Final recommendations on the future electoral arrangements for Swale in Kent Report to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions May 2001 LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND This report sets out the Commission’s final recommendations on the electoral arrangements for the borough of Swale in Kent. Members of the Commission are: Professor Malcolm Grant (Chairman) Professor Michael Clarke CBE (Deputy Chairman) Peter Brokenshire Kru Desai Pamela Gordon Robin Gray Robert Hughes CBE Barbara Stephens (Chief Executive) © Crown Copyright 2001 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 Local Government Commission for England 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.: 211 ii LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND CONTENTS page LETTER TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE v SUMMARY vii 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 CURRENT ELECTORAL ARRANGEMENTS 3 3 DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS 7 4 RESPONSES TO CONSULTATION 9 5 ANALYSIS AND FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS 13 6 NEXT STEPS 39 APPENDICES A Final Recommendations for Swale: Detailed Mapping 41 B Draft Recommendations for Swale (October 2000) 45 C Code of Practice on Written Consultation 47 A large map illustrating the proposed ward boundaries for Faversham and Sittingbourne is inserted inside the back cover of the report. LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND iii iv LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND Local Government Commission for England 9 May 2001 Dear Secretary of State On 9 May 2000 the Commission began a periodic electoral review of Swale under the Local Government Act 1992. We published our draft recommendations in October 2000 and undertook an eight-week period of consultation. We have now prepared our final recommendations in the light of the consultation. We have substantially confirmed our draft recommendations, although modifications have been made to the boundaries of eight wards in the light of further evidence. This report sets out our final recommendations for changes to electoral arrangements in Swale. We recommend that Swale Borough Council should be served by 47 councillors representing 25 wards, and that changes should be made to ward boundaries in order to improve electoral equality, having regard to the statutory criteria. We recommend that the Council should continue to hold elections by thirds. The Local Government Act 2000 contains provisions relating to changes to local authority electoral arrangements. However, until such time as Orders are made implementing those arrangements we are obliged to conduct our work in accordance with current legislation, and to continue our current approach to periodic electoral reviews. I would like to thank members and officers of the Borough Council and other local people who have contributed to the review. Their co-operation and assistance have been very much appreciated by Commissioners and staff. Yours sincerely PROFESSOR MALCOLM GRANT Chairman LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND v vi LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND SUMMARY The Commission began a review of Swale on 9 May 2000. We published our draft recommendations for electoral arrangements on 17 October 2000, after which we undertook an eight-week period of consultation. • This report summarises the representations we received during consultation on our draft recommendations, and contains our final recommendations to the Secretary of State. We found that the existing electoral arrangements provide unequal representation of electors in Swale: • In 14 of the 25 wards the number of electors represented by each councillor varies by more than 10 per cent from the average for the borough, and six wards vary by more than 20 per cent from the average. • By 2005 electoral equality is not expected to improve, with the number of electors per councillor forecast to vary by more than 10 per cent from the average in 15 wards and by more than 20 per cent in seven wards. Our main final recommendations for future electoral arrangements (Figures 1 and 2 and paragraphs 117-118) are that: • Swale Borough Council should have 47 councillors, two fewer than at present; • there should be 25 wards, as at present; • the boundaries of 23 of the existing wards should be modified, and two wards should retain their existing boundaries; • elections should continue to take place by thirds. These recommendations seek to ensure that the number of electors represented by each borough councillor is as nearly as possible the same, having regard to local circumstances. • In 23 of the proposed 25 wards