Bedford electoral review
Recommendations become law
The Bedford (Electoral Changes) Order 2011, to implement recommendations made by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) for new boundaries in Bedford Borough, was made on 28 January 2011 and was published on 2 February 2011). New ward arrangements for Bedford Borough have now successfully completed a 40 day period of Parliamentary scrutiny and will come into force at the local elections on 5 May 2011.
The order for Bedford can be viewed through the following link:
www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/161/contents/made
Draft order laid in Parliament
On 29 November 2010 the Bedford (Electoral Changes) Order 2011 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 Bedford Borough and published on 26 October 2010.
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 Bedford in 2011.
The draft order refers to a map. The map comprises the following sheets:
- Sheet 1 (Overview of the borough, PDF)
- Sheet 2 (Bedford Town West, PDF)
- Sheet 3 (Bedford Town East, PDF)
Final recommendations on future electoral arrangements in Bedford
On 26 October 2010 we published final recommendations for future electoral arrangements in Bedford. These are available through the links below.
- Final recommendations for new local government electoral arrangements for Bedford Borough Council (PDF)
- Summary of the report (PDF)
- Read our news release
You can see the maps of the proposed recommended boundaries below:
Please note: some of these maps may be very large and may take some time to download.
We have now completed our electoral review of Bedford Borough 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 in Parliament. The draft Order will provide for new electoral arrangements for the council to be implemented at the local elections in 2011.
Stage Three - draft recommendations
On 17 May 2010 we published our draft recommendations for electoral arrangements for Bedford Borough Council.
These can be found using the links below.
Map of the area recommendations:
- Map 1 - overview of Bedford Borough Council (PDF)
- Map 2 - Bedford town west (PDF)
- Map 3 - Bedford town east (PDF)
Please note: some of these maps may be very large and may take some time to download.
On 17 May 2010 we began a consultation of our draft recommendations in Bedford Borough Council. Between17 May 2010 and 12 July 2010 we invited comments on the ward boundaries in the authority.
Consultation ended on 12 July 2010.
Below are the representations we received:
Local authority
Political groups
Parish councils
All the submissions are contained in one PDF document. At the front of the document there is a list of names with internal links to the relevant submissions.
Other organisations
Castle Residents Association (PDF)
Local residents
All the submissions are contained in one PDF document. At the front of the document there is a list of names with internal links to the relevant submissions.
Stage One - consultation on ward boundaries
On 27 October 2009, we began our consultation on ward boundaries in Bedford. In the previous stage we consulted on the number of councillors for Bedford and decided it should have 40 councillors. Between 27 October and 11 January, we invited comments on ward boundaries for the authority.
Consultation closed on 11 January 2010
The representations we received are available to view below:
Local authority
Bedford Borough Council- Representations from Parish Councils (PDF)
MPs and Political groups
Bedford and Kempston Conservative Association (PDF)
Parish & town councils
L Baricott- Elsow and Renhold Parish Councils (PDF)
Brickhill Parish Council (PDF)
Colmworth Parish Council (PDF)
Podington Parish Council (PDF)
Ravensden Parish Council (PDF)
Stevington Parish Council (PDF)
Stevington Parish Council (PDF)
Other organisations
Bedfordshire and Luton combined Fire Authority (PDF)
Residents
The below links contains information about this review.
Press release
Letter sent to the Chief Executive of Bedford Borough Council (PDF)
You may find the electorate figures for Bedford (XLS) useful. Please also see a map of parishes in Bedford (PDF); map of polling districts in Bedford Borough (PDF); map of polling districts in Bedford town (PDF)* and our guide on 'How to propose a pattern of wards' (PDF). You may also find other useful information, including other maps, on the Bedford Borough Council website.
* please note some of these maps are very large and may take some time to download on your computer
Preliminary council size consultation
On 4 August 2009, we started the electoral review for the new Bedford unitary authority. During the six week preliminary stage of the review, we invited proposals for the council size of the new Bedford Council.
We only considered comments on council size at this time, and we will consider detailed electoral arrangements for Bedford during two further periods of consultation later in 2009.
Below are the submissions we received:
Political organisations
Bedford Borough Conservative Group (PDF)
Parish and town councils
Colmworth Parish Council (PDF)
Eastcotts Parish Council (PDF)Elstow Parish Council (PDF)Pavenham Parish Council (PDF)
Renhold Parish Council (PDF)Stevington Parish Council (PDF)Wilden Parish Council (PDF)
Members of the public
We produced two different documents to support people where there is an electoral review being conducted in their area:
- Electoral reviews: what they are and how you can get involved (PDF) provides straightforward information for members of the public who want to get involved in the review.
- Electoral reviews: technical guidance (PDF) contains more detailed guidance on the review process and includes details of the legislation that reviews are conducted under.
Letter sent to Chief Executive of the Council at the beginning of the review (PDF)Letter sent to Parish and local Councils at the beginning of the review (PDF)