Select Committee on Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Written Evidence


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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