below by 21 July 2003. The Team Leader Shropshire County Council Review Boundary Committee for England Trevelyan House Great Peter Street London SW1P 2HW 8 Table 1: Draft recommendations: Summary Division name Number of Constituent district wards by District Council councillors Bridgnorth 1 Albrighton 1 Albrighton South ward; Donington & Albrighton North ward 2 Bridgnorth East 1 Bridgnorth East ward; Bridgnorth Morfe ward 3 Bridgnorth Rural 1 Alveley ward; Glazeley ward 4 Bridgnorth West 1 Bridgnorth Castle ward; Bridgnorth West ward 5 Broseley 1 Broseley East ward; Broseley West ward 6 Morfe 1 Claverley ward; Harrington ward; Worfield ward 7 Much Wenlock 1 Ditton Priors ward; Moreville ward; Much Wenlock ward 8 Shifnal 1 Shifnal Idsall ward; Shifnal Manor ward; Shifnal Rural ward 9 Stottesdon 1 Highley ward; Stottesdon ward North Shropshire Baschurch ward; Cockshutt ward; Hordley, Tetchill & Lyneal ward; 10 Baschurch 1 part of Ellesmere & Welshampton ward (Welshampton parish ward of Welshampton & Lyneal parish) Dudleston Heath ward; part of Ellesmere & Welshampton ward 11 Ellesmere 1 (Ellesmere Urban parish) Market Drayton East ward; Market Drayton North ward; Market 12 Market Drayton 2 Drayton South ward 13 Market Drayton Rural 1 Hinstock ward; Shavington ward; Sutton ward; Woore ward 14 Prees 1 Prees ward; Whitchurch Rural ward; Whitchurch South ward 15 Shawbury 1 Hodnet ward; Shawbury ward 16 Wem 1 Wem East ward; Wem West ward 17 Wem Rural 1 Clive & Myddle ward; Wem Rural ward; Whixall ward 18 Whitchurch 1 Whitchurch North ward; Whitchurch West ward Oswestry Cabin Lane ward; Cambrian ward; Carreg Llwyd ward; Castle 19 Oswestry 2 ward; Gatacre ward 20 Ruyton-xi-Towns 1 Kinnerley ward; Llanyblodwel & Pant ward; Ruyton & West Felton 21 St Oswald 1 Maserfield ward; Sweeney & Trefonen ward 22 Weston Rhyn 1 St Martin’s ward; Weston Rhyn ward 23 Whittington 1 Gobowen ward; Whittington ward Shrewsbury & Atcham 24 Bagley 1 part of Bagley ward; part of Castlefields & Quarry ward 25 Bayston Hill 1 Bayston Hill ward 26 Belle-Vue 1 Belle-Vue ward; part of Sutton & Reabrook ward 27 Burnell 1 Condover ward; Hanwood & Longden ward; Lawely ward 9 Division name Number of Constituent district wards by District Council councillors Castlefields & part of Battlefield & Heathgates ward; part of Castlefields & 28 1 Ditherington Quarry ward 29 Copthorne 1 Bowbrook ward; part of Copthorne ward Harlescott ward; part of Bagley ward; part of Battlefield & 30 Harlescott 1 Heathgates ward 31 Loton 1 Montford ward; Rowton ward 32 Meole-Brace 1 Meole-Brace ward; part of Copthorne ward; 33 Monkmoor 1 part of Column ward; part of Monkmoor ward 34 Porthill 1 Porthill ward; part of Copthorne ward 35 Rea Valley 1 Rea Valley ward 36 Sundorne 1 Sundorne ward; part of Battlefield & Heathgates ward 37 Sutton & Reabrook 1 part of Column ward; part of Sutton & Reabrook ward 38 Tern 1 Haughmond & Attingham ward; Pimhill ward; Severn Valley ward 39 Underdale 1 Underdale ward; part of Monkmoor ward South Shropshire Bishop’s Castle with Onny Valley ward; Chirbury ward; Worthen 40 Bishop’s Castle 1 ward Church Stretton North ward; Church Stretton South ward; Apedale 41 Church Stretton 1 ward 42 Clee 1 Burford ward; Clee ward; Cleobury Mortimer ward Bucknell ward; Clun ward; Clun Forest ward; Kemp Valley ward; 43 Clun 1 Wistanston with Hopesay ward Bitterley with Stoke St Milborough ward; Corve Valley ward; Upper 44 Corvedale 1 Corvedale ward; Craven Arms ward 45 Ludlow 1 Ludlow St Laurence’s ward; Ludlow St Peter’s ward Caynham with Ashford ward; Ludlow Henley ward; Ludlow Sheet 46 Ludlow Rural 1 with Ludford Notes: 1. The constituent district wards are those resulting from the electoral reviews of the five Shropshire districts which were completed in 1999. Where whole district wards do not form the building blocks, constituent parishes and parish wards are listed. 2. The large map inserted at the back of the report illustrates the proposed divisions outlined above and the maps at the back of the report illustrate some of the proposed boundaries in more detail. 10 Table 2: Draft recommendations for Shropshire Number Number Variance Variance Number of of Division name Electorate from Electorate from of electors electors by District Council (2001) average (2006) average councillors per per % % councillor councillor Bridgnorth 1 Albrighton 1 4,874 4,874 5 5,059 5,059 4 2 Bridgnorth East 1 4,896 4,896 6 5,065 5,065 4 3 Bridgnorth Rural 1 3,665 3,665 -21 3,834 3,834 -22 4 Bridgnorth West 1 4,915 4,915 6 5,059 5,059 4 5 Broseley 1 4,412 4,412 -5 4,498 4,498 -8 6 Morfe 1 3,678 3,678 -21 3,805 3,805 -22 7 Much Wenlock 1 5,042 5,042 9 5,452 5,452 12 8 Shifnal 1 5,753 5,753 24 6,003 6,003 23 9 Stottesdon 1 4,051 4,051 -13 4,263 4,263 -13 North Shropshire 10 Baschurch 1 3,539 3,539 -24 3,860 3,860 -21 11 Ellesmere