the number of electors per councillor would vary by no more than 10 per cent from the borough average. • This improved level of electoral equality is forecast to continue, with the number of electors per councillor in 24 wards expected to vary by no more than 10 per cent from the average for the borough in 2005. LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND vii Recommendations are also made for changes to parish council electoral arrangements which provide for: • revised warding arrangements and the redistribution of councillors for the parishes of Faversham and Minster-on-Sea; • an increase in the number of councillors representing Borden parish. All further correspondence on these recommendations and the matters discussed in this report should be addressed to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, who will not make an Order implementing the Commission’s recommendations before 19 June 2001: The Secretary of State Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions Local Government Sponsorship Division Eland House Bressenden Place London SW1E 5DU viii LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND Figure 1: The Commission’s Final Recommendations: Summary Ward name Number of Constituent areas councillors 1 Abbey 2 Abbey ward (Abbey parish ward of Faversham parish); St Ann’s ward (part - part of St Ann’s parish ward of Faversham parish); Watling ward (part of Watling parish ward of Faversham parish) 2 Borden 1 Borden ward (part - Borden parish) 3 Boughton & 2 Boughton ward (Boughton under Blean parish); Courtenay Courtenay ward (the parishes of Dunkirk, Graveney with Goodnestone, and Hernhill); East Downs ward (part - the parishes of Selling and Sheldwich) 4 Chalkwell 2 Grove ward (part); Woodstock ward (part) 5 Davington Priory 1 Davington Priory ward (part - part of Davington Priory ward of Faversham parish); St Ann’s ward (part - part of St Ann’s ward of Faversham parish) 6 East Downs 1 East Downs ward (part - the parishes of Badlesmere, Doddington, Eastling, Leaveland, Newnham, Stalisfield and Throwley); Teynham & Lynsted (part - Ospringe parish) 7 Grove 2 Grove ward (part - including Bobbing parish); Borden ward (part); Milton Regis ward (part) 8 Hartlip, 2 Hartlip & Upchurch ward (the parishes of Hartlip and Newington & Upchurch); Newington ward (Newington parish) Upchurch 9 Iwade & Lower 1 Unchanged (including Iwade parish as modified) Halstow 10 Kemsley 2 Kemsley ward (part); Milton Regis ward (part) 11 Leysdown & 1 Eastern ward (part - Leysdown and Warden parishes) Warden 12 Milton Regis 2 Milton Regis ward (part) 13 Minster Cliffs 3 Minster Cliffs ward (part - part of Minster-on-Sea parish); Eastern ward (part - part of Minster-on-Sea parish) 14 Murston 2 Murston ward (part) 15 Queenborough & 3 Unchanged (including Queenborough parish) Halfway 16 Roman 2 Roman ward (part); Murston ward (part) LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND ix Ward name Number of Constituent areas councillors 17 St Ann’s 2 Davington Priory ward (part - part of Davington Priory ward of Faversham parish); St Ann’s ward (part - part of St Ann’s parish ward of Faversham parish) 18 St Michaels 2 Murston ward (part); Roman ward (part); Woodstock ward (part) 19 Sheerness East 2 Sheerness East ward; Sheerness West ward (part) 20 Sheerness West 2 Sheerness West ward (part) 21 Sheppey Central 3 Sheppey Central ward (including part of Minster-on-Sea parish); Eastern ward (part - Eastchurch parish); Minster Cliffs ward (part - part of Minster-on Sea parish) 22 Teynham & 2 Teynham & Lynsted ward (part - the parishes of Luddenham, Lynsted Lynsted, Norton, Buckland & Stone, Oare and Teynham); West Downs ward (part - Tonge parish and former Kingsdown parish) 23 Watling 2 St Ann’s ward (part - part of St Ann’s ward of Faversham parish); Watling ward (part - part of Watling ward of Faversham parish) 24 West Downs 1 West Downs ward (part - the parishes of Bapchild, Bredgar, Milstead and Rodmersham) 25 Woodstock 2 Woodstock ward (part); Borden ward (part) Notes: 1 The parishes referred to above are those operative from 1 April 2003. 2 Sheerness and Sittingbourne are the only unparished parts of the borough. 3 Map 2 and Appendix A, including the large map at the back of this report, illustrate the proposed wards outlined above. x LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND Figure 2: The Commission’s Final Recommendations for Swale Ward name Number Electorate Number Variance Electorate Number of Variance of (2000) of electors from (2005) electors from councillors per average per average councillor % councillor % 1 Abbey 2 3,632 1,816 -4 3,836 1,918 -4 2 Borden 1 1,673 1,673 -12 1,829 1,829 -8 3 Boughton & 2 4,151 2,076 9 4,214 2,107 5