AGENDA ITEM 9
BOROUGH OF POOLE
COUNCIL 21ST OCTOBER 2003
REPORT OF HEAD OF DEMOCRATIC SERVICES
PROPOSALS FOR PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY BOUNDARIES IN THE COUNTIES OF DORSET, BOURNEMOUTH AND POOLE
1. PURPOSE
To consider the proposals for the review of Parliamentary Constituency boundaries published by the Boundary Commission for England. (Copies have been previously been circulated to all Councillors).
2. DECISION REQUIRED
2.1 To:
a) note the Boundary Commission for England proposal and take no further action; or
b) to make representations to the Commission on its proposals and request that a local inquiry is held.
3. INFORMATION/BACKGROUND
3.1 The Boundary Commission for England is an advisory non-departmental public body funded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The Commission are required by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 to keep the Parliamentary Constituencies in England under continuous review and periodically, every 8-12 years to conduct a general review of all constituencies in England at the same time and submit to the Secretary of State, a report showing the constituencies they recommend.
3.2 The current review has been going for the last 2 years and must be completed by April 2007 – but the Commission are expected to conclude the exercise in mid 2006 with recommendations for the whole of England being submitted to Parliament later on that year. (N.B. THIS MEANS THEREFORE THAT THE NEXT PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION, WHICH MUST BE HELD BEFORE THE END OF JUNE 2006, WILL BE ON THE EXISTING PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY BOUNDARIES).
3.3 The main reason for the review is that every Parliamentary Constituency has about the same number of electors so that everyone’s vote carries the same weight in a General Election.
3.4 The Unitary Authorities of Bournemouth and Poole have the legal status of Counties and therefore fall within in the scope of Rule 4 of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986. This means that the Commission are required to have regard to County Boundaries and should therefore, not create a constituency across the boundary between two counties. However, they are also allowed by Rule 5 to depart from this requirement of Rule 4 in order to avoid an excessive disparity between the electorate of a constituency and the electoral quota or between the electorates of neighbouring authorities.
3.5 Dorset has a Parliamentary electorate of 309,634 and therefore a theoretical entitlement to 4.43 constituencies. Bournemouth has an electorate of 123,961 and a theoretical entitlement to 1.77 constituencies, whereas Poole has an electorate of 108,945 and a theoretical entitlement to 1.56 constituencies.
3.6 The combined area of the three counties has an electorate of 542,540 and therefore a theoretical entitlement to 7.76 constituencies. Whether reviewed separately or as one unit, 8 seats would be allocated. However, if the 3 areas were reviewed separately, the average constituency electorate in Dorset would be high at 77,409, in Bournemouth 61,981 and in Poole would be very low at 54,473.
3.7 The Commission had given consideration as to whether Bournemouth should be reviewed separately and allocated two constituencies. However, this option was rejected because it was considered that there would be an unacceptably high disparity between the low electorates of the two Bournemouth constituencies and the electorates of the neighbouring constituencies. Accordingly all three “counties” were to be treated as one area for the purposes of the review.
3.8 The Commission has recommended that the Borough of Poole be split amongst three parliamentary constituencies as follows:
Poole Borough constituency:
Branksome West
Canford Cliffs
Creekmoor
Hamworthy East
Hamworthy West
Newtown
Oakdale
Parkstone
Penn Hill
Poole Town
Mid Dorset and North Poole County Constituency
Poole:
Broadstone
Canford Heath East
Canford Heath West
Merley
Bearwood
East Dorset:
Colehill East
Colehill West
Corfe Mullen Central
Corfe Mullen North
Corfe Mullen South
Longham
Stapehill
Wimborne Minster
Purbeck:
Bere Regis
Lytchett Matravers
Lytchett Minster and Upton East
Lytchett Minster and Upton West
St Martin
Wareham
Bournemouth West Constituency
Poole:
Alderney
Branksome East
Bournemouth:
Central
Kinson North
Kinson South
Redhill and Northbourne
Talbot and Branksome Woods
Wallisdown
Winton West
Westbourne and Westcliff
Winton East
3.9 The Group Leaders and Deputy Group Leaders have met to discuss proposals. Concern was expressed that the electors of the Borough of Poole would be represented by three different MPs as opposed to the current two, coupled with the fact that is was a seemingly short period since the introduction of the Commission’s previous recommendations for Dorset. However, it was accepted that the Commission were faced with a difficult task in that a substantial percentage of the electorate of Dorset were centred in and around the conurbation. The Leaders looked at possible alternatives but invariably, the alternatives ended up creating huge disparities in the other constituencies.
3.10 If any of the interested Local Authorities (County or District Council) in Dorset object to the provisional recommendations or indeed a body of 100 or more electors in an area, the Commission cannot proceed with their final recommendations to the Secretary of State until a Local Inquiry has been held.
3.11 If there is to be a public inquiry it will be held in February 2004 and the costs of holding the inquiry will be met by the Commission.
Bob Harris
Head of Democratic Services
10th October 2003
Background papers
News release (dated 10th September 2003)
Public Notice of the Boundary Commission for England’s Recommendations
Large Scale Plan and Overview sheet issued by the Boundary Commission
Contact Officer:
Paul Morris, Electoral Registration Returning Officer
Tel: (01202) 633028
Email:
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