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Read Ed's evidence to the Boundary Commission 08/Jul/2005 Representation to the Boundary Commission’s West Yorkshire Inquiry I am writing to place on record my concerns about the Boundary Commission’s proposals for West Yorkshire, and their implications for my constituents, in advance of the Inquiry which I will be attending and at which I intend to give evidence. As the newly elected Member of Parliament for Normanton constituency, I was not in a position to make a formal submission when the proposals were originally published late last year. As the new MP for Normanton seat, which the Commission proposes to abolish in reducing West Yorkshire’s representation from 23 to 22 seats, I have naturally studied all the objections very carefully indeed - and consulted widely in my constituency. Not surprisingly, my constituents are very unhappy and worried about the Commission’s proposals. My constituents are concerned that the Boundary Commission’s proposals to reduce the number of seats in West Yorkshire from 23 to 22, to abolish the historic constituency of Normanton, to locate Stanley , Outwood and Wrenthorpe in a predominantly Leeds constituency and to break Normanton town’s current links with urban Wakefield by linking the town with Castleford and Pontefract are: - unnecessary and unfair; The arguments that have been put to me by my constituents are very well reflected in the many objections which have been lodged with the Commission. I will not rehearse the detail of those arguments here but highlight the main points. The reduction in the number of Wakefield district MPs from 4 to 3 is unnecessary, and based on a finely balanced, technical and disputed judgement. I have studied in detail the submissions put to the Commission by expert witnesses, in particular the submission from Wakefield Metropolitan District Council. I will not repeat the technical and legal arguments here. But I note that Wakefield Council sets out in detail its concerns about the proposals on technical, legal grounds and community grounds. It makes a powerful case that the reduction from 23 to 22 seats is not necessary, that the arguments very finely balanced, indeed that expert opinion believes that case for retaining 23 seats is technically and legally more robust. I recognise that retaining 23 seats for West Yorkshire and thus the current four Wakefield seats with the existing link with Kirklees would mean that the existing Normanton constituency seat would have fewer registered electors than the Commission’s quota. I note that smaller seats have already been proposed by the Commission in other parts of the country. But while the existing Normanton seat would be below quota, it would not be any more divergent than the Commission’s proposed Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford which is well above quota – indeed it would be one of the largest seats in the country. This proposed new seat would substantially reduce representation for citizens in what is the relatively deprived part of the district and of my constituency. Moreover, given current and expected patterns of development and population in the north-east of the district, the Boundary Commission’s proposed new seat is not only very large indeed but is set to grow even larger over time and thus to diverge from the quota. On the other hand, given these trends, the current Normanton seat, if retained, would converge towards the quota over time. It is hard not to conclude that, if the Boundary Commission were to ignore the technical and legal arguments, abolish the Normanton constituency and link the town of Normanton with Castleford and Pontefract, the under representation of citizens in the north-east of the district would be increasingly so severe that the next Boundary Review would have to reverse the decisions taken by this Review.
On the basis of what I have described as a very finely balanced judgement, which the experts do not believe is technically and legally robust and which may well, in any case, need to be reversed in the next review, the Boundary Commission is proposing massive disruption for residents not just across my constituency but across the Wakefield district and beyond – with well over 100,000 people having to change constituencies with all the resulting difficulties that will cause. It is clear to me, studying all the submissions to the Commission that concerns about the impact of this disruption not only stretch across my constituency but go well beyond my constituency boundaries. I note the great concerns expressed by a number of groups and civic leaders across the district, including from Wakefield Council, Featherstone Town Council, Normanton Town Council, Horbury Community Council, Wrenthorpe Community Council, the Wakefield Express, Lord Lofthouse, other local MPs and many local organisations and individuals. All of these objections highlight the severe breaking of community ties, perverse outcomes and huge disruption that the current Boundary Commission proposals imply – disruption which, as I have said, may well have to be repeated again after the next Review. Many of the objections and observations reflected in these submissions have also been put to me personally over the past few months by local civic and voluntary groups and my own constituents. For my constituents, the reality of the Commission’s proposals is not simply great disruption but a severing of historic and deeply rooted community ties, with their being placed in what will be very strange, new constituencies. The first consequence of the abolition of the Normanton constituency is that the residents of Stanley, Outwood and Wrenthorpe - effectively the northern part of the Wakefield city conurbation stretching right into the city centre – will suddenly become the minority within a Leeds constituency crossing over to the north of the M62. These Wakefield residents would have little in common with their Leeds counterparts – there are few, if any, links in terms of roads, bus services, public services, economic ties or wider community ties. And they will be represented not, as now, by a Wakefield MP but instead by an MP the majority of whose seat will be in Leeds. This wholesale breaking of community ties and the creation of what appears to be a purely artificial constituency without any historic or community grounding, is not only a source of concern to the residents of Stanley, Outwood, Wrenthorpe and the Leeds wards to the north. Reflecting a common theme of many objections, I am deeply concerned about the implications for all of my constituents, and indeed for the Wakefield district, of Pinderfields hospital - the major hospital in the Mid-Yorkshire trust - being located in a Leeds constituency and represented by an MP whose constituents will predominantly use Leeds hospitals. The second consequence of the Boundary Commission proposals is that the town of Normanton will cease, despite decades of history and deep community ties, to be linked to the wards to the north and west of Wakefield and will instead be tagged on to Castleford and Pontefract. The submission from Normanton Town Council sets out, in great detail, why this linkage is contrary to a whole series of historic, community and public service ties and would leave the town of Normanton badly disadvantaged. Third, the residents of Horbury and Ossett will, once again, have to cope with the turmoil of yet another change to their parliamentary constituency which will not only be very disruptive but also break social, community and public service ties which have grown up between the towns around the north and west of Wakefield as part of the Normanton constituency. In listening to the strongly held views of my constituents, I have thought very hard about whether and how to make representations to the Commission in advance of the Inquiry. On the one hand, I clearly have a personal interest in the outcome of these deliberations. But far more important, I have been elected to represent the best interests of my constituents and I do not believe they are best served by the current proposals. It has obviously been very difficult and disruptive for me, as a new MP, with the threat of abolition hanging over my constituency. I have established my constituency office and conduct regular surgeries and I will fight hard to make sure that the interests of my constituents are well represented - locally and nationally - to the best of my ability. But I am confident that the interest of my constituents – indeed of the entire Wakefield district - would be better served if the proposed wholesale and mass disruption, breaking of community ties and under-representation of the most deprived parts of my constituency could be avoided. In studying all the evidence, I believe that the reduction in the number of seats in West Yorkshire from 23 to 22 is not necessary or legally mandated; that given population and development trends, the current Boundary Commission proposals may well have to be reversed in the next Review anyway; and in the meantime they would lead to massive disruption, unhappiness and breaking of community ties. That is why, on behalf of my constituents, I would ask the Commission to look carefully at the detailed arguments which have been set out in the many objections to the proposals being considered at the Inquiry - and consider whether stability and the status quo might not be the better, fairer outcome.
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