Elected Member Briefing - 2023 Review of UK Parliament Constituencies

About this briefing note

Report by: Scott Walker, Election Manager

Date: 10 November 2022

Subject: 2023 Review of UK Parliament Constituencies - Publication of Revised Proposals

Publication

This Briefing Note has been published on the Council's website following circulation to Councillors. 

Details

Purpose

To advise elected members of the publication of revised proposals relating to the 2023 Review of UK Parliament Constituencies. 

Briefing Information

Boundaries Scotland published Revised Proposals for UK Parliament Constituencies on Tuesday 8 November for a four-week final consultation period.

Comments on the revised proposals can be made on the Boundary Commission's website.  In addition, comments can be made by email to bcs@scottishboundaries.gov.uk or by writing to Boundary Commission for Scotland, Thistle House, 91 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh, EH12 5HD.  All comments should be submitted no later than 5 December 2022 which is the end of the statutory consultation period, after which the Commission will finalise its recommendations and submit them to the Speaker of the House of Commons by 1 July 2023.

Among the changes from the Initial Proposals are a reconfiguration of the constituency groupings of Angus. Clackmannanshire, Dundee City, Falkirk, Fife, Perth & Kinross and West Lothian Council areas.  This grouping proposes no changes to the overall number of constituencies of thirteen.

However, in the Perth & Kinross Council area:

• The Perth and Loch Leven constituency includes:
  • Kinross-shire
  • Perth
  • Strathearn
  • Carse of Gowrie
• The North Tayside constituency includes north Perthshire.
• The Glenrothes constituency includes Scotlandwell from Kinross-shire.
• The Clackmannanshire and Forth Valley constituency includes Auchterarder.

The Boundary Commission are displaying physical details on their proposals as follows:

• North Tayside - 46a Leslie Street, Blairgowrie
• Perth and Loch Leven - Loch Leven Community Library, Muirs, Kinross and AK Bell Library, York Place, Perth

Information on the proposed constituencies impacting on the Perth & Kinross Council area is set out below:

Perth and Kinross Council approved a motion at its meeting of 9 November 2022 as follows:

Perth and Kinross Council welcomes the proposals set out on 8 November 2022 by the Boundary Commission for Scotland, considering that they represent, overall, a very considerable improvement on the initial proposals that were circulated earlier. 

Perth and Kinross Council, however, wishes to respond to the Boundary Commission for Scotland's further consultation to make clear our resolute opposition to certain aspects of the proposals and our wish that the amendments as set out below are made to the present proposals.

With regard to the proposed "North Tayside" constituency, the boundaries for this constituency are accepted but it is requested that this constituency be named instead "North Perthshire and Angus" in order to better reflect the communities included.

With regard to the Scotlandwell area of the Kinross-shire Ward, Perth and Kinross Council strongly object to the inclusion of this area in the proposed "Glenrothes" constituency and it is requested that this area be included instead in the proposed "Perth and Loch Leven" constituency. The historic county of Kinross has never previously been split between Parliamentary constituencies. The present proposal breaches the design principles of not crossing Council boundaries and not breaking community ties. It is accepted that adopting this request will require further minor adjustment in Fife to ensure the proposed "Glenrothes" constituency remains above the minimum legal electorate number by adding about 300 voters to the proposed "Glenrothes" constituency from the proposed "North East Fife" constituency. Scotlandwell can be added to the proposed "Perth and Loch Leven" constituency without exceeding the maximum legal electorate number. 

With regard to the areas of Strathallan Ward included in the proposed "Clackmannanshire and Forth Valley" constituency, Perth and Kinross Council object as strongly as possible to this proposal submitting that these areas have no links to the rest of the proposed constituency that they are included with, indeed have no direct road links at all and would be very poorly represented in the new arrangements. The present proposal breaches substantially all the design principles of not crossing Council boundaries, giving regard to local geography, causing minimum disruption and not breaking community ties. It is accepted that the maximum electorate rules preclude the inclusion of these parts of Strathallan Ward in the proposed "Perth and Loch Leven" constituency but it is strongly urged that these parts of Strathallan Ward be included instead with the adjacent proposed "Stirling" constituency. The Strathallan area has historic links with adjacent parts of the proposed "Stirling" constituency that until 1975 were part of historic Perthshire. Accepting this change would mean the proposed "Stirling" and "Clackmannanshire and Forth Valley" constituencies would still comply with the rules regarding electorate size.    

With regard to the proposed "Perth and Loch Leven" constituency, it is requested that this constituency, its boundaries amended as proposed above, be named instead "Perth, South Perthshire and Kinross" in order to better reflect the communities included and consider in the name the electorate ahead of a physical feature of the landscape.

With regard to the proposed "Stirling" constituency, it is requested that, if parts of Strathallan Ward are included as proposed above, this constituency is named instead "Stirling and Strathallan" to better reflect the communities included.

The initial proposals of the Boundary Commission for Scotland unacceptably divided Perth and Kinross between no less than 5 proposed constituencies, with consequent additional council staff workload at election times, when the electorate in Perth and Kinross amounts to about 1.5 constituencies. The present proposals still unacceptably divide Perth and Kinross between 4 proposed constituencies. The requests made above which Perth and Kinross Council strongly urge the Boundary Commission to adopt divide Perth and Kinross between only 3 proposed constituencies while greatly strengthening adherence to the Boundary Commission principles and only requiring one minor further change within Fife.