Memorandum by the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister (WB 01)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The statutory criteria to which the Electoral
Commission must have regard in making local government structural,
boundary and electoral changes are set out in section 13(5) of
the Local Government Act 1992 as amended (the 1992 Act).
2. The application of the criteria differs
depending on whether it is the structure and administrative boundaries
of local government that is under review, or the electoral arrangements
within an authority.
3. The criteria established under the 1992
Act, in respect of structural and boundary changes, are fairly
broad, and open to wide interpretation. As such they permit the
Electoral Commission a high degree of flexibility to tailor structural
and boundary reviews to local circumstances.
4. In the Government's view, the criteria
effectively summarise the nature of the judgements that the Electoral
Commission and Boundary Committee are required to make. The Commission
and Committee need flexibility to deal with the myriad of different
circumstances that exist on the ground and which need to be reflected
in any structure or boundary review.
5. An additional consideration—that
of electoral equality—applies to reviews of electoral arrangements.
6. The Government is aware that so far as
electoral arrangements are concerned, the Electoral Commission
is about to undertake a review of its recent Periodic Electoral
Review (PER) programme. The Government will want to await the
outcome of that review before considering whether changes to the
criteria are desirable.
INTRODUCTION
7. Section 13(5) of the Local Government
Act 1992 (as amended) requires the Electoral Commission in reviewing
the structure, boundaries or electoral arrangements of local authorities
to have regard to the need:
(a) to reflect the identities and interests
of local communities;
(b) to secure effective and convenient local
government;
and so far as electoral arrangements are concerned:
(c) the need to secure the matters mentioned
in paragraphs 1(2)(a) and 3(2)(a) of Schedule 11 to the Local
Government Act 1972 (equality of representation); and
(d) any scheme for elections specified by
order under section 86 of the Local Government Act 2000 (power
to specify a scheme for elections).
8. Section 27 of the 1992 Act (as amended)
requires the Commission, so far as practicable, to comply with
schedule 11 of the Local Government Act 1972. This includes:
(a) the desirability of fixing boundaries
which are and will remain easily identifiable;
(b) any local ties which would be broken
by fixing a particular boundary; and
(c) for county divisions, the boundaries
of the wards of the districts in the county.
9. In considering whether these criteria
are appropriate and balanced it is necessary to consider the different
circumstances in which they apply.
HISTORY OF
THE STATUTORY
CRITERIA
10. The criteria "to secure effective
and convenient local government" goes back as far as at least
1945; in the Local Government (Boundary Commission) Act 1945 the
principal statutory criterion was "to ensure individually
and collectively effective and convenient local government administration".
The Local Government Act 1958 created Local Government Commissions
for England and Wales with a duty of recommending "changes
which are desirable in the interests of effective and convenient
local government". The same phrase was used in the Local
Government Act 1972 (the 1972 Act).
11. It was not until the 1992 Act that the
criteria associated with community identity was included, probably
in recognition of the fact that this had always been one of the
issues considered in practice in previous local government reforms.
For instance the Guidance issued to the Local Government Commission
in 1978 on reviews of principal areas under the 1972 Act (DOE
Circular 33/78) endeavoured to amplify what factors should be
taken into account for effective and convenient local government.
It recommended that the Commission should have regard to whether
or not a boundary accords with the wishes of local inhabitants
and reflects the pattern of community life. Amongst other things
factors for the latter included "community of interest within
an area . . . stemming from social, geographical, economic and
cultural influences".
12. It was the Order (SI 2001 No 3962) transferring
the responsibility for electoral arrangements from the Secretary
of State's to the Electoral Commission which included the latter
two criteria in respect of electoral issues. The Order formalised,
as one of the fundamental statutory criteria, the need to secure
equality of representation.
13. Prior to the Transfer Order this concept
was only covered by a rule to be observed (as far as practicable)
in the 1972 Act. It was decided, with the transfer of responsibilities
for electoral arrangements to the Electoral Commission, that this
needed to be strengthened (with the dropping of the requirement
to review electoral areas to a set timetable ie every 10-25 years
under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000)
so that the Electoral Commission would keep electoral arrangements
under regular review.
