Southam News: Southam to move to Rugby

Southam is currently part of the Southam and Kenilworth constituency.

Under new proposals it is to become part of the Rugby constituency.

The independent Boundary Commission for England (BCE) today launches a 12-week consultation on its initial proposals for new Parliamentary constituency boundaries in England.
The BCE's extensive consultation, which will include hosting a number of public hearings across England, will enable people to have their say in the design of the new constituency boundaries.

The review of constituency boundaries is being carried out after Parliament decided that there should be a reduction in the number of constituencies across the UK, and that there should be similar numbers of electors in each constituency. The number of constituencies in England is being reduced from 533 to 502.

Above, Simon James

Further, every constituency must have an electorate (as at the review date) that is no less than 95% and no more than 105% of the UK electoral quota of 76641 electors. Simon James, Secretary to the Commission, comments, "Parliament has set clear rules on what we can and can't do when it comes to developing our initial proposals - BCE was given clear principles and from that starting point we have found a solution that we think best meets Parliament's rules and now we want to know what people think of our initial proposals."

Under the BCE's initial proposals 77 of the existing constituencies are unchanged.

Details of the BCE's comprehensive consultation process are available on its website and it now encourages everyone to consider what has been proposed before getting involved. The BCE has published regional reports and maps, which are available on its website and in a number of local authority offices and libraries around the country. Meanwhile, Simon James says the BCE is now open to feedback. He continues, "Now that we have published our initial proposals we welcome people's participation until the consultation closes on 5 December 2011. People can contribute via our website, they can write in or email us, or come and present their views at a public hearing in one of 36 venues around the country between 11 October and 18 November this year".

The BCE website (www.consultation.boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk) provides full information about the review and sets out how people can get involved and register for the public hearings.

Warwickshire currently contains six whole constituencies. The proposals create five constituencies that are wholly contained within the county and one constituency, Kenilworth and Dorridge, which crosses the county boundary between Warwickshire and the West Midlands. It contains five wards from the south of the Borough of Solihull, six wards from the District of Warwick and the Tanworth ward from the District of Stratford-on-Avon.

As a consequence of the inclusion of the Borough of Solihull wards, the proposed Kenilworth and Dorridge constituency does not include the wards around the town of Southam in the east of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, currently in the Kenilworth and Southam constituency.

The proposed Rugby constituency extends further south to include five District of Stratford-on-Avon wards that are in the existing Kenilworth and Southam constituency.
As a consequence, the Borough of Rugby ward of Ryton-on-Dunsmore and the area of the north of the existing Rugby constituency are now included in the proposed Nuneaton constituency.

To increase the electorate of the Warwick and Leamington constituency, the two District of Warwick wards of Cubbington and Radford Semele, which are in the existing Kenilworth and Southam constituency, are included in Warwick and Leamington, as are the two District of Stratford-on-Avon wards of Claverdon and Snitterfield. In return the proposed Stratford-upon-Avon constituency gains the three District of Stratford-on-Avon wards of Burton Dassett, Kineton, and Wellesbourne that are in the existing Kenilworth and Southam constituency.

The name of the Stratford-upon-Avon constituency has been changed from Stratford-on-Avon to reflect the name of the largest town in the constituency and to avoid confusion with the name of the district.

Rugby CC 73,482
Admirals Rugby 5,226
Avon and Swift Rugby 2,194
Benn Rugby 4,296
Bilton Rugby 4,104
Brownsover North Rugby 4,584
Brownsover South Rugby 3,003
Caldecott Rugby 4,090
Dunchurch and Knightlow Rugby 4,914
Eastlands Rugby 4,557
Hillmorton Rugby 4,192
Leam Valley Rugby 1,538
New Bilton Rugby 4,987
Newbold Rugby 4,440
Overslade Rugby 4,241
Paddox Rugby 2,834
Fenny Compton Stratford-on-Avon 1,886
Harbury Stratford-on-Avon 3,675
Long Itchington Stratford-on-Avon 1,873
Southam Stratford-on-Avon 4,955
Stockton and Napton Stratford-on-Avon 1,893

