Final recommendations on the future electoral arrangements for East 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: 278 2 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? 37 APPENDIX A Final Recommendations for East Cambridgeshire: 39 Detailed Mapping Large maps illustrating the proposed ward boundaries for Ely, Littleport and Soham are 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 and town councils. This report sets out our final recommendations on the electoral arrangements for the district of East Cambridgeshire. BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 5 6 BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND SUMMARY The Local Government Commission for England (LGCE) began a review of East Cambridgeshire’s electoral arrangements on 17 April 2001. It published its draft recommendations for electoral arrangements on 27 November 2001, 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 East Cambridgeshire: • in 12 of the 18 wards the number of electors represented by each councillor varies by more than 10 per cent from the average for the district and six wards vary by more than 20 per cent; • by 2006 this situation is expected to improve slightly, with the number of electors per councillor forecast to vary by more than 10 per cent from the average in 11 wards and by more than 20 per cent in five wards. Our main final recommendations for future electoral arrangements (see Tables 1 and 2 and paragraphs 85–86) are that: • East Cambridgeshire District Council should have 39 councillors, two more than at present; • there should be 19 wards, instead of 18 as at present; • the boundaries of 14 of the existing wards should be modified, resulting in a net increase of one, and four 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 12 of the proposed 19 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 only one ward, Downham Villages, expected to vary by 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 and town council electoral arrangements which provide for: • revised warding arrangements and the redistribution of councillors for the parish of Ely; • new warding arrangements and the redistribution of councillors for the parishes of Littleport, Soham and Woodditton. 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 Great Peter Street London SW1P 2HW 8 BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND Table 1: Final Recommendations: Summary Ward name Number of Constituent areas Map reference councillors 1 Bottisham 2 The parishes of Bottisham, Brinkley, Burrough Map 2 Green, Lode and Westley Waterless 2 Burwell 3 Unchanged – the parish of Burwell Map 2 3 Cheveley 2 The parishes of Ashley, Cheveley and Kirtling and Maps 2 and A2 the proposed Woodditton Urban parish ward of Woodditton parish 4 Downham Villages 2 The parishes of Coveney, Downham, Mepal and Map 2 Witcham 5 Dullingham Villages 1 The parishes of Dullingham and Stetchworth and Maps 2 and A2 the proposed Woodditton Rural parish ward of Woodditton parish 6 Ely East 2 Part of Ely parish (the proposed Ely East parish Large map and ward) Map 2 7 Ely North 3 Part of Ely parish (the proposed Ely North parish Large map and ward) Map 2 8 Ely South 2 Part of Ely parish (the proposed Ely South parish Large map and ward) Map 2 9 Ely West 2 Part of Ely parish (the proposed Ely West parish Large map and ward) Map 2 10 Fordham Villages 2 Unchanged – the parishes of Chippenham, Map 2 Fordham, Kennett and Snailwell 11 Haddenham 3 The parishes of Haddenham, Wentworth and Map 2 Witchford 12 Isleham 1 Unchanged – the parish of Isleham Map 2 13 Littleport East 2 Part of Littleport parish (the proposed Littleport Large map and East parish ward) Map 2 14 Littleport West 2 Part of Littleport parish (the proposed Littleport Large map and West parish ward) Map 2 15 Soham North 2 Part of Soham parish (the proposed Soham North Large map and parish ward) Map 2 16 Soham South 3 The parish of Wicken; part of Soham parish (the Large map and proposed Soham South parish ward) Map 2 17 Stretham 2 The parishes of Stretham, Thetford and Wilburton Map 2 18 Sutton 2 The parish of Sutton Map 2 19 The Swaffhams 1 Unchanged – the parishes of Reach, Swaffham Map 2 Bulbeck and Swaffham Prior Notes: 1 The whole district is parished. 2 The wards on the above table are illustrated on Map 2, Maps A1–A2 in Appendix A and the large maps at the back of the report. 3 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. BOUNDARY COMMITTEE FOR ENGLAND 9 Table 2: Final Recommendations for East 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 Bottisham 2 2,901 1,451 6 2,910 1,455 -1 2 Burwell 3 4,391 1,464 7 4,480 1,493 1 3 Cheveley 2 3,042 1,521 11 3,110 1,555 6 4 Downham Villages 2 3,105 1,553 13 3,270 1,635 11 5 Dullingham 1 1,512 1,512 10 1,520 1,520 3 Villages 6 Ely East 2 2,808 1,404 2 2,940 1,470 0 7 Ely North 3 3,626 1,209 -12 4,416 1,472 0 8 Ely South 2 1,482 741 -46 2,740 1,370 -7 9 Ely West 2 2,754 1,377 0 2,784 1,392 -6 10 Fordham Villages 2 2,638 1,319 -4 2,680 1,340 -9 11 Haddenham 3 4,241 1,414 3 4,290 1,430 -3 12 Isleham 1 1,607 1,607 17 1,610 1,610 9 13 Littleport East 2 2,598 1,299 -5 3,020 1,510 3 14 Littleport West 2 2,682 1,341 -2 3,090 1,545 5 15 Soham North 2 2,470 1,235 -10 3,050 1,525 4 16 Soham South 3 4,827 1,609 17 4,550 1,517 3 17 Stretham 2 2,746 1,373 0 2,780 1,390 -6 18 Sutton 2 2,585 1,293 -6 2,680 1,340 -9 19 The Swaffhams 1 1,530 1,530 11 1,530 1,530 4 Totals 39 53,545 – – 57,450 – – Averages – – 1,373 – – 1,473 – Source: Electorate figures are based on information provided by East Cambridgeshire District 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.