[EM] Geographical districts

[James Gilmour]

Jonathan  > Sent: Friday, September 05, 2008 12:11 AM
> There's a proposition on the November ballot in California that would  
> establish an independent commission to draw (single-member) state  
> legislative districts (the legislature draws them now). The list might  
> be interested in the criteria specified for use by the commission.  

In the UK, parliamentary and local government boundaries have been drawn by independent commissions for several decades.  The
commissions make proposals which are open for public consultation and formal local inquiry if there are specified types of
objections to the proposals, and then the commission makes it recommendations.  Because we operate a parliamentary system of
government, the commission's recommendations have to be given effect by an Order made by a government minister, subject to approval
by the relevant Parliament.  So politicians can interfere in the process, but the last one who did so to any significant extent got
his just deserts at the following general election when his party lost every one of its MP seats in Scotland!

The Boundary Commission for Scotland was established in its current form by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986.  It
determines the boundaries for the UK Parliamentary constituencies (single-member FPTP) and for the constituencies and electoral
regions for the Scottish Parliament (regionalised MMP).  A statutory review of the boundaries for the Scottish Parliament is in
progress.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland was created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.  It carried out a
major review in 2006 to create the multi-member wards (local government electoral districts) required for the STV-PR elections held
in May 2007.

The different Commissions have to operate under slightly different rules.
 
These are the rules for the constituencies of the Scottish Parliament:

Rule 1
(1) So far as is practicable, regard must be had to the boundaries of local authority areas.
(2) “Area” and “local authority” have the same meanings as in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
Rule 2
(1) The electorate of a constituency must be as near the electoral quota as is practicable, having regard to Rule 1.
(2) The Boundary Commission for Scotland may depart from the strict application of Rule 1 if they think that it is desirable to do
so to avoid an excessive disparity between the electorate of a constituency and the electoral quota or between the electorate of a
constituency and that of neighbouring constituencies.
(3) The electoral quota is the number obtained by dividing the total electorate by 71.
(4) The electorate of a constituency is the aggregate of the persons falling within paragraphs (5) and (6) below.
(5) A person falls within this paragraph if his name appears on the register of local government electors in force on the
enumeration date under the Representation of the People Acts for a local government area which is situated wholly in the
constituency.
(6) A person falls within this paragraph if his name appears on the register of local government electors in force on the
enumeration date under the Representation of the People Acts for a local government area which is situated partly in the
constituency and his qualifying address is situated in the constituency.
(7) The total electorate is the total number of persons whose names appear on the registers of local government electors in force on
the enumeration date under the Representation of the People Acts for all of the local government areas in Scotland (except the local
government areas of Orkney and Shetland).
(8) The enumeration date is, in relation to a report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, the date on which notice with respect
to the report is published in the Edinburgh Gazette in accordance with paragraph 7(1) above.
(9) “Qualifying address” and “local government area” have the same meanings as in the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2).
Rule 3
The Boundary Commission for Scotland may depart from the strict application of Rules 1 and 2 if they think that special geographical
considerations (including in particular the size, shape and accessibility of a constituency) render it desirable to do so.
Rule 4
The Boundary Commission for Scotland need not aim at giving full effect in all circumstances to Rules 1 to 3 but they must take
account (so far as they reasonably can) —
(a) of the inconveniences attendant on alterations of constituencies other than alterations made for the purposes of Rule 1, and
(b) of any local ties which would be broken by such alterations.


These are the rules for the local government wards:

1 (1) This Schedule applies to the consideration by the Secretary of State or the Boundary Commission of the electoral arrangements
for election of councillors of local government areas.
   (2) Having regard to any change in the number or distribution of electors of a local government area likely to take place within
the period of five years immediately following the consideration, the number calculated by dividing the number of local government
electors in each electoral ward of that local government area by the number of councillors to be returned in that ward shall be, as
nearly as may be, the same. 
   (3) Subject to sub-paragraph (2) above, in considering the electoral arrangements referred to in sub-paragraph (1) above regard
shall be had to —
        (a) the desirability of fixing boundaries which are and will remain easily identifiable;
        (b) any local ties which would be broken by the fixing of any particular boundary,
but if, in any case, there is a conflict between those criteria, greater weight shall be given to the latter.
2 The strict application of the rule stated in paragraph 1(2) above may be departed from in any area where special geographical
considerations appear to render a departure desirable.


One of the key differences between these two sets of rules is the extent to which the commissions can take identifiable
"communities" into account, to avoid splitting them artificially to meet the equality of numbers   criteria.  The Local Government
Boundary Commission for Scotland went much further in respecting communities that many people thought it would, but its options were
severely constrained by the requirement for all wards to return either three or four councillors.  Many of us argued for greater
flexibility in ward sizes when the legislation was being debated in the Scottish Parliament, but we lost that argument, so we are
stuck with 3s and 4s for the time being.

James

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