Sheffield Ward Review 2013

[Clarko]

May 16, 2013 22:09:35 GMT Philip Davies said:

Assuming Sheffield's electorate continues to grow faster than the UK's as a whole then it might be entitled to something like 5.2 constituencies by 2017/8. That is assuming that the sixth periodic review is redone then with 600 seats. If so 26 wards might be the best approach so that you have 5 constituencies of 5 wards and one left to join up with either Barnsley or Rotherham.

However as mentioned above some two member wards might give more flexibility here.

I may be talking our the top of my hat, but doesn't the 1972 Act say that wards in Met Boroughs have to be 3 member, hence all the unweildy semi-rural bodge-jobs on the outskirts of the larger cities (thinking the likes of Adel & Wharfedale in Leeds or Bowdon in Trafford).

[David Ashforth]

Jun 14, 2013 8:56:48 GMT Clarko said:

May 16, 2013 22:09:35 GMT Philip Davies said:

Assuming Sheffield's electorate continues to grow faster than the UK's as a whole then it might be entitled to something like 5.2 constituencies by 2017/8. That is assuming that the sixth periodic review is redone then with 600 seats. If so 26 wards might be the best approach so that you have 5 constituencies of 5 wards and one left to join up with either Barnsley or Rotherham.

However as mentioned above some two member wards might give more flexibility here.

I may be talking our the top of my hat, but doesn't the 1972 Act say that wards in Met Boroughs have to be 3 member, hence all the unweildy semi-rural bodge-jobs on the outskirts of the larger cities (thinking the likes of Adel & Wharfedale in Leeds or Bowdon in Trafford).

The 1972 Local Government Act does say that but it was amended by section 58 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/28/contents

[Clarko]

Jun 14, 2013 11:28:17 GMT David Ashforth said:

Jun 14, 2013 8:56:48 GMT Clarko said:

I may be talking our the top of my hat, but doesn't the 1972 Act say that wards in Met Boroughs have to be 3 member, hence all the unweildy semi-rural bodge-jobs on the outskirts of the larger cities (thinking the likes of Adel & Wharfedale in Leeds or Bowdon in Trafford).

The 1972 Local Government Act does say that but it was amended by section 58 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/28/contents

Well, at least I was right about talking out the top of my hat!

Are there any Met Wards with less than three?

[greatkingrat]

Jun 14, 2013 12:40:39 GMT Clarko said:

Are there any Met Wards with less than three?

Not yet, as none of the Met councils have been reviewed since the law changed.

[Clarko]

Jun 14, 2013 13:04:06 GMT greatkingrat said:

Jun 14, 2013 12:40:39 GMT Clarko said:

Are there any Met Wards with less than three?

Not yet, as none of the Met councils have been reviewed since the law changed.

Will be interesting to see what comes out of this then!

[YL]

The Council held an "evidence gathering session" on 11 July related to the review, mainly the council size stage.

Looking at the evidence submitted, it appears there wasn't really any support for reducing the council size, and one person expressing explicit support for increasing it. (Also, Ecclesfield PC's desire to have coterminous ward boundaries with 3 member wards isn't workable without either a small increase -- it probably becomes workable with about 30 or 31 wards, depending on the electorate projections -- or a very substantial decrease.)

I presume Jonathan Harston was there, so he may be able to say more.

[J.G.Harston]

Jul 20, 2013 10:04:34 GMT YL said:

I presume Jonathan Harston was there, so he may be able to say more.

Yes, I was there. I usually work from pre-written notes nowadays, which I've added my scribbled notes to from the meeting in this file.

One of the respondants raised a concern about under-registration, so I've done some preliminary research comparing the electoral register with the "known" potential eligible adult population. this spreadsheet compares the electoral register with the "known" adult population in the 2011 Census. The ONS have emailed me a more details breakdown with numbers of "foreigners" so I can calculate how may of the adults are eligible adults. The initial conclusion is that outside four student-heavy wards the ratio of electors to adults is constant across the city, so even if there was under-registration, the electorate is a direct proxy for population, and wards are directly comparable.

The committee officer said that a report would be written up for the September scrutiny meeting (skipping August).

[YL]

It looks like the Council are going to recommend no change to the council size (84): see the last document on this page.

[J.G.Harston]

Today's Scrutiny Overview meeting agreed to recommend to Full Council to recommend to the BCE a council size of 84 members in 28 three-member wards, giving an average ward size of about 14429(2013)/15678(2018).

The city's electorate is now about 10%-12% higher than it was in 1980-2004 when it had 29 wards with an average size of about 13,500(2001).

