NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM No. ...8...... REPORT

To: POLICY AND RESOURCES Subject: INQUIRY INTO BOUNDARIES, COMMITTEE VOTING AND REPRESENTATION IN : THE ARBUTHNOTT COMMISSION I From: DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION I

I Date: 20 January2006 I Ref: JAFllL 1 I

1. Purpose of Report

1.I This report advises of the publication - and submission to the Secretary of State for Scotland and the First Minister - of the report by the Commission on Boundary Differences and Voting Systems.

2. Background

2.1 The Committee, at its meeting on 8 February 2005, noted . the establishment and remit of the Commission on Boundary Differences and Voting Systems and . the issue, by the Commission, of a consultation document and, at its meeting on 19 April 2005, homologated the Council's submission to that consultat ion.

2.2 The Commission, on 19 January 2006, published its final report which has been submitted to the Secretary of State for Scotland and the First Minister.

2.3 A summary of the recommendations of the Commission is attached.

3. Commission Report

3.1 The Commission, in its report, addresses the following issues . Boundaries - and in particular whether there are particular difficulties arising from the boundaries of the Scottish parliamentary constituencies no longer coinciding with those of the United Kingdom parliamentary constituencies; . Voting - with particular reference to the voting systems for the and any difficulties to be anticipated as a result of the variety of different voting 'systems in Scotland following the introduction of a Single Transferable Voting System to local government elections; . Representation - with particular regard to the respective roles of constituency and regional MSPs and Voter education and access to information.

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4. Boundaries

4.1 The conclusions of the Commission are that there are not particular difficulties emanating from United Kingdom parliament constituency boundaries and Scottish parliamentary constituency boundaries being different. The Commission considers it more important that the Scottish parliamentary constituency boundaries should accord with general service delivery issues and, having regard to indications the Scottish Parliament are favourably disposed to realignment of other relevant service boundaries - e.g. Health Boards - to take account of local authority boundaries, the conclusion was that Scottish Parliament constituency boundaries should relate to local authority boundaries. The rules proposed by the Commission for Scottish Parliament constituency boundaries are

Every local authority in Scotland should contain at least one constituency;

Every constituency should be contained wholly within one local authority area;

Subject to rule 1 the constituencies in each local authority area should be such that their average electorate is as close as practicable to one-seventieth of the total electorate for Scotland;

Scotland should be divided into parliamentary regions which, so far as possible, reflect natural communities;

Each Scottish parliamentary region should consist of a local authority or of an aggregation of two or more local authorities, provided that no region shall contain less than five constituencies ;

In a parliamentary region with eight or more constituencies, the number of regional members should be two less than the number of constituencies. In a region with between five and seven constituencies the number of regional members should be one less than the number of constituencies.

4.2 The Commission report sets out a possible structure for new constituencies and regions for the Scottish Parliament. In the case of North Lanarkshire it proposes that there be four parliamentary constituencies with average electorate of 61,252. For purpose of regions it recommends that North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire be linked. As it is proposed that South Lanarkshire, like North Lanarkshire, be divided into four constituencies, the number of regional members to be returned by the Lanarkshire region would be six. This would give a total representation of fourteen to the Lanarkshire region - 2.1 fewer than the theoritical entitlement and the Commission recognise that a case can be made for allotting an additional seat to a region such as North and South Lanarkshire whose component parts are close to the upper limit for the number of constituencies.

5. Voting

5.1 The Commission, having investigated alternatives to the current voting systems for the Scottish Parliament, reached the conclusion that the voting system for the Scottish Parliament should remain substantially unchanged. The sole significant change suggested is that, in voting for regional members, the party lists should be “open”- allowing a voter to choose the individual on a party list for whom the vote is to be cast - rather than the present “closed” system whereby the voter can merely select the party and the party itself selects the order of preference of candidates.

5.2 With regard to the timing of elections, the Commission noted that the consultations on the Local Government Elections Bill currently before the Scottish Parliament favour the de-coupling of local government elections from Scottish parliamentary elections with a clear preference for delaying the local government elections until May 2008. After Arbuthnon Commission on BD&VS Rqort.doc 45 3

consideration, the Commission itself concluded that the importance of strengthening local democracy and accountability and reducing voter confusion were persuasive concerns, which led the Commission to recommend de-coupling the Scottish Parliament and local government elections. The report indicates that this recommendation is particularly focused on the 2011 elections - being the elections for which the Commission would anticipate other reforms (such as the open list for regional elections) to be introduced. The Commission does, however, indicate concerns about the combined elections proposed for 2007 when a relatively new system for the Scottish Parliament election will be combined with a completely new system for local government. For that reason the Commission invite the Scottish Executive to consider the postponement of the 2007 local government elections. The Commission do not suggest for how long the elections should be postponed and do indicate that, if the Scottish Parliament and local elections are to be held on the same day in 2007, the opportunity should be taken to conduct specific research on the impact of that combination.

5.3 The Commission also recommend that introduction of the Single Transferable Voting System to elections to the .

5.4 Finally the Commission recommend that E-counting and E-voting should be introduced as soon as possible and, in any event, before 201 1.

6. Representation

6.1 The principal issue addressed by the Commission relates to the roles of constituency and regional MSPs and the conclusions focus on a recommendation that the code of conduct for MSPs should be revised to provide a clear and positive role for both constituency and regional members.

