Derbyshire electoral review

The Commission is carrying out an electoral review of Derbyshire County Council to deliver electoral equality for voters in local elections. The aim of the review is to recommend division boundaries that mean each councillor represents approximately the same number of electors. At present, some councillors represent many more, or fewer, electors than other elected members elsewhere in the county which means the value of your vote varies depending on where you live in Derbyshire.

Our review aims to ensure that each Derbyshire councillor represents roughly the same number of voters and that division boundaries reflect the interests and identities of local communities.

Recommendations become law

The Derbyshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2012, to implement recommendations made by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) for new boundaries in Derbyshire, was made on 29 November 2012 and was published on 4 December 2012.

New ward arrangements for Derbyshire have now successfully completed a 40 day period of Parliamentary scrutiny and will come into force at the local elections on 2 May 2013.

The order for Derbyshire can be viewed through the following link: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/2986/pdfs/uksi_20122986_en.pdf

Draft order laid in Parliament

On 15 October 2012 the Derbyshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2012 was laid in draft in Parliament.

The draft order, if made, would give effect to the final recommendations that were consulted on during the Local Government Boundary Commission for England's review of electoral arrangements in Derbyshire and published on 31 July 2012.

The draft order will be laid in Parliament for a period of 40 sitting days. Parliament can either accept or reject our recommendations. If accepted, the new electoral arrangements will come into force at the next scheduled elections for Derbyshire in 2013.

The draft order can be viewed through the following link:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2012/9780111529539/pdfs/ukdsi_9780111529539_en.pdf

The draft order refers to a map. The map comprises the following sheets:

Sheet 1 - Overview (PDF)

Final Recommendations for future electoral arrangements in Derbyshire

On 22 August 2012 we published final recommendations for future electoral arrangements in Derbyshire. These are available through the links below.

You can see the maps of the proposed recommended boundaries below:

We have now completed our electoral review of Derbyshire County Council. The changes we have proposed must be approved by Parliament. A draft order - the legal document which brings into force our recommendations will be laid before parliament. The draft Order will provide for new electoral arrangements for the council to be implemented at the local elections in 2013.

Opinion Survey

We would like to invite you to participate in our online opinion survey. This survey seeks feedback on the review processes and procedures, in order to identify improvements that can be made. We would be grateful if you could spare some time to complete the survey. Click here to go to the opinion survey.

Draft Recommendations

On 2 April 2012 we published our draft recommendations for the further electoral review (FER) of Derbyshire County Council.

Consultation closed on 8 June 2012

Below are the submissions we received:

Local authorities

Derbyshire County Council (PDF)

Chesterfield Borough Council (PDF)

Bolsover District Council (PDF)

Derbyshire Dales District Council (PDF)

Political groups and MPs

Amber Valley Conservative Association (PDF)

Bolsover Labour Party (PDF)

Bolsover Conservative Party (PDF)

Derbyshire County Council Labour Group (PDF)

Derbyshire Dales Conservative Association (PDF)

Glossopdale Labour Party (PDF)

High Peak Conservative Association (PDF)

North East Derbyshire Conservative Association (PDF)

MP Engel (PDF)

MP Mills (PDF)

Councillors

We received 20 submissions from local councillors. All submissions are contained in one document. At the front of the document there is a list of names with links to the relevant submissions

Local councillors (PDF)

Dronfield Town Councillors (PDF)

North East Derbyshire District Councillors (PDF)

Parish Councillor Brown (PDF)

Town Councillor Williams (PDF)

Community groups

Waingroves Community Association (PDF)

Quality Solicitors (PDF)

Grassmoor Friendship Club (PDF)

Parish and town councils

We received 18 submissions from parish and town councils in Derbyshire. All submissions are contained in one document. At the front of the document there is a list of names with links to the relevant submissions.

Parish and Town Councils (PDF)

Local residents

We received 50 submissions from local residents in Derbyshire. All submissions are contained in one document. At the front of the document there is a list of names with links to the relevant submissions.

Local residents (PDF)

Details of the draft recommendations can be found using the links below.

Maps of the area recommendations:

Please note: some of these maps are very large and may take some time to download.

Further Information Gathering

On 9 August 2011 the Commission launched a period of information gathering with Derbyshire County Council. From 9 August 2011 to 6 December 2011 we invited Derbyshire County Council and members of the council to provide information to develop a new pattern of division arrangements for Derbyshire.

Below are the submissions we received:

The letter sent the Chief Executive of Derbyshire (PDF) provides details of the Commission's decision on council size and these Electoral figures (XLS) show the electorate in Derbyshire.

Preliminary Council Size

Following preliminary discussions with Derbyshire County Council, we recieved two submission on council size.

The Commission was minded to recommend a council size of 64 for Derbyshire.

You may wish to read our document Electoral Reviews: Technical Guidance (PDF), which contains detailed guidance on the review process and information on the legislation reviews are carried out under.

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