(14 years, 1 month ago)
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The Secretary of State for Scotland (Danny Alexander)
I am pleased to announce that following receipt of the Boundary Commission for Scotland’s “Report on the First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries”, and in line with my statutory obligations under paragraph 3(9)(a) of schedule 1 of the Scotland Act, I have today laid a copy of the Commission’s report before Parliament.
The Boundary Commission is an independent body and Ministers have no power to direct the Commission to make changes to any of its recommendations.
The Boundary Commission’s report is accompanied by two DVD-ROMs containing geographical information system data defining the constituency boundaries. This approach was necessary because a number of the recommended Scottish Parliament constituencies have boundaries which do not follow existing local government ward boundaries. Previous parliamentary, and therefore Scottish Parliament, constituencies have been made up of complete local government wards which are defined in existing legislation and can be referred to by listing the ward names. The level of detail required to define the constituency boundaries means that the boundaries could not practically be shown on traditional maps at an appropriate scale. The local government wards (and part wards) which fall within the constituencies are listed in the appendices to the Boundary Commission’s report.
The master copy of the DVD-ROMs has been deposited at my offices in Edinburgh. Reference copies are deposited with the Boundary Commission for Scotland. A copy of the DVD-ROMs is also available in the Libraries of both Houses.
Maps of the boundaries will be available online from the Boundary Commission for Scotland’s website or in hard copy by writing to the Commission. Hard copy A2-sized maps are also available in the Libraries of both Houses.
Finally, I intend laying the draft of an Order in Council for giving effect to the recommendations contained in the report before Parliament, as required under paragraph 3(9)(b) of schedule 1 to the Scotland Act 1998, before the summer recess.