6.2 The Commission considered the proposition that representatives who take up cases which lie outwith the responsibility of their institution damaged the line of democratic accountability and provided a poor service to constituents. The Commission rejected that conclusion and indicated the belief that there are many occasions when it is entirely appropriate for members to raise issues which are not strictly within the competence of their institution. The Commission did, however, qualify that conclusion with the exhortation that members make every attempt to make it clear to their constituents the limit of their ability to influence policies on such matters. Thus the Commission have not taken the opportunity to indicate that it would be appropriate in any case involving local government for a parliamentary representative (whether MP or MSP) to refer the matter to or necessarily involve the local Councillor.

6.3 Additionally, in investigating a more positive role for regional MSPs, the Commission states “It is critical that elected members should hold delivery bodies such as these (including local aufhorifies) to account for the services they provide and assist their constituents to engage with them. The report goes on to say “While councillors, constituency MSPs and MPs will, of course, continue to have such responsibilities, regional MSPs represent larger geographical areas and are particularly well placed to develop this role”. The accountability of local authorities should be through the elected local authority representatives and, against that background, this part of the report is not happily worded - and suggests a degree of accountability of local authorities to regional MSPs which does not appear to have a constitutional foundation.

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7. Voter Education and Access to Information

7.1 Under this heading the Commission recommend . No pupil should leave school without having had an introduction to the voting systems and the work of the Parliaments in the context of education for citizenship; . In advance of every election, information clearly describing the and voting arrangements should be provided to the electorate;

After every election, information should be provided to every household which includes details of their representatives and their responsibilities.

8. Further Developments

8.1 The extent to which the Commission’s recommendations will be accepted by the Secretary of State for Scotland and the First Minister is not as yet known nor the extent to which the Government will choose to initiate further debate or consultations on those recommendations. In these circumstances it would be appropriate that the Committee remit to the MemberlOfficer Group on Local Governance the monitoring of further developments with regard to this report.

9. Recommendation

9.1 It is recommended that the Committee

(a) note the publication of the report by the Commission on Boundary Differences and Voting Systems

and

(b) remit to the MemberlOfficer Group on Local Governance the monitoring of further developments with regard to the issues raised in the report.

Members seeking further information on the contents of this report are asked to contact John Fleming, Head of Central Services on Extension 2228.

Arbuthnott Commission on BD&VS Report.doc 47 Annex

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMISSION ON BOUNDARY DIFFERENCES AND VOTING SYSTEMS

Boundaries

1. Having the same constituencies for the Scottish Parliament and Westminster is desirable but not essential and should not drive change to the electoral system for the Scottish Parliament.

2. The boundaries for Scottish Parliamentary constituencies should be within and respect local authority areas rather than Westminster constituencies.

3. Scottish Parliament regions should be revised to reflect natural local communities and identity and should be built on local authority areas.

4. The functions of the Boundary Commission for Scotland and the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland should be combined to enable the constituencies and regions for the Scottish Parliament and local authorities to be reviewed together. Consideration should also be given to integrating the review of Westminster constituencies in Scotland into this process.

Voting

5. The mixed member proportional system for elections to the Scottish Parliament should be retained, but revised.

6. The language used to describe the mixed member electoral system for the Scottish Parliament should clearly explain the “constituency vote” and “regional vote”. The term ”second vote” is misleading and should not be used. Where possible, the term “mixed member system” should be used rather than “”. The voting system for the Scottish Parliament should also be presented as a system in its own right and not as an adaptation of first past the post.

7. The Electoral Commission should clarify the purpose of the regional vote and in particular revise the design of the ballot papers used in Scottish Parliament elections with the aim of conveying better the way the voting system operates.

8. In order to give voters more choice over the election of regional members, the closed list system should be replaced by open lists. The Electoral Commission should investigate

News Release how best to devise such a system while minimising complexity for voters.

9. Candidates for election to the Scottish Parliament should not be prohibited from standing in a constituency and on the regional list at the same election.

10. Restricting voter choice by removing the regional vote and introducing a one-vote system is not acceptable. A two vote system should be retained for Scottish Parliament elections.

11.The mixed member system should continue to be based on regional lists rather than a national list.

12.The Scottish Parliament and local government elections should not be held on the same day.

13.The should be introduced for European parliamentary elections in Scotland.

14. Our revised electoral system, if implemented, should be reviewed following experience of two elections. If further reform is judged necessary, consideration should be given at that time to introducing the single transferable vote for Scottish Parliament elections.

15.E-counting and e-voting should be introduced as soon as possible but before 201 1.

Representation

16.Citizens should not be restricted in their freedom to access any of their elected representatives on any issue.

17. The code of conduct for Members of the Scottish Parliament should be revised to provide a clear and positive role for both constituency and regional members to enhance representation for constituents and improve scrutiny of local and national services.

18.The Scottish Parliament should consider how the role of the Presiding Officer could be strengthened to ensure compliance with the code of conduct.

19.All MSPs should be entitled to deal with constituency work, but we expect this to be primarily undertaken by constituency MSPs. All MSPs should be entitled to deal with issues raised by constituents affecting a wider area, but these should primarily be dealt with by regional MSPs.

News R2lense 20. The Parliaments and local authorities should consider how best to improve the provision of training and skills development for their members.

21.No pupil should leave school without having had an introduction to the voting systems and the work of the Parliaments, in the context of Education for Citizenship.

22. In advance of every election, information clearly describing the electoral system and voting arrangements should be provided to the electorate.

23.After every election, information should be provided to every household which includes details of their representatives and their responsibilities.

24. There should be a publicly accessible national resource providing advice on how to contact elected representatives and public bodies.

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