Lincolnshire County Council electoral boundaries to be redrawn

Today’s (Tuesday) publication follows two phases of public consultation on its draft proposals and draws new boundaries for each county electoral division across Lincolnshire.

The Commission’s final recommendations propose that Lincolnshire should be represented by 70 county councillors in the future: seven fewer than the current arrangement. The recommendations also propose that those councillors should represent 70 single-member electoral divisions across the county.

Professor Colin Mellors, chairman of the Commission, said: “We are extremely grateful to people across Lincolnshire who took the time and effort to send us their views. The Commission considered every piece of evidence it received before finalising these recommendations.

“Across the county, we have sought to balance the views expressed to us by local people with the criteria we must apply when we are deciding on new electoral arrangements. As such, we believe these recommendations deliver electoral equality for voters as well as reflecting the identities of communities in Lincolnshire.”

In response to representations made to it during consultation, the Commission has made changes to the draft proposals it originally put forward for consultation in December 2015. For example, in North Kesteven, the Commission’s original draft recommendations proposed that the parish of Brauncewell and Byard’s Leap should be divided between two electoral divisions. Following local representations, the Commission has amended its proposals so that the whole parish will be part of a Ruskington division.

Elsewhere in the county, the Commission has made minor changes to its recommendations in response to local feedback. For example, the Commission proposes to change the names of four divisions it put forward in December in light of suggestions put to it during the public consultation.

Full details of the final recommendations are available on the Commission’s website at www.lgbce.org.uk.

The proposed new arrangements must now be implemented by Parliament. A draft order – the legal document which brings into force the recommendations – will be laid in Parliament in the coming months. The draft order provides for the new electoral arrangements to come into force at the county council elections in 2017.