BCS Paper 2017/68 2018 Review of UK Parliament Constituencies Draft
Boundary Commission for Scotland BCS Paper 2017/68
2018 Review of UK Parliament Constituencies Draft Revised Proposals for Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus and Dundee City council areas
Action required 1. The Commission is invited to consider responses to the initial and secondary consultation on its Initial Proposals and whether it wishes to make changes to its proposals for Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus and Dundee City council areas.
Background 2. The Commission's Initial Proposals for this area comprise 5 constituencies which exactly cover Aberdeenshire, Angus and Dundee City council areas and 2 constituencies which exactly cover Aberdeen City council area. A map of the constituencies is at Appendix A.
Initial Proposals Constituency Council areas Wards (2007–2017) electorate Difference from EQ Aberdeen North Aberdeen City 1-6, 7(part) 75,791 1.3% Aberdeen South Aberdeen City 7(part), 8-13 74,444 -0.4% Angus Glens and Angus (part) 1-5, 6(part) 78,156 Dundee East Dundee City (part) 6, 8 4.3% Banff and Buchan Aberdeenshire 1-7, 8(part), 9(part) 76,878 2.7% Dundee Dundee City 1-5, 7 76,317 2.0% Gordon and Aberdeenshire 8(part), 9(part), 10- 74,069 Deeside 15 -0.9% Kincardine and Aberdeenshire (part) 16-19 76,784 Angus East Angus (part) 6(part), 7, 8 2.6%
Representations received 3. The main theme from the consultation on the Initial Proposals was opposition to the proposals that placed Banchory within a Kincardine and Angus East constituency, rather than being included in a constituency with the rest of Deeside. No alternative suggestions have been submitted to address retaining Banchory within a Deeside constituency. Few comments were received elsewhere on the Initial Proposals within this grouping.
Consideration of Revised Proposals 4. The Commission considered revised proposals for these areas at its meeting of 13 April 2017 and 3 May 2017, see Papers 2017/62 and 2017/64 respectively and minutes of these meetings.
5. At its April meeting the Commission considered 3 alternative suggestions. Options 1 and 2 placed Banchory with other communities in Deeside in a proposed Gordon and Deeside constituency, while creating Aberdeen constituencies that included parts of Aberdeenshire. Option 3 proposed a constituency design that split no wards. The Commission considered that Option
Document name 1 BCS_2017_68_(Aberdeen_Aberdeenshire_Angus_Dundee_Revised_Proposals) Boundary Commission for Scotland BCS Paper 2017/68
1 presented more of an improvement on its Initial Proposals than Option 2 and deferred consideration of Option 3.
6. At its May meeting the Commission considered Option 3, but believed it did not reflect local ties outside Aberdeen and did not improve its Initial Proposals at Banchory.
7. The Commission also considered Option 4 which placed Banchory within a Gordon and Deeside constituency and added Blackburn and Potterton in Aberdeenshire to an Aberdeen North constituency. It also made further consequential changes to the proposed constituency boundaries in Angus while considering alternative suggestions in Aberdeen and Angus.
8. The Commission considered that Option 4: improved local ties at Banchory, by including it within a Gordon and Deeside constituency; offered a better boundary than Option 1 by Peterculter; placed Midstocket within an Aberdeen South constituency as suggested during the consultation; reflected local ties in Angus by placing Brechin, Forfar and Montrose within a Kincardine and Angus East constituency; and retained the proposed Dundee constituency.
9. The Commission asked the Secretariat to further develop Option 4 as: the proposed Gordon and Deeside constituency stretched from Braemar to the coastline; consider an alternative boundary by Drumoak as it could not be included within a Gordon and Deeside constituency; and attempt to improve the boundary between the proposed Kincardine and Angus North constituency and Angus South and Dundee East constituency to improve connectivity within these constituencies.
Option 5 Constituency Council area Wards Electorate Difference (2007-2017) from EQ Aberdeen North Aberdeen City 1-6, 7(part) 77,677 3.9% Aberdeenshire 8(part) Aberdeen South Aberdeen City 7(part), 8-13 77,106 3.1% Aberdeenshire 18(part) Angus Glens Angus 1(part), 4-5, and Dundee 6(part), 7(part) 71,383 -4.5% East Dundee City 6, 8 Banff and Aberdeenshire 1-7, 8(part), 9 78,079 4.4% Buchan Dundee Dundee City 1-5, 7 76,317 2.1% Gordon and Aberdeenshire 8(part), 10-16 78,028 4.4% Deeside Kincardine and Aberdeenshire 17,19, 18(part) Angus East Angus 1(part), 2-3, 73,849 -1.2% 6(part), 7(part), 8
Document name 2 BCS_2017_68_(Aberdeen_Aberdeenshire_Angus_Dundee_Revised_Proposals) Boundary Commission for Scotland BCS Paper 2017/68
10. Option 5 further develops Option 4, while considering the suggestions raised by the Commission. Option 5: retains the Banff and Buchan constituency from Option 4; adds Balmedie and Belhelvie in Aberdeenshire, with approximately 3,400 electors, to the proposed Aberdeen North constituency. Balmedie is linked with the Aberdeen North constituency via the A90. The proposed boundary follows a historic ward boundary; adds Drumoak in upper Deeside, with approximately 1,200 electors, to Aberdeen South constituency, the proposed boundary follows the River Dee and a historic constituency boundary; and amends the proposed boundary in Angus to improve connectivity within the proposed constituencies by Forfar.
11. The advantages of Option 5 are it: improves the Initial Proposals by retaining local ties between Banchory and other communities in Deeside; adopts a suggestion to improve local ties by Midstocket in Aberdeen, by making a minor amendment to the proposed boundary in Aberdeen between the proposed Aberdeen North and Aberdeen South constituencies; retains the proposed Dundee constituency; places Drumoak in Deeside, within an Aberdeen South constituency to retain links along the River Dee and A93 corridor between Aberdeen and Deeside. Historically Drumoak has been within the same constituency as Peterculter and Cults); and aims to follow a similar boundary in Angus to the Scottish Parliament constituency of Angus North and Mearns, considering the suggestion from Angus Council.
12. The disadvantages of Option 5 are it: makes changes to the Initial Proposals where the Commission received very few comments during its consultation; and creates constituency boundaries that overlap the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire council area boundaries. However, the existing Gordon constituency covers Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City council areas.
Constituency names 13. The constituency names in this paper are provisional. The Commission will have the opportunity to review all constituency names and designations prior to the publication of its Revised Proposals.
14. A number of respondents have suggested alternative names for constituencies in Angus and Aberdeenshire.
Proposed constituency name Suggested alternative constituency name Gordon and Deeside Gordon and Upper Deeside Kincardine and Angus East Kincardine and Angus North Kincardine and Deeside Angus Glens and Dundee East Angus South and Dundee East
15. Historical UK Parliament constituency names within Angus and Aberdeenshire that the Commission may also wish to consider include: Angus; Angus East;
Document name 3 BCS_2017_68_(Aberdeen_Aberdeenshire_Angus_Dundee_Revised_Proposals) Boundary Commission for Scotland BCS Paper 2017/68
Banff; Gordon; North Angus and Mearns; South Angus; West Aberdeenshire; and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine.
16. The Commission set out its guidelines for selecting constituency names in its Policies and Procedures booklet for this review.
Conclusion 17. During consultation on the Initial Proposals there was strong opposition to the proposals in Banchory because Deeside was split between constituencies. The Commission received no alternative suggestions that placed Banchory within a Deeside constituency. Historically Deeside has been split between the UK Parliament constituencies of North Angus and Mearns and West Aberdeenshire. There was little comment on the Initial Proposals elsewhere within this grouping.
18. The Commission considered several alternative suggestions that aimed to address the division of Deeside between constituencies. The only solution to keeping Deeside within a single constituency is to design constituencies combining parts of Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire council areas due to the high average electorate and geography within north-east Aberdeenshire.
19. Option 5 addresses the issues raised in Deeside, and considers alternative suggestions raised in Aberdeen and Angus, while still aiming to retain local ties elsewhere in this grouping.
Recommendations 20. Taking into account all of the evidence arising from the public consultations on the Initial Proposals, the Secretariat invites the Commission to decide whether: to adopt without amendment the Initial Proposals for Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus and Dundee City council areas as the Commission’s Revised Proposals (as in Appendix A), subject to consideration of all other constituencies; to consider the objections to the boundary at Banchory and adopt the alternative boundaries in Option 5; and to amend its proposals for constituency names.
Secretariat June 2017
Document name 4 BCS_2017_68_(Aberdeen_Aberdeenshire_Angus_Dundee_Revised_Proposals) Boundary Commission for Scotland BCS Paper 2017/68 2018 Review of UK Parliament Constituencies Appendix A1 Initial Proposals for Aberdeenshire, Angus, Aberdeen City and Dundee City council areas
Banff and Buchan
Aberdeen North Gordon and Deeside
Aberdeen South
Kincardine and Angus East
Angus Glens and Dundee East
Difference Constituency Name E le ctora te from E Q Crown Copyright and database right Dundee 2017. All rights reserved. Ordnance Banff and Buchan 7 6 ,8 7 8 2 .7 % Survey licence no. 100022179 Gordon and Deeside 7 4 ,0 6 9 -0 .9 % Kincardine and Angus East 7 6 ,7 8 4 2 .6 % proposed constituency Angus Glens and Dundee East 78,156 4 .3 % existing constituency D und e e 7 6 ,3 1 7 2 .0 % ± 0 10 miles Aberdeen North 7 5 ,7 9 1 1 .3 % 0 10 km Aberdeen South 7 4 ,4 4 4 -0 .4 % Boundary Commission for Scotland 2018 Review of UK Parliament Constituencies Initial Proposals for Aberdeenshire, Angus, Aberdeen City and Dundee City council areas BCS Paper 2017/68 Appendix A2
existing Scottish existing UK Parliament Parliament constituency constituency
council area proposed constituency
wards wards from 2007-2017 May 2017 Boundary Commission for Scotland Paper 2017/68 2018 Review of UK Parliament Constituencies Appendix B1 Aberdeenshire, Angus, Aberdeen City and Dundee City council areas Alternative suggestion - Option 5
Constituency Name Electorate Difference from EQ Aberdeen North 7 7 ,6 7 7 3 .9 % Aberdeen South 7 7 ,1 0 6 3 .1 % Angus Glens and Dundee East 71,383 -4 .5 % Banff and Buchan 7 8 ,0 7 9 4 .4 % D und e e 7 6 ,3 1 7 2 .1 % Gordon and Deeside 7 8 ,0 2 8 4 .4 % Kincardine and Angus East 7 3 ,8 4 9 -1 .2 %
Banff and Buchan
Aberdeen Gordon and Deeside North
Aberdeen South
Kincardine and Angus North
Angus South and Dundee East
Dundee
alternative constituency
proposed constituency
Crown Copyright and database right 0 10 miles 2017. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey licence no. 100022179 ± 0 10 km BCS Paper 2017/68 Boundary Commission for Scotland Kincardine 2018 Review of UK Parliament Constituencies Appendix B2 and Angus North Aberdeenshire, Angus, Aberdeen City and Dundee City council areas
Alternative Suggestion - Option 5 - Split Ward Detail AN2
AN8
Areas previously in Angus South and Dundee East - Option 4
AN1
AN3
AN7
AN6
Angus South and Dundee East
AN4
AN5
D1 D6
D8 D2 Dundee D4 D7 D5
A1 2007-2017 ward number D3 2007-2017 ward boundary alternative constituency
proposed constituency boundary Crown Copyright and database right 2017. All rights reserved. Ordnance 0 3 miles Survey licence no. 100022179 ± 0 3 km BoundaryA1 Commission for Scotland BCS Paper 2017/68 A9 2018 Review of UK Parliament Constituencies Appendix B3 A5 Aberdeenshire, Angus, Aberdeen City and Dundee City council areasA4 Alternative Suggestion - Option 5 - Split Ward Detail
A7 A14 A8 A6 A12
Banff and Buchan
A8
A9 AC2 AC1 0 2 miles
A10 0 2 km
AC6 AC4 AC5
A11
A12 AC7 A14 AC3 AC8 Aberdeen North Gordon and Deeside
AC10 0 0.5 miles AC12 A13 0 0.5 km
A13 A15 Aberdeen South
A17 AC9 A18 A16 A18 2007-2017 ward number A1 Kincardine A16 2007-2017 ward boundary and Angus North alternative constituency A17 proposed constituency boundary Crown Copyright and database right 0 7 miles 0 1 mile 2017. All rights reserved. Ordnance A19 Survey licence no. 100022179 ± 0 7 km 0 1 km Boundary Commission for Scotland 2018 Review of UK Parliament Constituencies Aberdeenshire, Angus, Aberdeen City and Dundee City council areas Alternative Suggestion - Option 5 BCS Paper 2017/68 Appendix B4
existing Scottish existing UK Parliament Parliament constituency constituency
council area proposed constituency
wards wards from 2007-2017 May 2017