Electoral Review of Oxfordshire

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England

11 January 2011

ELECTORAL REVIEW OF OXFORDSHIRE

The purpose of this letter is to formally announce the start of the first consultation stage on division patterns in the electoral review of Oxfordshire County Council.

The Commission has consulted on the proposed council size for the new council and is currently minded to recommend 64 elected members. Consequently, proposals for division arrangements should be based on this council size.

The Commission considered all representations on council size at its meeting on 8 December 2010. All of these submissions are now available to view on our website, www.lgbce.org.uk  

The next stage of the review will run from today until 3 April 2011. During this period we invite all councillors, parish and town councils, local political and community groups and local residents to submit proposals for a new pattern of divisions based on a council size of 64 members.

I should stress, however, that the Commission’s conclusions may be subject to change depending on the evidence received during the next consultation period. During the review, the Commission may consider that the council size requires slight adjustment to provide for division patterns that better reflect electoral equality and community identity.

The review aims to make sure, as far as possible, that every councillor in each division of the county represents the same number of electors. The review will also take into account the identities and interests of local communities in the area.

The Commission requests that any views you may have on new division arrangements should be submitted no later than 3 April 2011. After this date, the Commission will not be in a position to accept further representations to feed into its draft recommendations. We expect to publish our draft recommendations for Oxfordshire later in the year.

There will be a second period of public consultation on the Commission’s draft recommendations for Oxfordshire. We will contact you at that time to invite your views on what is being proposed.

Electorate figures will shortly be available on our website. This information may be useful in formulating a proposed pattern of divisions for your local area. Our guidance on proposing a pattern is also available on the Guidance, policy and publications page of our website.

Any representations should be made to the Commission by 3 April 2011 to the address below:

Review Officer (Oxfordshire), Local Government Boundary Commission for England, Layden House, 76-86 Turnmill Street, London EC1M 5LG

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Jessica Metheringham-Owlett Review Officer jessica.metheringham-owlett@lgbce.org.uk 020 7664 8525

Local Government Boundary Commission for England, 3rd Floor Layden House, 76-86 Turnmill Street, London EC1M 5LG Tel: 08703 810153; Fax: 020 7298 6788; reviews@lgbce.org.uk www.lgbce.org.uk

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