14. This Note addresses the criteria for
Boundary and Structure reviews separately since the outcome of
such reviews and decisions as to implementation of them are still
a matter for Government. Electoral reviews are now formally in
the hands of the Electoral Commission and questions as to balance
between the criteria are for them to address. However the Government
does have an interest as to whether the criteria are appropriate
since they are included in the primary legislation that governs
the work of the Electoral Commission.
STRUCTURAL CHANGE
15. The purpose of a review of the structure
of local government, under the 1992 Act, is to ask whether it
is appropriate to replace the two principal tiers of local government
(ie County and District Councils) with a single, "unitary"
tier.
16. The principal consideration of any such
review is the need to ensure effective and convenient local government;
namely, whether it is better for local people that the full range
of local government services is provided by a single council or
whether service delivery should be split between county and district
tiers.
17. In a specific context[1],
the Government has expressed its view of the considerations that
should weigh uppermost in deciding structural change. In our view,
the structure of local government is effective and convenient
if it is capable of delivering quality public services in a way
which is economic, efficient and effective, and if it gives the
users, and potential users, of those services a democratic voice
in the decisions that affect them. To do this, the structure of
local government needs to be such that authorities have the scale
and capacity to attract high quality political and managerial
leaders, to realise cost efficiencies, to develop effective relationships
with other public and private organisations and to devise innovative
solutions to the problems that face local communities.
BOUNDARY CHANGES
18. Closely linked to any consideration
of the appropriate structure of local government is the need for
appropriate boundaries. The boundaries, whether of unitary or
two-tier local authorities need to be such that they provide that
authorities have the scale and capacity to deliver effectively
the services that they are charged to deliver. They must also
be such that, having regard to the way in which people live and
work and to the links between geographic communities, people have
an opportunity effectively to influence democratically the decisions
that affect their lives. Boundaries should also be drawn that
are sensitive to the communities to which people feel an affinity.
19. The Government recognises that these
considerations of effective local government and community identity
may, if taken individually, lead to quite different resolutions
of structure and boundaries. The statutory requirement to have
regard to effectiveness, convenience and community interests and
identities means, when deciding on the appropriate structure or
boundaries of local authorities, balancing the various and often
competing considerations.
20. In the Government's view, the criteria
effectively summarise the nature of the judgement that the Electoral
Commission and Boundary Committee are required to make. It might
be possible to devise more tightly defined criteria, but only
at the cost of losing the flexibility that we believe the Commission
and Committee need to deal with the myriad of different circumstances
that exist on the ground and which need to be reflected in any
structure or boundary review.
ELECTORAL CHANGES
21. Having decided on the administrative
boundaries and structure of local authorities, the need is to
divide the administrative area into electoral areas that ensure
effective representation.
22. This would not be necessary under a
system in which members were elected to the council in direct
proportion to the votes cast across the whole council area. The
Government, however, takes the view that such a system is inferior
to one in which individual councillors are elected by, and represent,
a geographical area. Under such a system there is a close relationship
between elector and elected that leads to more effective representation;
elected members are able to become acquainted with the area that
they represent and the communities within that area can more easily
identify with their local representative.
23. Under such a system there is necessarily
a need to establish the boundaries of electoral areas—divisions
in the case of county councils and wards in the case of district
councils.
24. In drawing up electoral areas, the 1992
Act, as amended by the Transfer Order, requires the Commission
to have regard not only to the need to secure effective and convenient
local government and to reflect community identities and interests,
but to ensure equality of representation; in other words, to ensure
as far as possible that all votes have the "same value".
25. In the Government's view, equality of
representation must provide the starting point for any review
of electoral areas. The principal of equality of representation
has been an important part of both local and national electoral
systems since local government was first established in its modern
form and parliamentary constituencies were reformed in the mid-nineteenth
century.
26. Internationally, those countries whose
electoral systems are similarly based on the geographic identity
of voters have equally recognised the importance of equality of
representation and have put in place statutory rules to provide
for this. The rules often differ from those provided for under
the Local Government Act 1992, by providing for a statutorily
permitted variation from the "electoral quota"—
eg 10% above or below the "norm".
