Today (10 May 2023) is the start of a 10-week public consultation inviting proposals for new council divisions and division boundaries for Derbyshire County Council.
HAVE YOUR SAY BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK
The consultation will close on 17 July 2023.
After the commission has considered all representations made during this consultation, they will publish draft recommendations in October 2023.
A further period of consultation will follow on from their draft recommendations; final recommendations are expected to be published in March 2024.
The new electoral arrangements will come into effect at the local elections in May 2025.
If you represent a local organisation or community group in Derbyshire, please pass this message on to your members or anyone who you think might be interested in the review.
What is an electoral review?
The electoral review will recommend new electoral arrangements for Derbyshire County Council, which will result in agreeing:
> the total number of councillors elected to the council in the future;
> the number of divisions;
> the number of councillors representing each divisions;
> division boundaries; and
> the names of divisions.
How to get involved
This is a public consultation and they welcome views from individuals and organisations across Derbyshire on where they think new division boundaries should be drawn.
The council is minded to recommend that 64 councillors should be elected to Derbyshire County Council in the future. This is no change from the current number of councillors.
They are now inviting proposals to help draw up a pattern of divisions to accommodate 64 councillors.
In drawing up new electoral divisions, DCC must balance three legal criteria:
- to deliver electoral equality: where each councillor represents roughly the same number of electors as others across the county;
- that the pattern of divisions should, as far as possible, reflect the interests and identities of local communities;
- that the electoral arrangements should provide for effective and convenient local government.
DCC will treat all submissions equally, and judge each case on its merits and against the legal criteria.
If you wish to put forward a view, we would also urge you to ensure that evidence supports your submission.
For example, if you wish to argue that two areas should be included in the same electoral division, make sure you tell us why they should be together, providing evidence about community facilities, ties, organisations, and amenities, rather than simply asserting that they belong together.
There is more advice on the consultation website about how you can get involved.
The consultation website features technical guidance that explains the process and our policies, as well as guidance on how to take part in each part of the process.
We have also set up a webpage dedicated to the review of Derbyshire, where you can find all the relevant information.
You can also access interactive maps of the current ward boundaries across Derbyshire on our website, where you can comment and upload documents directly to the site.