Second Review of Scottish Boundaries
North Ayrshire Council · 6 November 2024
Back to North Ayrshire Council — 6 November 2024 and its agenda
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NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 6 November 2024 North Ayrshire Council Title: Boundaries Scotland: Second Review of Scottish Parliamentary Boundaries – Regional Proposals Purpose: To advise Council of Boundaries Scotland’s updated position regarding the Scottish Parliamentary Boundary Review. Recommendation: That Council: i) notes the recommendations from Boundaries Scotland’s review of the proposals for regional constituencies; ii) agrees to accept the proposals in relation to West Region; and iii) agrees to receive further updates as the review progresses. 1 Executive Summary 1.1 Boundaries Scotland has published its further proposals for county constituency boundaries and provisional proposals for new regional constituency boundaries for the Scottish Parliament. The consultation period runs from 26 September to 26 October 2024. 1.2 There are no additional changes to the county constituency boundary proposals for Cunninghame North and Cunninghame South from the revised proposals published in April 2024 which were agreed by Council on 26 June 2024. These proposals mean that Cunninghame South will incorporate areas which are currently in the Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency, including Stewarton and Dunlop and which will be administered by North Ayrshire Council for Scottish Parliamentary elections. 1.3 Proposals for revised boundaries for the Regional Constituency of West Scotland include incorporation of the additional area which will form part of the new Cunninghame South constituency. This area is currently within the South Scotland Regional constituency. 1.4 Council is recommended to accept the proposals which will ensure that the entirety of the new Cunninghame South constituency is incorporated into the West Scotland regional constituency. 2 Background 2.1 Boundaries Scotland is an independent advisory non-departmental public body responsible for reviewing and making recommendations for constituencies and regions of the Scottish Parliament; the number of councillors on each council in a local government area; the number of wards for local government elections and their boundaries; and the extent of council areas.
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2.2 Boundaries Scotland is distinct from the Boundary Commission for Scotland which is a separate body responsible for reviewing the boundaries of the UK Parliamentary constituencies in Scotland. 2.3 The Second Review of Scottish Parliamentary Boundaries is required by the Scotland Act 1998. The last review was in 2010 and the existing constituencies and regions have remained unchanged since 2011. Since the review in 2010 there has been significant change to the electorate, including the extension of the franchise for Scottish Parliamentary elections to those age 16 and over as well as changes within the population. 2.4 The Council has supported Boundaries Scotland in publicising their proposals via press releases and by sharing these via our corporate and communities social media channels as well as displaying the proposals in public facing offices. Links to the consultation have also been shared with Community Councils. 2.5 The settled recommendation of Boundaries Scotland is that the new Cunninghame South constituency will be as shown on the plan annexed at appendix 1 and which recommendation was approved by Council in June 2024. This will incorporate part of the current East Ayrshire Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency and will be administered by North Ayrshire for the purposes of Scottish Parliamentary elections from May 2026. 2.6 The rules governing the boundary setting process for regions state that “a constituency must fall wholly within a region”. For this reason, it is proposed that the area which will be incorporated into the new Cunninghame South constituency will also be included in the West Scotland region as that area is currently within the South Scotland regional constituency. The proposals for the new West Scotland Region are shown on the plan attached at appendix 2. 2.7 The current consultation period expires on 26th October. Boundaries Scotland have been advised that the Council’s meeting schedule does not enable a response by that date. The Council will therefore provide a formal response to the regional proposals after the Council meeting of 6th November 2024. It is recommended that Council accepts the proposals for the incorporation of the new Cunninghame South constituency into the West Scotland regional constituency. 2.8 Further consultation is proposed in early 2025 with final proposals being submitted to Scottish Ministers by 1 May 2025. If subsequently approved by the Scottish Parliament, the new boundaries will be effective for the Scottish Parliamentary election scheduled for May 2026. 3 Proposals 3.1 That Council: i) notes the recommendations from Boundaries Scotland’s review of the proposals for the regions; ii) agrees to accept the proposals; and iii) agrees to receive further updates as the review progresses.
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4. Implications/Socio-economic Duty Financial 4.1 There are no financial implications arising from this report. Human Resources 4.2 There are no human resource implications arising from this report. Legal 4.3 Cross boundary agreements will require to be in put place with East Ayrshire Council for the conduct of the Poll/Count for the revised constituencies of Cunninghame South and West Region after the review of boundaries has been ratified by the Scottish Parliament. Equality/Socio-economic 4.4 There are no equality/socio-economic implications arising directly from this report. Climate Change and Carbon 4.5 There are no climate change implications arising directly from this report. Key Priorities 4.6 Supporting an effective boundary review directly links to our key priorities of Communities and Local Democracy as well as a Sustainable Council. Community Wealth Building 4.7 There are no Community Wealth Building implications arising directly from this report 5. Consultation 5.1 Consultation has taken place with East Ayrshire Council. Previous consultation took place with the Electoral Registration Officer and East Ayrshire Council. Aileen Craig Head of Service (Democratic Services) For further information please contact Tracy O’Hara, Elections Manager, on tracyohara@north-ayrshire.gov.uk or 01294 324042. Background Papers Boundaries Scotland’s full proposals are available at Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries
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EAl NAl •• 1� Boundaries ··Scotland Criochan na h-Alba Revised Proposal Existing Constituency Ward Boundary East Ayrshire Ward Number North Ayrshire Ward Number Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries - Revised Proposals Cunninghame South County Constituency - Electorate 59,525 I 1 km 1 mile I Appendix 1
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Appendix 2