Figures above relate to voters

The Boundary Commission for England is an independent and impartial advisory body, constituted under the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986. It is responsible for conducting periodic reviews of English parliamentary constituency boundaries and making recommendations for changes to Parliament. Full details of the review behind today's proposals are available in the Commission's publication, 'A guide to the 2013 Review', available at www.consultation.boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk

Legislation
The BCE began its review of Parliamentary constituency boundaries following the passing of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 in February 2011. The Act sets out new rules for the four Commissions covering the UK to follow in conducting reviews of parliamentary constituency boundaries, including a reduction in the number of constituencies in the UK from 650 to 600 (in England from 533 to 502), and the need to ensure that every constituency (apart from four named exceptions) contains between 72,810 and 80,473 electors.

Regional information
Nine regional reports cover the Initial Proposals, one for each of England's nine regions. The nine regions are based on boundaries of the electoral regions specified in Schedule 1 to the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002. These reports are available on the BCE website or in hard copy at local 'places of deposit' (county, borough and district councils nominated many of the local places of deposit). The proposals meet the rules set by Parliament. They result in 77 constituencies remaining unchanged, while the proposals make adjustments to constituency numbers as follows:

Region: Eastern
Electorate: 4,280,707
Existing allocation: 58
Proposed Allocation: 56

Region: East Midlands
Electorate: 3,361,089
Existing allocation: 46
Proposed Allocation: 44

Region: London
Electorate: 5,266,904
Existing allocation: 73
Proposed Allocation: 68

Region: North East
Electorate: 1,971,249
Existing allocation: 29
Proposed Allocation: 26

Region: North West
Electorate: 5,253,019
Existing allocation: 75
Proposed Allocation: 68

Region: South East
Electorate: 6,192,504*
Existing allocation: 84
Proposed Allocation: 81**

Region: South West
Electorate: 4,042,475
Existing allocation: 55
Proposed Allocation: 53

Region: West Midlands
Electorate: 4,115,668
Existing allocation: 59
Proposed Allocation: 54

Region: Yorkshire and the Humber
Electorate: 3,848,942
Existing allocation: 54
Proposed Allocation: 50

Total
Total electorate: 38,332,557*
Total existing allocation: 533
Total Proposed Allocation: 500**

*after deduction of the electorate (110,924) of the Isle of Wight
**Does not include the two Isle of Wight constituencies

Where it has not been feasible to allocate whole numbers of constituencies to individual counties, BCE have grouped local authority areas into sub-regions. The number of constituencies allocated to each sub-region is determined by the electorate of the combined local authorities. The proposals make adjustments to the remaining constituencies as follows:

South East
A special exemption from the rules has been given to the Isle of Wight - which is now allocated two constituencies (rather than one), neither of which is required to have an electorate between 72,810 and 80,473.
The remainder of the South East has been allocated 81 constituencies - a reduction of two from the current arrangement.
In some counties very few changes are proposed. For example in Berkshire, six of the eight existing constituencies are unchanged while the remaining two are changed only by the transfer of one ward.
Overall, 18 of the existing constituencies (21%) are unchanged.

South West
The South West has been allocated 53 constituencies - a reduction of two from the current arrangement.
In some counties very few changes are proposed. For example in both North Somerset and the Borough of Swindon no change is proposed, while in the City of Bristol and Gloucestershire some existing constituencies are unchanged while others are altered only by the transfer of a couple of wards.
Overall, a substantial 14 (25%) of the existing constituencies are unchanged.
Any solution for the region that ensures all constituencies meet the electoral size rule must include a constituency that contains electors from both Cornwall and Devon. We propose that the Cornwall-Devon boundary is crossed in the north of the two counties, resulting in a constituency that combines the towns of Bideford and Bude.

