I'm in the middle of a minor statistic project regarding population
distribution in the UK local authority district and parliamentary
constituency. I saw this group and thought that its contributors might
be the right people to ask about a couple of glitches in my model.

Firstly: I note that part of Wokingham constituency is in West
Berkshire LAD. Does anyone know how this part is delineated (e.g., a
whole local authority ward or several wards), and where I might obtain
population and population desnity figures for it?

Similarly, I note that part of Windsor constituency is in Bracknell
Forest LAD, and yet another part in Slough LAD - same question applies.

Thanks, Julien.

In message , 
Julien  writes

>
>
>I'm in the middle of a minor statistic project regarding population
>distribution in the UK local authority district and parliamentary
>constituency. I saw this group and thought that its contributors might
>be the right people to ask about a couple of glitches in my model.
>
>Firstly: I note that part of Wokingham constituency is in West
>Berkshire LAD. Does anyone know how this part is delineated (e.g., a
>whole local authority ward or several wards), and where I might obtain
>population and population desnity figures for it?
>
>Similarly, I note that part of Windsor constituency is in Bracknell
>Forest LAD, and yet another part in Slough LAD - same question applies.


Have you looked at the information in the reports at
<http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pbc/review_areas/berkshire.asp> and
<http://www.boundarycommittee.org.uk/news-centre/newsreleasepers.cfm>?

-- 
Goalie of the Century

Do you want the total population or just the electorate?

If the former look at

http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/instanceSelection.do?JSAllowed=true&Function=&24ph=60_61&CurrentPageId=61&step=2&datasetFamilyId=779&instanceSelection=03070&Next.x=12&Next.y=12

Click on the district you want to get the 2001 census population for
each parish. Several parishes = one ward in rural areas.

Then check on the sites mentioned by "Goalie" to see which parishes are
now in which wards and add them up.

Thanks for that - I have just found a population density table by local
authority ward on that site. However, a few further questions:

1. Is there a rule that local authority wards should lie entirely in
one constituency, or can they be split up between more than one?

2. The Boundary Commission report I saw was a set of future proposals.
Where might I obtain a precis of the current position?

3. Do "parishes" (as in the above data) have any administrative
significance? Do their boundaries cross ward boundaries also or not?

Thanks.

In article , 
stendhal53@hotmail.com (Julien) wrote:


> Thanks for that - I have just found a population density table by local
> authority ward on that site. However, a few further questions:
> 
> 1. Is there a rule that local authority wards should lie entirely in
> one constituency, or can they be split up between more than one?


Yes, but only at the time the constituency boundaries were drawn. Most 
ward boundaries have been redrawn since then. The current constituency 
boundary review is expected to sort this out.


> 2. The Boundary Commission report I saw was a set of future proposals.
> Where might I obtain a precis of the current position?


The Boundary Commission web site, http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pbc/.


> 3. Do "parishes" (as in the above data) have any administrative
> significance? Do their boundaries cross ward boundaries also or not?


Parishes are the smallest unit of English local government, with limited 
powers. They can be divided into wards and must be if divided into wards 
for their principal councils (County, District or Unitary).

-- 
Cllr. Colin Rosenstiel
Cambridge                    http://www.rosenstiel.co.uk/
Cambridge Liberal Democrats: http://www.cambridgelibdems.org.uk/

(Although confusingly there are some cases where a parish is so big it
has to be divided into two wards - eg Holme Valley in Kirklees).

 - Julien, as Colin R points out we are in a transitional period where
many ward boundaries for local elections have already been changed but
the parliamentary constituencies have not yet caught up. I think you
will have to do your study for 2001 (before any changes) so the lines
on the map match up.

For the current constituencies, the maps at the Dfes site are easy to
read, eg

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/inyourarea/leas/lea_872.shtml

There is also http://www.electionmaps.co.uk although I personally find
it quite tiresome to navigate.

PS - sorry Colin, I didnt read your last para properly

Should be 

 http://www.election-maps.co.uk

In article , 
mg62@btopenworld.com (kipperthedog) wrote:


> For the current constituencies, the maps at the Dfes site are easy to
> read, eg
> 
> http://www.dfes.gov.uk/inyourarea/leas/lea_872.shtml


Treat these ward illustrations with care. The Cambridge ones shown are 
the new ones (since 2004). I very much doubt the statistics are on that 
basis.

