Glan y Don
Bae Colwyn
LL29 8AW
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Glan y Don
Colwyn Bay
LL29 8AW
| Swyddfa'r Prif Gwnstabl Glan y Don Bae Colwyn LL29 8AW |
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Chief Constable's Office Glan y Don Colwyn Bay LL29 8AW |
| Ffon (Cymraeg): Bae Colwyn
0845 607 1001 LU: 01492 511080 Ffacs: Bae Colwyn 01492 513248 |
Telephone (English):
Colwyn Bay 0845 607 1002 Direct Dial: 01492 511080 Fax: Colwyn Bay: 01492 513248 |
R Brunstrom, BSc. (Hons) M.Sc.
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| Ein Cyf:/Our Ref CC/0045/GD Eich Cyf: Your Ref: |
| Secretary to the Commission Richard Commission Caradog House 1-6 Saint Andrews Place Cardiff CF10 3BE |
| Dear Sir/Madam |
| I write in response to your consultation document on the electoral arrangements of the National Assembly. I write formally in my professional capacity but the views I express here are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of the police service in Wales. |
| I wish to restrict my comments to a few points only:- |
| 1. Para 16 |
| There are already far too may elected representatives in Wales for a population of only just over 3m people. 40 MPs (possibly 42 in the near future?), plus 60 AMs and literally thousands of councillors, is dysfunctional for public bodies such as the Police. |
| The tasks of these three groups are linked; change in one group should not therefore be considered in isolation. In principle, a growth in one group should be allied to a corresponding reduction in either or both of the other two. |
| There may well be thought to be a case for growth in the number of AMs - particularly if the Assembly, as seems likely grows in power over the years to come. However, these powers will have to come from somewhere else - presumably either central government in London via further devolution, or from local government here in Wales by a process of centralisation. In either event, in my view, a balancing reduction in other elected representatives should be part of any future growth in the number of AMs. |
| 2. Para 23 |
| The link between the constituencies of MPs and MSPs has already been broken in Scotland. I see no reason why such a link should continue between AMs and MPs in Wales. I will have no problem dealing with constituency matters for both groups, whatever boundaries are eventually used. |
| 3. Para 34 |
| Unhelpfully, Assembly and Parliamentary boundaries do not follow those of other agencies. This is dysfunctional, and causes unnecessary confusion. |
| Almost all public agencies in North Wales now mirror local authorities. For example, Police, Fire, Ambulance, Crown Prosecution Service, Courts service and the Probation service all use the same external boundary (the six local authorities of 'North Wales', with internal boundaries where used following local authorities. The new Local Health Boards use local authority boundaries. This trend towards co-terminosity has been clear for some time and has accelerated recently. |
| I suggest that Assembly constituencies follow local authority boundaries, and at the very least, should not cross them, thus avoiding placing more than one local authority within a member's constituency. |
| The situation for regional members is analogous to that of regional organisations such as the police. In my submission, the principle of co-terminosity should be adopted by the Assembly, thus giving more emphasis to the Regional Committees. The Northern Regional Committee has a totally bizarre boundary (see attached map), placing Meirionydd in mid-Wales and dividing the county of Gwynedd in half for Assembly purposes. This is counterproductive and has caused real inconvenience. If Regional Members are to continue to exist, then care should be taken to follow, and not to ignore, regional identity. |
| Yours faithfully |
| Richard Brunstrom Prif Gwnstabl/Chief Constable |
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