Latest news with #DemocracyandBoundaryCommissionCymru
Wales Online
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Wales Online
Changes to Welsh county will leave it with fewer community councils in next elections
Changes to Welsh county will leave it with fewer community councils in next elections A number of councillors opposed the plans, which they said would "dilute" local voices, but others argued the changes are needed to improve local democracy Changes to electoral boundaries in the Vale of Glamorgan will leave it with fewer community councils Proposed changes to a Welsh county which would lead to it having fewer community councils will be implemented in time for the next local government elections in 2027. The Welsh Government has agreed to the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru's recommendations to make changes to a number of communities in the Vale of Glamorgan following a process of review and consultation. Some councillors raised concerns about the proposals, which will result in there being 19 community councils in the county instead of 27, and fear it will "dilute" local voices. However, the chief executive of Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru argued the change will be crucial in ensuring people in the Vale receive the best representation. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here . One Vale of Glamorgan Council Conservative councillor, Cllr Christine Cave, said at a full council meeting in 2024 that the move would amount to "throwing dedicated community councillors on to the community council scrapheap". The proposal will also see the number of community councillors go down from 269 to 205. At the time, the boundary commission in Wales said it would make councils more resilient going forward and a number of other councillors in the Vale pointed out that many community councils rarely have elections because of a lack of candidates. Article continues below Colwinston Community Council is one of the communities that will be affected in the Vale of Glamorgan. As a result of the changes, it will be abolished along with Llangan Community Council and a new community will be created which will merge both. Chair of Colwinston Community Council in 2024, Cllr Ed Lewis, said during a full Vale of Glamorgan Council meeting at the time: "The activity that goes on in Colwinston is quite remarkable for the size of the village. "If you reduce the number of representatives you reduce the effectiveness of the new council. "The new council is going to have seven councillors and there will be two schools in the arrangement whereas Colwinston has only got one school. "With seven councillors we can just manage to cover putting a governor on to the school and have representation on various bodies around South Wales. "Effectively the new council is going to be pushed to deliver the same level of services with a lot fewer people." At the same meeting, leader of the Plaid Cymru group at Vale of Glamorgan Council, Cllr Ian Johnson, said the review of community boundaries was important. Cllr Johnson, who is also a Barry Town Council member, said: "I don't agree with every single part of this report but this does respond to the challenge we have at hand." As a result of the changes in the Vale, Barry will have a new town council ward for the Waterfront area. Chief executive of Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru, Shereen Williams MBE OStJ said: "The Commission is delighted that the first of its community reviews will now be implemented without modification. 'We'd like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for taking this decision, and also thank our partners in Vale of Glamorgan council, all the community and town councils in the Vale, and the members of the public who engaged so constructively in the review. Article continues below 'Reviewing and updating the boundaries and electoral arrangements of communities is crucial in ensuring that people across the Vale of Glamorgan continue to receive the best representation, and that local changes to populations, for example where new housing estates have been built, are reflected in the boundaries of communities.'
Sky News
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Senedd 2026: Row over Welsh-only names as new constituencies announced
The new constituencies for the Senedd have been given Welsh-only names, in a move criticised by the former leader of the Welsh Conservatives. The number of Senedd constituencies has been slashed just as the number of members in the Welsh parliament is set to increase. Voters in Wales will head to the polls next May, but instead of the usual 40 constituencies, the country will now be split into 16 larger areas. The constituencies were confirmed on Monday, with all 16 given Welsh-only names, after a consultation process came to an end. But former leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies, said many of his constituents who expressed concerns they would be "disenfranchised" by the proposed names had been "ignored". "Wales is bilingual and constituency names should be in both languages," he added. The Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru said it assigned names to each constituency which it believed to be "acceptable and recognisable for people across Wales". The consultation process received more responses than ever before "by a considerable margin", according to the commission. Shereen Williams MBE, chief executive of the commission, said the changes were "very significant". Ms Williams acknowledged that the debate surrounding the names had been "robust, but very constructive". She thanked those members of the public who had responded to the consultation, which had been "significantly strengthened due to the public's involvement". What else is set to change? The announcement comes as the number of Senedd members is set to rise by more than 50%, rising from 60 to 96 at the next election. The way politicians get elected to Cardiff Bay will also change. Up until now, the Senedd was made up of 40 members elected through first past the post - the system used in Westminster - and a further 20 elected to represent five larger regions using the D'Hondt list method. Last year, the number of Welsh constituencies in a general election was cut from 40 to 32 - and those 32 have been paired to form the new Senedd constituencies. Six members will be elected from a list of candidates for each of the 16 constituencies, marking the biggest change in the way Senedd members are elected since the parliament's inception more than a quarter of a century ago.