27. The other factors recognised in the
1992 Act to reflect community interests and identities and the
need to secure convenient and effective local government also
apply, but their application is perhaps slightly different than
in the case of structural and boundary reviews.
28. Within any geographic area, however
defined, there will be a large number of different communities
of place and interest. People's views and interests will differ
according to political outlook, personal, economic and family
circumstances and personal belief. It is clearly impossible to
define a contiguous geographic area, in which all people share
the same interests. It is, however, possible to define areas which
share certain characteristics in common—whether because
they are urban or rural in character, or because of some overwhelming
economic factor.
29. It is equally possible to define geographic
areas which, because of the intervention of natural features—mountains,
rivers, or even roads—are distinctively different from their
neighbours. It is also possible to define areas to which people
feel a natural allegiance. It is legitimate to take these factors
into account when defining the boundaries of electoral areas,
and even, in some circumstances, to moderate the strict application
of the principal of equality of representation.
30. Similarly, it is proper that a review
of electoral areas should consider the impact of boundaries on
the ability of the electorate to gain access to their local representative
and the ease with which the local representative can travel within
the area and get to familiarise herself with the area and communities
which he/she represents.
31. These factors are encompassed by the
statutory requirements to have regard to the need to secure effective
and convenient local government and to reflect community identities
and interests.
32. Internationally, the same approach underpins
the legislation of certain other countries. For example, in New
South Wales, Australia, after equality of representation, Electoral
Commissioners are required to consider:
(i) Community interests, including economic,
social and regional interests.
(ii) Means of communication and travel.
(iii) The physical features and area.
(iv) Mountain and other natural boundaries.
33. In Quebec, as well as the strict application
of equality of representation, the drawing of electoral districts
must similarly be guided by geographic, demographic and socioeconomic
criteria and, to the extent possible, must take into consideration
the population's attachment to its community.
THE SCOPE
FOR CHANGE
34. The statutory criteria set down by the
Local Government Act 1992 are widely drawn. They are necessarily
open to a degree of interpretation and as such provide the Electoral
Commission and Boundary Committee with a degree of flexibility
to tailor boundaries to local circumstance.
35. Paragraph 19 above states the Government's
view that the statutory criteria, as they apply to structure and
boundary reviews, adequately provide for the range of factors
which need to be taken into account in determining the structure
and administrative boundaries of local government.
36. So far as the application of the statutory
criteria to electoral reviews is concerned, we are aware that
the Electoral Commission is about to review their experience of
the PER programme. We will await the results of that review before
deciding whether there is a case for redefining the statutory
criteria. The Government retains an open mind about whether such
a redefinition would be desirable.
37. If there is a redefinition it might
start from the overriding principle of electoral equality. We
recognise that it would be possible to provide statutory limits
on the amount of permitted variation, as provided for in other
countries. However, the Government is not currently persuaded
that such limits are necessary or desirable. A permitted variation
of, say 10% would tend to create a hard and fast "cliff edge",
which in some cases might lead to the drawing of electoral boundaries
which were insensitive to other factors.
38. Nor are we currently persuaded that
it would be appropriate to redefine the criteria about community
interest and identity and effective and convenient local government—as
for example is done in New South Wales. Any tightening of the
criteria implies a trade-off between precision and flexibility
and, subject to the outcome of the Electoral Commission's review
of PERs, we believe that the existing criteria have operated to
provide the appropriate degree of flexibility necessary to tailor
solutions to local circumstances.
39. The statutory criteria necessarily imply
a high degree of judgement and this is likely to be the case under
any system, short of one which mechanically applies an "electoral
quota". As such it will always be possible for any two people
applying the same criteria, to arrive at different—though
equally reasonable—answers. In such circumstances, it will
be important that judgements as to electoral boundaries should
be in the hands of an independent body—something Parliament
provided when the duty was placed on the Electoral Commission
in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.
1 Guidance issues to the Boundary Committee by ODPM
in June 2003 in connection with the local government reviews of
the North-East, North-West and Yorkshire and the Humber regions
of England. Back
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