Final recommendations on the future electoral arrangements for Rutland Report to The Electoral Commission October 2002 THE 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: 328 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? 31 APPENDIX A Final recommendations for Rutland: Detailed mapping 33 A large map illustrating the proposed ward boundaries for Oakham town is inserted inside the back cover 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 Robin Gray Joan Jones Ann 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 ward boundaries, the number of councillors and ward names. We can also recommend changes to the electoral arrangements of parish and town councils. This report sets out our final recommendations on the electoral arrangements for the unitary authority of Rutland. THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 5 6 THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND SUMMARY The Local Government Commission for England (LGCE) began a review of Rutland’s electoral arrangements on 16 October 2001. The Boundary Committee for England (BCFE) published its draft recommendations for electoral arrangements on 14 May 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 BCFE 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 Rutland: • in 12 of the 16 wards the number of electors represented by each councillor varies by more than 10% from the average for the district and eight wards vary 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 14 wards and by more than 20% in six wards. Our main final recommendations for future electoral arrangements (see Tables 1 and 2 and paragraphs 75-76) are that: • Rutland County Council should have 26 councillors, six more than at present; • there should be 16 wards, the same as at present; • the boundaries of 15 of the existing wards should be modified, with one ward retaining its existing boundaries. The purpose of these proposals is to ensure that, in future, each Rutland councillor represents approximately the same number of electors, bearing in mind local circumstances. • In 13 of the proposed 16 wards the number of electors per councillor would vary by no more than 10% from the district average. • This improved level of electoral equality is forecast to continue, with the number of electors per councillor in all 16 wards expected to vary by no more than 9% from the average for the district by 2006. Recommendations are also made for changes to town council electoral arrangements which provide for: • Revised warding arrangements and the reduction and redistribution of councillors for Oakham Town Council. THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 7 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 13 November 2002: The Secretary The Electoral Commission Trevelyan House Great Peter Street London SW1P 2HW Fax: 020 7271 0505 Email: [email protected] (This address should only be used for this purpose) 8 THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND Table 1: Final recommendations: Summary Ward name Number of Constituent areas Map reference councillors The parishes of Ayston, Belton-in-Rutland, 1 Braunston & Belton 1 Braunston-in-Rutland, Brooke, Leighfield, Preston, Map 2 Ridlington and Wardley The parishes of Barrow, Cottesmore, Market 2 Cottesmore 2 Map 2 Overton and Teigh The parishes of Ashwell, Burley, Egleton, Exton, 3 Exton 1 Map 2 Hambleton, Horn and Whitwell The parishes of Clipsham, Greetham, Pickworth, 4 Greetham 1 Map2 Stretton and Thistleton The parishes of Barrowden, Ketton, Tinwell and 5 Ketton 2 Map 2 Tixover 6 Langham 1 The parish of Langham Map 2 The parishes of Bisbrooke, Caldecott, Glaston, 7 Lyddington 1 Lyddington, Seaton, Stoke Dry and Thorpe By Map 2 Water The parishes of Gunthorpe, Lyndon, Manton, 8 Martinsthorpe 1 Map 2 Martinsthorpe, Morcott, Pilton and Wing The parishes of Edith Weston, Empingham, 9 Normanton 2 Map 2 Normanton, North Luffenham and South Luffenham part of Oakham parish (the proposed Oakham 10 Oakham North East 2 Large Map North East parish ward) part of Oakham parish (the proposed Oakham North 11 Oakham North West 2 Large Map West parish ward); the parish of Barleythorpe part of Oakham parish (the proposed Oakham 12 Oakham South East 2 Large Map South East parish ward) part of Oakham parish (the proposed Oakham 13 Oakham South West 2 Large Map South West parish ward) Ryhall and The parishes of Essendine, Great Casterton, Little 14 2 Map 2 Casterton Casterton, Ryhall and Tickencote Unchanged – The parishes of Beaumont Chase and 15 Uppingham 3 Map 2 Uppingham 16 Whissendine 1 The parish of Whissendine Map 2 Notes: 1 The whole district is parished. 2 The wards in the above table are illustrated on Map 2 and the Large Map inserted in the back of this report. THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 9 Table 2: Final recommendations for Rutland Ward name Number Electorate Number of Variance Electorate Number of Variance of (2001) electors per from (2006) electors per from councillors councillor average councillor average % % 1 Braunston & Belton 1 985 985 -2 1,028 1,028 -4 2 Cottesmore 2 2,033 1,017 1 2,083 1,042 -3 3 Exton 1 1,083 1,083 8 1,113 1,113 4 4 Greetham 1 921 921 -8 969 969 -9 5 Ketton 2 2,073 1,037 3 2,186 1,093 2 6 Langham 1 875 875 -13 1,042 1,042 -3 7 Lyddington 1 1,064 1,064 6 1,081 1,081 1 8 Martinsthorpe 1 971 971 -3 1,002 1,002 -6 9 Normanton 2 2,262 1,131 13 2,279 1,140 6 10 Oakham North East 2 1,886 943 -6 2,048 1,024 -4 11 Oakham North West 2 2,196 1,098 10 2,243 1,122 5 12 Oakham South East 2 1,727 864 -14 2,172 1,086 1 13 Oakham South West 2 2,065 1,033 3 2,094 1,047 -2 Ryhall and 14 2 2,203 1,102 10 2,289 1,145 7 Casterton 15 Uppingham 3 2,750 917 -9 3,143 1,048 -2 16 Whissendine 1 972 972 -3 1,055 1,055 -1 Totals 26 26,066 – – 27,827 – – Averages – – 1,003 – – 1,070 – Source: Electorate figures are based on information provided by Rutland County 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 district. The minus symbol (-) denotes a lower than average number of electors. Figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number. 10 THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 1 INTRODUCTION 1 This report contains our final recommendations on the electoral arrangements for the district of Rutland. The district has 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 Rutland’s last review was undertaken by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, which reported to the Secretary of State in May 1977 (Report no.199). Since undertaking the review, Rutland became a unitary authority in 1997. 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.