Boundary Commission England 2023 Review
Boundary changes are undertaken periodically to equalise the number of electors per seat with proposals for changes to Parliamentary Constituencies including those in West Sussex now entering the final consultation.
The first consultation ended in August 2021, there was a second in early 2022, and now a third which reflects significant revisions to the original proposal based on the consultation responses submitted so far.
Clapham Parish Council expressed concern at the original proposal, which had the potential to split the existing Arundel and South Downs constituency, and raised concerns about the level of representation rural communities might then receive. Securing the future of our village school is just one such issue a rural community might face, to which Andrew Griffith gave his support, plus of course development in the parish such as the garden centre planning application is another key one.
BCE-74264 Original Response
“Whilst acknowledging the need to change the boundaries to equalise the number of electors per seat across the UK, the Council feels that those changes proposed for West Sussex will result in a dilution of the rural representation.
Rural parishes may find themselves in constituencies with an urban centre, and rural issues may then not receive the same representation in Parliament”.
Initial Proposals – 2021 (Arundel and Littlehampton)
Revised Proposal – 2022 (Arundel and South Downs)
Revised Proposal – 2022 (Worthing West)
The latest proposals would now see the parish move into the Worthing West constituency, alongside Angmering, Patching and Findon.
Clapham Parish Council plans to raise concerns about the level of representation that rural communities such as ourselves might face under the revised proposal which would now see it move from the rural community representation of Arundel and South Downs into the more urban Worthing West constituency, rather than that of Arundel and Littlehampton under the initial proposal.
Please have your say.
South East | Boundary Commission for England (independent.gov.uk)