Half Of Wrexham’s Councillors Could Be Abolished In Council Merger

Over half of all councillors in Wrexham would be axed if a proposed merger with Flintshire goes ahead.

The figures published in a consultation update presented to Flintshire councillors yesterday and first published by Deeside.com last night suggest the number of councillors in the Wrexham and Flintshire council wards would decrease from 116 to 55 should the two councils merge.

The Welsh Government is proposing a ratio of one councillor to 4000 electors, the ratio effectively dictates the number of councillors each council has.

Wrexham currently has 52 Councillors, with Flintshire having 70. Wrexham is stated as having 103,408 electors based off 2015 figures,  meaning a ratio of 1,989 electors to councillors.  In Flintshire current ratio is one councillor to 1691 electors which as a ratio both are greater than the Wales average of one counsellor to 1806 electors.

The councillor ‘cull’ would not be exclusive to North Wales, and should the Welsh Government get its way the number of councillors across the whole of Wales would decrease from 1248 to 616 –  a just over 50% cut.

Wrexham and Flintshire have two merger options on the table one being (Option 1) a straight two way merger, and the other (Option 2) seeing a merger between Wrexham, Denbighshire and Flintshire.

Option 2 would see a reduction in councillors across Flintshire, Wrexham and Denbighshire of around 56 percent.

There is no indication of which Councillors (if any in Wrexham) would be culled, or which boundaries would be redrawn for mergers, however the guidance draft states ‘no council should have an overall ratio of less than 1 councillor per 4,000 electors’. Using that figure it could be possible that around half of the current Councillors for Wrexham could be abolished with wards growing bigger to compensate.

Councillors have until November 9th to respond a Welsh Government consultation on the proposed electoral arrangement.

It is not just the numbers under threat, but the make up of the elected members is being examined. In January last year the Williams Commission report said the make-up of councils was a “poor reflection” of the communities they serve, with 60% of councillors being aged over sixty and 72% being men.

Last week Public Services Minister Leighton Andrews launched a ‘mentoring programme’ to increase diversity amongst Local Government councillors.

The logic being stated as ‘increasing the diversity of Councillors will lead to more effective decision making as they will be more in tune with, and representative of their local communities. The Mentoring Programme has been designed to empower people from a range of backgrounds to stand for future elections.’

The programme is actively seeking people who are: 45 or under, female, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, black minority ethnic, or disabled.

The mentoring programme offers individuals who are interested in standing for election access to one-to-one and group mentoring, training and support and an opportunity to shadow an existing Councillor.

MORE from the archives…

– Leaked Map Indicates Two North Wales Super Councils Merger
– ‘Brutal’ Debate Over Proposed Wrexham & Flintshire Merger Rages On
– Reactions & New Name Suggestions For Proposed Council Merger
– Wrexham Votes No To Council Merger With ‘No Time’ For Consultation

Key Dates:

• January/February 2016 – Directions to the Boundary Commission are formally ‘made’
• March/April 2016 (within 2 months of the Directions being made) – Boundary Commission publishes a timetable for the programme of initial reviews
• Spring 2016 – Boundary Commission develops and consults on its ‘Policy and Practice’ (as per S19(2) of the Local Government (Wales) Bill 2015)
• Early Summer 2016 – Boundary Commission publishes its final ‘Policy and Practice’ and begins initial reviews, probably on a phased approach (with North Wales likely to be later in the timetable until WG confirms whether there will be 2 or 3 councils in North Wales)
• By 31st July 2018 – Boundary Commission submits reports to Ministers on initial reviews

(Thanks again to Deeside.com for the meat of this article. Give them a follow @deesidedotcom, or pop them a like on their Facebook page.)