Newport Council Boundary Reforms Confirmed
Welsh Government accepts LDBCW recommendations
Reforms to Newport Council’s ward boundaries are to go ahead after the Welsh Government decided to accept the recommendations of the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales with a minor modification only made to 1 recommended Welsh language ward name.
The Commission’s Final Recommendations were submitted to the Welsh Government 14 August 2020 and Minister for Finance and Local Government, Rebecca Evans MS, has today confirmed that the decision has been made to accept the recommendations.
The changes accepted by the Welsh Government mean that Newport’s number of councillors will increase by 1, taking the council from 50 to 51 members. This results in an average of 2,146 electors per councillor.
Meanwhile the number of wards will be increased from 20 to 21, with 18 wards electing more than 1 councillor.
7 wards will elect 2 councillors, 10 wards will elect 3 councillors, and 1 ward will elect 4 councillors.
11 current wards will see no change under these reforms.
1 recommendation on a Welsh language ward name was not accepted by Welsh Government.
Responding to the Welsh Government’s decision, Shereen Williams MBE OStJ, Chief Executive of the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales said:
“I’m delighted that the Welsh Government has accepted these recommendations with only minor modifications.
“These changes will mean greater electoral parity for the people of Newport.
“I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to the review, the members of the public, councillors, Newport Council, and everyone else who sent us a representation or contributed in any other way.”
The boundary changes are expected to take effect from the 2022 local government elections.
The full list of retained wards:
- Allt-yr-yn
- Alway
- Beechwood
- Bettws
- Caerleon
- Gaer
- Malpas
- Ringland
- Shaftesbury
- St Julians
- Victoria
Recommendation not accepted by Welsh Government:
- The Commission proposed retaining the Welsh language electoral name of Y Gaer and the English name of Gaer. The electoral ward will be given the single name of Gaer.
The Welsh Government Written Statement announcing the decision can be found here.