Electoral boundaries - determination process: independent review report

Foreword

Andrew Kerr OBE

Chair

I was pleased to be appointed by Scottish Ministers to chair this independent review of the process for determining electoral boundaries in Scotland. Electoral boundaries are a key feature of fair elections and a fundamental tenet of the democratic principle of equal representation.

Boundaries Scotland is the organisation, operationally independent of government, charged with reviewing electoral boundaries. The statutory rules to which it works seek to ensure the principle of equality is upheld in the number of people an MSP or councillor represents, while also allowing some leeway to take account of community and geographical considerations. Scotland’s land mass and population patterns make it distinctive. Currently when Boundaries Scotland undertakes a review and recommends changes to electoral boundaries, these are scrutinised and ultimately approved or rejected by the Scottish Parliament. International best practice has moved to taking elected politicians out of the decision loop and towards a process known as automaticity: where the independent body reviewing electoral boundaries is the final decision-maker.

Given this wider international context, I was asked to lead a review to consider what form of automaticity might work best in Scotland. Although my principal focus was on the system for approving changes to boundaries, I also considered whether other parts of the review process may need to be adjusted, both to maximise the benefits of automaticity and to ensure the right checks and balances are in the system to underpin such a change. I also sought to ensure the benefits of automaticity were fully considered against current practice, both in the consultation and the research for this report.

Open and interactive consultation was at the heart of the approach I sought to take, with the public and bodies with knowledge, expertise and experience of the process of reviewing boundaries. I also engaged with MSPs and councillors, as well as officials from the Scottish Parliament and local authorities, all of whom clearly have a direct interest in these issues. I am grateful to all those who contributed with great expertise, openness and honesty.

My recommendations reflect the themes that emerged through the consultation and engagement that I undertook. I have recommended a move to an automatic process for the implementation of boundary changes. This would mean that elected representatives are no longer the ultimate decision-makers on these matters but, recognising their unique position in such considerations, I have further recommended that they have a special status as statutory consultees on proposals, early in the process.

I have also made recommendations which I hope build on the best of existing practice and can modernise and improve the consultation exercises that Boundaries Scotland undertakes with the public. This includes proposals to simplify and make more readily understandable the entire consultation process and timescales, and a new system of open public events which I hope can ensure greater transparency and opportunity for engaging members of the public.

In addition, I have recommended introducing a new assurance role for the Electoral Commission, the independent body which oversees and regulates elections across the UK, in the process for changing electoral boundaries in Scotland. This would be the first time in the UK that the Electoral Commission is involved in this way. I consider that the formal inclusion of its expertise and operational independence will add value and an appropriate level of additional scrutiny to the work undertaken by Boundaries Scotland. In doing so I consider it will help promote trust and confidence both in the process and the decisions made.

As a package I hope that my recommendations provide a way forward and make a contribution to protecting and strengthening participation, trust and faith in Scotland’s democracy, in which electoral boundaries are a bedrock.

I would like to thank the individuals and organisations who responded to the consultation paper, as well as the organisations listed below who engaged with me extensively throughout the Review. The views expressed through all strands of this engagement have helped shape my thinking as I compiled this report.

• Boundaries Scotland
• The Electoral Commission
• The Electoral Management Board for Scotland
• The Scottish Parliament
• COSLA
• The Scottish Parliament Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
• The Scottish Parliament Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
• Community Council Liaison Officers
• Scottish Youth Parliament
• Scottish Parliament Political Parties Panel
• Boundary Commission for Scotland

I present this report to Scottish Ministers, and to the Scottish Parliament.