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Electoral Review of Redditch Borough Council

What is an Electoral Review?

An electoral review is an examination of a Council’s electoral arrangements.

The Review is carried out by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (the Commission).  The Commission is an independent statutory body, whose objectives include the provision of electoral arrangements that are fair and that deliver electoral equality for voters.

The work of the Commission is to:

  1. Provide electoral arrangements that are fair and deliver electoral equality for voters.
  2. Help deliver effective and convenient local government to citizens.

This review is not exclusive to Redditch Borough Council, there are many reviews happening across country.

Why are the wards being reviewed?

Electoral reviews are carried out to see whether the boundaries of wards within a local authority need to be altered to ensure effective local government and electoral equality. The last review was in 2002 and therefore a review has been arranged to ensure all Councillors represent around the same number of electors across the Borough.

The Commission will work to make recommendations on:

  • The number of wards
  • The names of wards
  • Where the boundaries between wards should lie
  • The number of Councillors for each ward.

What is the process?

The Commission has produced detailed technical guidance on how it carries out electoral reviews and the information that it considers in such a review. The relevant guidance is publicly available on the Commission’s website:

https://www.lgbce.org.uk/how-reviews-work

There are a number of key stages in the Electoral review process, and these are set out in the Electoral Review Timetable.

How will the Electoral Review affect residents?

The review may change the electoral warding arrangements within the Borough affecting voters at local elections. At the end of the review there may be more or less wards, wards may change boundaries and be called different names to best describe the area they cover. Some wards may be represented by a different number of Councillors depending on how many electors there are in each ward.

The polling station residents’ use could change. After the Commission has published the final recommendations, the Council will carry out a review of all polling stations across the Borough.

Final recommendations for Redditch Borough Council

The Commission's draft recommendations proposed that Redditch Borough Council should have 27 councillors, a decrease of two from the existing arrangements. They recommended that those councillors represent nine three-councillor wards across the council area. 

Before drawing up the final recommendations, the Commission carried out a public consultation inviting proposals for a new pattern of wards for Redditch. They then considered all ward pattern submissions before consulting on draft recommendations. Following this consultation, they have now released their final recommendations. 

Details of the recommended changes are contained in a report which explains how they have been developed, including how the Commission have taken local submissions received into account. The report and interactive mapping are available on the LGBCE's consultation site  www.consultation.lgbce.org.uk/node/33249

The full library of information relating to the review is available on our main website www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/west-midlands/worcestershire/redditch.       

The recommendations only become law once they have received parliamentary approval. The formal document (a draft Order) to start that process will be laid in Parliament shortly. The draft Order will provide for the new electoral arrangements for Redditch to come into effect for local elections in 2024.