East Midlands
The East Midlands has been allocated 44 constituencies - a reduction of one from the current arrangement.
In some counties, it is not necessary to propose substantial change. For example, in Lincolnshire three of the seven existing constituencies are unchanged, while two are changed only by the exchange of wards between the two. In Leicestershire and Rutland, half of the existing ten constituencies are unchanged.
Overall, the proposals leave 10 (22%) of the existing constituencies unchanged.

North West
The North West has been allocated 68 constituencies - a reduction of seven from the current arrangement. Consequently, BCE had to propose significant change throughout the region and only seven (9%) of the existing constituencies are unchanged.
While the geographic features of the region have presented BCE with particular challenges when developing proposals, BCE have taken account of feedback from the last review and have avoided a constituency that crosses the River Mersey between Birkenhead and the City of Liverpool.

London
The London region has been allocated 68 constituencies - a reduction of five from the current arrangement.
Four (5%) of the 73 existing constituencies remain unchanged and whilst there has been widespread change to the existing constituencies in London to adhere to the new rules, 30 of the proposed constituencies are each contained solely within one London borough.
Of the 38 constituencies that cross a London borough boundary, 37 contain parts of just two adjacent London boroughs and one contains parts of two London boroughs and the City of London.

Eastern Region
The Eastern region has been allocated 56 constituencies - a reduction of just two from the current arrangement.
BCE proposals leave nine (16%) of the 58 existing constituencies unchanged.
Of the unchanged constituencies, one is in the County of Cambridgeshire, one is in the County of Essex, one is in the County of Norfolk, five are in the County of Suffolk and one is in the Borough of Thurrock.

Yorkshire and Humber
The Yorkshire and the Humber region has been allocated 50 constituencies - a reduction of four from the current arrangement.
BCE proposals leave five (9%) of the 54 existing constituencies unchanged.
Of the existing constituencies we propose to retain, one is in the County of North Yorkshire, and four are in South Yorkshire.
It has been necessary to propose some constituencies that cross county or unitary authority boundaries in the region in order to comply with the new rules. BCE have proposed three constituencies that contain electors from both North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. BCE have also proposed two constituencies that contain electors from both North Yorkshire and the City of York.

North East
The North East has been allocated 26 constituencies- a reduction of three from the current arrangement.
Whilst substantial change is proposed in some areas of the region, and none of the existing constituencies remains unchanged, there are a number of constituencies where only minor change have been necessary.
No constituencies are proposed that cross the River Tyne within Tyne and Wear but the proposals do contain constituencies in the region that cross county boundaries.

West Midlands
The West Midland region has been allocated 54 constituencies - a reduction of five from the current arrangement.
In Staffordshire three of the existing 12 constituencies are unchanged and a number of other constituencies have only minor changes as necessary to enable us to comply with the new rules.
Overall, 10 (17%) of the existing constituencies are unchanged.
Two of the three proposed Herefordshire constituencies cross the county boundary with either Shropshire or Worcestershire.
Whilst the three existing Coventry constituencies are unchanged, more substantial change is proposed in the metropolitan boroughs of the West Midlands with all of the boroughs having their boundaries crossed.

How to participate in the consultation
In order to consider the proposals, people can access reports and maps online or hard copies at places of deposit which are listed on the BCE site and will be made available on Southam News

Written submissions can be made by following the steps on the website, or in writing to 'Consultation feedback', Boundary Commission for England, 35 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BQ or via the email addresses below.

Meanwhile, the public hearings provide an opportunity for the public to make oral representations about the initial proposals and to present counter-proposals. People can register to attend any of the public hearings on the website, by email (see below) or by phoning 020 7276 1102.

People are also welcome to turn up to the hearings without registering, but are strongly advised to register beforehand in order to maximise their chance to secure an opportunity to speak.

West Midlands Regional consultation email address: westmidlands@bcommengland.x.gsi.gov.uk

National consultation address: reviews@bcommengland.x.gsi.gov.uk

Hearings - to book your place, email: hearings@bcommengland.x.gsi.gov.uk

For general enquiries please see: www.consultation.boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk