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Final recommendations on the future electoral arrangements for South Cambridgeshire Report to the Electoral Commission April 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: 281 2 BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND CONTENTS page WHAT IS THE BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND? 5 SUMMARY 7 1 INTRODUCTION 13 2 CURRENT ELECTORAL ARRANGEMENTS 15 3 DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS 19 4 RESPONSES TO CONSULTATION 21 5 ANALYSIS AND FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS 25 6 WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? 57 APPENDIX A Final Recommendations for South Cambridgeshire: 59 Detailed Mapping A large map illustrating the proposed ward boundaries for the eastern part of the district is inserted inside the back cover of this report. BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 3 4 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 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 councils. This report sets out our final recommendations on the electoral arrangements for the district of South Cambridgeshire. BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 5 6 BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND SUMMARY The Local Government Commission for England (LGCE) began a review of South Cambridgeshire’s electoral arrangements on 17 April 2001. It published its draft recommendations for electoral arrangements on 27 November 2001, after which it undertook a nine-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 South Cambridgeshire: • in 26 of the 42 wards the number of electors represented by each councillor varies by more than 10 per cent from the average for the district and 16 wards vary by more than 20 per cent; • by 2006 this situation is expected to worsen, with the number of electors per councillor forecast to vary by more than 10 per cent from the average in 29 wards and by more than 20 per cent in 21 wards. Our main final recommendations for future electoral arrangements (see Tables 1 and 2 and paragraphs 182 – 183) are that: • South Cambridgeshire District Council should have 57 councillors, two more than at present; • there should be 34 wards, instead of 42 as at present; • the boundaries of 30 of the existing wards should be modified, resulting in a net reduction of eight, and 12 wards should retain their existing boundaries. The purpose of these proposals is to ensure that, in future, each district councillor represents approximately the same number of electors, bearing in mind local circumstances. • In 21 of the proposed 34 wards the number of electors per councillor would vary by no more than 10 per cent from the district average. • This improved level of electoral equality is forecast to continue, with the number of electors per councillor in 30 wards expected to vary by no more than 10 per cent from the average for the district by 2006. BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 7 Recommendations are also made for changes to parish council electoral arrangements which provide for: • new warding arrangements and the redistribution of councillors for the parish of Little Wilbraham. 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 4 June 2002: The Secretary Electoral Commission Trevelyan House 30 Great Peter Street London SW1P 2HW 8 BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND Table 1: Final Recommendations: Summary Ward name Number Constituent areas Map of Reference councillors 1 Balsham The parishes of Balsham, Carlton, Castle Camps, 2 Horseheath, Shudy Camps, West Wickham, West Map 2 Wratting and Weston Colville 2 Bar Hill The parishes of Bar Hill, Boxworth, Dry Drayton and 2 Map 2 Lolworth 3 Barton The parishes of Barton, Coton, Grantchester and 1 Map 2 Madingley 4 Bassingbourn The parishes of Bassingbourn cum Kneesworth, 2 Map 2 Litlington, Shingay cum Wendy and Whaddon 5 Bourn Unchanged – the parishes of Bourn, Caxton, Croxton and 3 Map 2 Eltisley 6 Caldecote 1 The parishes of Caldecote, Childerley, Kingston and Toft Map 2 7 Comberton 1 Unchanged – the parish of Comberton Map 2 8 Cottenham The parishes of Cottenham, Oakington & Westwick and 3 Map 2 Rampton 9 Duxford 1 The parishes of Duxford and Ickleton Map 2 10 Fowlmere & Unchanged (the existing Foxton ward) – the parishes of 1 Map 2 Foxton Fowlmere and Foxton 11 Fulbourn Large map and 2 Unchanged – the parish of Fulbourn Map 2 12 Gamlingay The parishes of Arrington, Croydon, Gamlingay, Hatley, 2 Map 2 Little Gransden and Longstowe 13 Girton 2 Unchanged – the parish of Girton Map 2 14 Hardwick 1 The parish of Hardwick Map 2 15 Harston & 1 The parishes of Harston and Hauxton Map 2 Hauxton 16 Haslingfield & The parishes of Great Eversden, Harlton, Haslingfield and 1 Map 2 The Eversdens Little Eversden 17 Histon & Unchanged (the existing Histon ward) – the parishes of 3 Map 2 Impington Histon and Impington 18 Linton 2 The parishes of Bartlow, Hildersham and Linton Map 2 19 Longstanton 1 Unchanged – the parish of Longstanton Map 2 20 Melbourn The parishes of Great & Little Chishill, Heydon and 2 Map 2 Melbourn 21 Meldreth 1 The parishes of Meldreth and Shepreth Map 2 22 Milton Large map and 2 Unchanged – the parish of Milton (detached) Map 2 23 Orwell & 1 The parishes of Barrington, Orwell and Wimpole Map 2 Barrington 24 Papworth & The parishes of Conington, Elsworth, Fen Drayton, Elsworth 2 Graveley, Knapwell, Papworth Everard and Papwoth St Map 2 Agnes 25 Sawston 3 Unchanged – the parish of Sawston Map 2 26 Swavesey 1 Unchanged – the parish of Swavesey Map 2 27 Teversham Large map and 1 The parish of Teversham Map 2 BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 9 Ward name Number Constituent areas Map of Reference councillors 28 The Abingtons The parishes of Babraham, Great Abington, Hinxton, 1 Map 2 Little Abington and Pampisford 29 The Mordens The parishes of Abington Pigotts, Guilden Morden, 1 Map 2 Steeple Morden and Tadlow 30 The Shelfords & The parishes of Great Shelford, Little Shelford, Newton 3 Map 2 Stapleford and Stapleford 31 The The parishes of Fen Ditton, Great Wilbraham, Wilbrahams Horningsea, Little Wilbraham (the proposed Little Large map and 1 Wilbraham and Six Mile Bottom parish wards) and Stow Map 2 cum Quy 32 Waterbeach 2 Unchanged – the parishes of Landbeach and Waterbeach Map 2 33 Whittlesford 1 Unchanged – the parishes of Thriplow and Whittlesford Map 2 34 Willingham & 3 The parishes of Over and Willingham Map 2 Over Notes: 1 The whole district is parished 2 Map 2, Map A1 and the large map in the back of the report illustrate the proposed wards outlined above. 10 BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND Table 2: Final Recommendations for South Cambridgeshire 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 Balsham 2 3,521 1,761 0 3,460 1,730 -9 2 Bar Hill 2 3,968 1,984 13 3,890 1,945 3 3 Barton 1 1,877 1,877 7 1,840 1,840 -3 4 Bassingbourn 2 3,546 1,773 1 3,570 1,785 -6 5 Bourn 3 1,923 641 -63 6,350 2,117 12 6 Caldecote 1 1,219 1,219 -31 1,850 1,850 -2 7 Comberton 1 1,758 1,758 0 1,770 1,770 -7 8 Cottenham 3 5,605 1,868 6 6,180 2,060 9 9 Duxford 1 1,959 1,959 12 2,010 2,010 6 10 Fowlmere & 1 1,823 1,823 4 1,910 1,910 1 Foxton 11 Fulbourn 2 3,663 1,832 4 3,590 1,795 -5 12 Gamlingay 2 3,704 1,852 6 3,710 1,855 -2 13 Girton 2 3,112 1,556 -11 3,310 1,655 -13 14 Hardwick 1 1,843 1,843 5 1,800 1,800 -5 15 Harston & 1 1,908 1,908 9 1,870 1,870 -1 Hauxton 16 Haslingfield & 1 2,064 2,064 18