Unfortunately, due to the council not having yet published their ward-by-ward electorate forecasts, I can't decide if 28 wards will "fit" the social-geography of the city, but my feeling based on my forecasts is that it will entail some wards having to flow over natural and community boundaries to get the numbers right.

As soon as I get the council's forecast figures I'll update my documents at mdfs.net so people can play with the maps.

[David Ashforth]

Council size consultation

www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/yorkshire-and-humberside/south-yorkshire/sheffield-fer

[mattb]

Jun 14, 2013 11:28:17 GMT David Ashforth said:

Jun 14, 2013 8:56:48 GMT Clarko said:

I may be talking our the top of my hat, but doesn't the 1972 Act say that wards in Met Boroughs have to be 3 member, hence all the unweildy semi-rural bodge-jobs on the outskirts of the larger cities (thinking the likes of Adel & Wharfedale in Leeds or Bowdon in Trafford).

The 1972 Local Government Act does say that but it was amended by section 58 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/28/contents

Yes but under the new wording s56 (and assuming Sheffield is not proposing to move away from elections by thirds), the commission will seek a uniform pattern of 3-member wards; technically they could depart from that but I don't believe they have done so since the new wording came into effect. (our experience in Three Rivers was that they do not see the splitting of communities to be a reason to depart from 3-member wards).

[J.G.Harston]

Finally finished and emailed my submission to the Commission on number of wards/councillors for Sheffield. I started a new job last Monday and it really gets in the way of getting any work done.

[YL]

Finally we get to the first consulation on the ward boundaries:
www.lgbce.org.uk/news/electoral-review/have-your-say-on-new-ward-boundaries-for-sheffield

Unsurprisingly, they're sticking with 84 councillors.

[J.G.Harston]

My initial draft:
large maps (2M+ each)
small maps (around 150K-200K each)

[YL]

May 27, 2014 23:06:03 GMT J.G.Harston said:

My initial draft:
large maps (2M+ each)
small maps (around 150K-200K each)

Do you think the LGBCE will tolerate giving 11 wards (33 councillors) to your South East sector (entitlement 31.7 councillors) and 8 wards (24 councillors) to your South West sector (entitlement 25.1)? That seems to be what you're suggesting at the moment.

[J.G.Harston]

Jun 7, 2014 15:03:06 GMT YL said:

May 27, 2014 23:06:03 GMT J.G.Harston said:

My initial draft:
large maps (2M+ each)
small maps (around 150K-200K each)

Do you think the LGBCE will tolerate giving 11 wards (33 councillors) to your South East sector (entitlement 31.7 councillors) and 8 wards (24 councillors) to your South West sector (entitlement 25.1)? That seems to be what you're suggesting at the moment.

That's an initial draft that doesn't have a ward that straddles the Sheaf Valley. All the wards are within the required +/-10% and most are within the desired +/-5%, and it has 25 out of 28 wards minimally changed, and only three having to be wiped from the map and redrawn from scratch - why else did the council chose to remain with the same number of wards with an increasing population if not to try and avoid changing them all?

I'm working on a draft with one ward that straddles the Sheaf Valley to get to the 10.6+8.4, which inevitably means that it has multiple knock-ons, resulting 12 wards being wiped from the map and starting again, only 16 out of 28 minimally changed.

Essentially, it will be down to what Labour want to make a supporting argument for, as it would be their wards either minimally changed or torn up and thrown away.

[J.G.Harston]

Bleugh. Had way too many things to do this last week gone. Just finished my submission on boundaries, chopped it into pieces, and emailed it off to the LGBCE. Now I can get an early night and prepare for a job interview tomorrow morning.

[YL]

So are the main differences between your submission and the Council's that you're proposing to move Olive Grove into Arbourthorne (would doktorb🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ like "Olive Grove" as a ward name?) and a different part of Handsworth into Richmond?

[Deleted]

"Olive Grove" works for me!

[J.G.Harston]

Aug 6, 2014 17:55:04 GMT YL said:

So are the main differences between your submission and the Council's that you're proposing to move Olive Grove into Arbourthorne (would doktorb🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ like "Olive Grove" as a ward name?) and a different part of Handsworth into Richmond?

No, just Olive Grove (and a few minor swap-to-back-of-houses). Part way through writing up my submission I found the council had updated their submission changing the Handsworth boundary, so the map on my website still showed their earlier version (updated it now). My comment on the Handsworth boundary is just that it "looks" odd but it's worth looking at the maps to find a tidier boundary that gives the same result (eg follow the footpath near Richworth Road instead of the footpath all the way to Shubert Bridge).