Final recommendations on the future electoral arrangements for Norwich Report to The Electoral Commission July 2002 BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND © Crown Copyright 2002 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. Report no: 313 2 THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND CONTENTS page WHAT IS THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND? 5 SUMMARY 7 1 INTRODUCTION 11 2 CURRENT ELECTORAL ARRANGEMENTS 13 3 DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS 17 4 RESPONSES TO CONSULTATION 19 5 ANALYSIS AND FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS 21 6 WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? 33 A large map illustrating the proposed ward boundaries for the City of Norwich is inserted at the back of this report. THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 3 4 THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 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 are: Pamela Gordon (Chair) Professor Michael Clarke CBE Kru Desai Robin Gray Joan Jones Ann M Kelly Professor Collin 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 ward boundaries, the number of councillors and ward names. This report sets out our final recommendations on the electoral arrangements for the City of Norwich in Norfolk. THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 5 6 THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND SUMMARY The Local Government Commission for England (LGCE) began a review of the City of Norwich’s electoral arrangements on 31 July 2001. It published its draft recommendations for electoral arrangements on 26 February 2002, after which it undertook an eight-week period of consultation. As a consequence of the transfer of functions referred to earlier, it falls to us, The Boundary Committee for England, to complete the work of the LGCE and submit final recommendations to The Electoral Commission. • This report summarises the representations received by the LGCE during consultation on its draft recommendations, and contains our final recommendations to The Electoral Commission. We found that the existing arrangements provide unequal representation of electors in Norwich: • in two of the 16 wards the number of electors represented by each councillor varies by more than 10% from the average for the city and one ward varies by more than 20%; • by 2006 this situation is expected to worsen, with the number of electors per councillor forecast to vary by more than 10% from the average in six wards and by more than 20% in two wards. Our main final recommendations for future electoral arrangements (see Tables 1 and 2 and paragraphs 85 - 86) are that: • Norwich City Council should have 39 councillors, nine fewer than at present; • there should be 13 wards, instead of 16 as at present; • the boundaries of all 16 of the existing wards should be modified, resulting in a net reduction of three. The purpose of these proposals is to ensure that, in future, each city councillor represents approximately the same number of electors, bearing in mind local circumstances. • In all 13 of the proposed wards the number of electors per councillor would vary by no more than 8% from the city average. • This level of electoral equality is expected to improve further with the number of electors per councillor in all 13 wards expected to vary by no more than 6% from the average for the city by 2006. All further correspondence on these final recommendations and the matters discussed in this report should be addressed to The Electoral Commission, which will not make an Order implementing them before 10 September 2002: The Secretary The Electoral Commission Trevelyan House Great Peter Street London SW1P 2HW THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 7 Table 1: Final Recommendations: Summary Ward name Number of Constituent areas councillors 1 Bowthorpe 3 part of Bowthorpe ward part of Catton Grove ward; part of Mile Cross ward; part of Coslany ward; 2 Catton Grove 3 part of Mousehold ward 3 Crome 3 Crome ward; part of Thorpe Hamlet ward 4 Eaton 3 Eaton ward; part of St Stephen ward 5 Lakenham 3 part of Lakenham ward; part of Town Close ward 6 Mancroft 3 part of Heigham ward; part of Lakenham ward; part of Mancroft ward 7 Mile Cross 3 part of Mile Cross ward; part of Coslany ward 8 Nelson 3 Nelson ward; part of Henderson ward 9 Sewell 3 part of Coslany ward; part of Mousehold ward part of Lakenham ward; part of Mancroft ward; part of Mousehold ward; 10 Thorpe Hamlet 3 part of Thorpe Hamlet ward 11 Town Close 3 part of Lakenham ward; part of St Stephen ward; part of Town Close ward 12 University 3 University ward; part of Bowthorpe ward 13 Wensum 3 part of Heigham ward; part of Henderson ward Notes: 1 The wards in the above table are illustrated on Map 2 and the large map at the back of the report. 2 We have made a number of minor boundary amendments to ensure that existing ward boundaries adhere to ground detail. These changes do not affect any electors. 8 THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND Table 2: Final Recommendations for Norwich Ward name Number Electorate Number of Variance Electorate Number of Variance of (2001) electors from (2006) electors from councillors per average per average councillor % councillor % 1 Bowthorpe 3 6,949 2,316 -5 7,696 2,565 4 2 Catton Grove 3 7,155 2,385 -2 7,398 2,466 0 3 Crome 3 7,398 2,466 1 7,260 2,420 -2 4 Eaton 3 7,319 2,440 0 6,999 2,333 -5 5 Lakenham 3 7,916 2,639 8 7,676 2,559 4 6 Mancroft 3 7,113 2,371 -3 7,538 2,513 2 7 Mile Cross 3 7,249 2,416 -1 7,209 2,403 -2 8 Nelson 3 7,518 2,506 3 7,282 2,427 -1 9 Sewell 3 7,279 2,426 -1 7,052 2,351 -5 10 Thorpe Hamlet 3 6,897 2,299 -6 7,101 2,367 -4 11 Town Close 3 7,675 2,558 5 7,852 2,617 6 12 University 3 7,139 2,380 -3 7,409 2,470 0 13 Wensum 3 7,680 2,560 5 7,544 2,515 2 Totals 39 95,287 – – 96,016 – – Averages – – 2,443 – – 2,462 – Source: Electorate figures are based on information provided by Norwich City Council. Note: The ‘variance from average’ column shows by how far, in percentage terms, the number of electors per councillor varies from the average for the City. The minus symbol (-) denotes a lower than average number of electors. Figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number. THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 9 10 THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 1 INTRODUCTION 1 This report contains our final recommendations on the electoral arrangements for the City of Norwich in Norfolk. The seven districts in Norfolk have now been reviewed as part of the programme of periodic electoral reviews (PERs) of all 386 principal local authority areas in England started by the LGCE in 1996. We have inherited that programme, which we currently expect to complete in 2004. 2 Norwich’s last review was carried out by our predecessor, the Local Government Boundary Commission (LGBC), which reported to the Secretary of State in April 1977 (Report no. 204). Electoral arrangements of Norfolk County Council were last reviewed in June 1984 (Report no. 472). We expect to begin reviewing the County Council’s electoral arrangements towards the end of the year. 3 In making final recommendations to The Electoral Commission, we have had regard to: • the statutory criteria contained in section 13(5) of the Local Government Act 1992 (as amended by SI 2001 No 3692), i.e. the need to: a) reflect the identities and interests of local communities; b) secure effective and convenient local government; and c) achieve equality of representation. • Schedule 11 to the Local Government Act 1972. 4 Details of the legislation under which the review of Norwich was conducted are set out in a document entitled Guidance and Procedural Advice for Local Authorities and Other Interested Parties (LGCE, fourth edition, published in December 2000). This Guidance sets out the approach to the review. 5 Our task is to make recommendations on the number of councillors who should serve on a council, and the number, boundaries and names of wards. 6 The broad objective of PERs is to achieve, so far as possible, equal representation across the district as a whole. Schemes which would result in, or retain, an electoral imbalance of over 10% in any ward will have to be fully justified.