-- 
Cllr. Colin Rosenstiel
Cambridge                    http://www.rosenstiel.co.uk/
Cambridge Liberal Democrats: http://www.cambridgelibdems.org.uk/

On 10 Jun 2005 09:54:44 -0700, "Julien" 
wrote:


>Thanks for that - I have just found a population density table by local
>authority ward on that site. However, a few further questions:
>
>1. Is there a rule that local authority wards should lie entirely in
>one constituency, or can they be split up between more than one?


It is current practice, but not a legal requirement, except in
Northern Ireland, where it is the only requirement (ie. there is no
requirement that district boundaries or county boundaries be used).

The May election used parliamentary boundaries that split wards
because ward boundaries had been revised since when the parliamentary
boundaries had last been updated.

The current parliamentary review got off to a somewhat slow start
because local boundaries were also being reviewed.  If the boundary
commission did their review based on the old ward boundaries, then
they would have to go back and make adjustments after the ward
boundaries had been revised.  This had the potential of opening up the
whole review, and not just the adjustments.

After a year or two, the two groups, BCE and then-LGCE, began to
coordinate their efforts, so that the LGCE would complete all the
local reviews in an area at about the same time (all the districts in
a county, plus any unitary authorities that had formerly been part of
the county).  I think the LGCE may have also deferred a bit on
determining county divisions so that they could complete the new wards
sooner.  There may have also been some other coordination.  It is
probably more than coincidence that Birmingham has 40 wards and 10
parliamentary constituenies.

Another curiousity with respect to the new wards is that the
parliamentary constituencies are based on electorates from 2000 when
they began the current review.  But the new ward boundaries are based
on more current electorate counts.  Once the new wards are delineated,
there is a retrospective determination of what the ward electorates
would have been had they existed in their current form back in 2000.


>2. The Boundary Commission report I saw was a set of future proposals.
>Where might I obtain a precis of the current position?


I don't think that the previous review is on line.  Note that the
current parliament constituencies are based on wards that have since
been revised.

-- 
Jim Riley

OK - but I can't seem to find any desnity statistics for the 2001
administrative hierarchy. So far I have only found it for the 2003
administrative hierarchy and for the NeSS geographic hierarchy. Given
that the census was in 2001 I assume that it must be available
somewhere - anyone have any ideas?

Thanks again.

In article , 
stendhal53@hotmail.com (Julien) wrote:


> OK - but I can't seem to find any desnity statistics for the 2001
> administrative hierarchy. So far I have only found it for the 2003
> administrative hierarchy and for the NeSS geographic hierarchy. Given
> that the census was in 2001 I assume that it must be available
> somewhere - anyone have any ideas?
> 
> Thanks again.


Tried the census web site?

-- 
Cllr. Colin Rosenstiel
Cambridge                    http://www.rosenstiel.co.uk/
Cambridge Liberal Democrats: http://www.cambridgelibdems.org.uk/

I have done a little searching around on
http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/

I found the population, area in hectares and density (people per hectare)
for the wards of West Berkshire without too much trouble. They are available
for the 2003 and 2004 administrative hierarchies, but the population is
taken from the April 2001 census so these give the same results. Looks like
Berkshire's wards changed between 1998 and 2003 and the 1998 data is not
there. The Parish data is only population and not area. The electoral
hierarchy has the area and population, but not the density. Of course you
can if you so wish calculate it yourself.

All the data can be downloaded into MS Excel.

If the wards in the 1998 administrative hierarchy are different to what they
were at the census in 2001 then data looks like it is "back tracked" where
possible. I am not sure it is totally accurate as the maps from the 1998
Macclesfield (my home area) wards look like they are a "best fit" using the
smallest census output areas rather than an exact match to the Boundary
Comission maps in their report.

"Julien"  wrote in message
news:1118667822.276303.135070@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...

> OK - but I can't seem to find any desnity statistics for the 2001
> administrative hierarchy. So far I have only found it for the 2003
> administrative hierarchy and for the NeSS geographic hierarchy. Given
> that the census was in 2001 I assume that it must be available
> somewhere - anyone have any ideas?
>
> Thanks again.
>