Agenda item

On 13 September 2016 the Boundary Commission for England (BCE) had published its initial proposals for new parliamentary constituency boundaries, the first of three rounds of consultation which would be undertaken before the BCE made its recommendations for new parliamentary boundaries to Parliament in September 2018.

The Executive was advised that, in conducting its review, the BCE must adhere to rules set by Parliament in 2011 which result in a reduction of the number of constituencies in England from 533 to 501. The rules also stated that every constituency, with the exception of the 2 constituencies in the Isle of Wight, must have an electorate that was no smaller than 71,031 and no larger than 78,507.

It was reported that the BCE was proposing to transfer the Bisley ward, which currently had 2,610 electors, from the Surrey Heath Constituency to the Woking constituency. The proposals also retained the current arrangements for the Surrey Heath Constituency to comprise the Guildford Borough wards of Ash Vale, Ash Wharf and Ash South and Tongham.

Members discussed the proposals and agreed to submit a response stating that the Council considered that Bisley should not be moved to Woking Constituency, for the following reasons:

1.              The BCE’s proposal reflected the current ward boundaries for Bisley, which could be affected by the separate ongoing review of the Council’s ward boundaries. Although the revised local government boundaries had not yet been decided, the Council was minded to recommend that, from 2019, Bisley be combined with West End to form a single ward.If, as was understood, the BCE only moved areas on a ward basis, the changes could also result in West End also transferring to Woking Constituency, which would disrupt its numbers.

2.              The electorate for Surrey Heath Constituency as proposed by the Boundary Commission, which included the three Ash wards but excluded Bisley, was 74,975. Retaining Bisley within the Constituency would not exceed the maximum electorate for a constituency and, although it would impact upon the electorate totals for Woking Constituency, given the low numbers involved, this could be resolved elsewhere.

3.              Moving Bisley to the Woking Constituency would add unnecessary complexity. The proposed changes would exacerbate issues around coterminosity, which could impact heavily on the complexity of running combined elections in the future, thereby adding further risks to the election process.

4.              The complexity of the boundaries would create confusion for residents.

RESOLVED to authorise the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader and the Bisley ward councillors, to finalise and submit the Council’s response to the 2018 Parliamentary Boundary Review to the Boundary Commission for England.