Objectives 2022/23
Overall objective
- Commission’s clear focus this year has been on formulating revised proposals, consulting on them, and beginning the work on determining final recommendations for new Parliamentary constituencies. It is a busy financial year in the 2023 Review cycle, as it includes the analysis of all the responses to the initial proposals (received during both the initial and secondary consultation), taking those into account during the development of revised proposals, then assessing the further responses received during the final public consultation on those revised proposals.
Main objectives for 2022/23, with outcomes
- The main objectives for the Commission during the financial year 2022/23 were:
- By the end of August 2022, to agree revised proposals for new constituencies, taking into account the public responses to the initial and secondary consultation. This was completed on time, with revised proposals being agreed by the Commissioners at dedicated meetings between 19 – 25 August 2022.
- By autumn 2022, to have conducted a comprehensive four week statutory consultation on the revised proposals. The public consultation was delivered as planned, between 8 November and 5 December 2022. The consultation was supported by a comprehensive and successful advertising and publicity campaign, designed to raise awareness and encourage engagement with the review (an evaluation of this activity is included with the published papers of the Commissioners subsequent meeting on 20 March 2023). The Commission received over 18,000 responses to this consultation.
- By the end of January 2023, have published the statutory ‘annual report on progress’, which the Commission is required to provide to the Speaker of the House of Commons, updating on progress with a live review. The Commission formally submitted its annual report of progress – covering the calendar year of 2022 – to the Speaker of the House of Commons on 17 January 2023. The report was also published on the Commission website.
- By the end of March 2023 be completing the analysis of responses to the revised proposals consultation and formulating the final recommendations. This was completed on time as evidenced by the Commission being in a position to determine its final recommendations at a series of meetings between 20 and 24 March 2023. The papers and minutes of these meetings are available to view on the Commission’s website.
- During the course of the year the Commission will aim to hold three formal meetings to assess progress with the Review and make key decisions, and will also be represented at the Annual Meeting of UK Boundary Commissions. The Commission considered it necessary to hold ten formal meetings during the 2022-23 financial year. It met on: 6 June 2022 to discuss general progress, and to make policy and strategic operational decisions, it met on 19-24 August 2022, to take detailed decisions on what its revised proposals should be, and met on 20-24 March, primarily to determine the Commissions’ final decisions on constituency recommendations for the 2023 Review. The Commission was represented at the Annual Meeting of UK Boundary Commissions in Cardiff.
Budget and expenditure 2022/23
- The Commission agreed a budget of £1,808,000 with the sponsor Department, which it considered would be necessary to deliver the substantial elements of the 2023 Review during the 2022-23 financial year. Two tables are set out below. The first provides a quarterly profile of the planned and actual staffing levels of the Secretariat during the financial year. The second compares the Commission’s actual expenditure during the year against the initial budget agreed with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) as sponsor Department. The Commission had an underspend of approximately £100,000.
Staff complement (Full Time Equivalent)
| Apr-Jun 2022 | Jul-Sep 2021 | Oct-Dec 2021 | Jan-Mar 2022 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade | Plan | Actual | Plan | Actual | Plan | Actual | Plan | Actual |
| SCS | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Band A | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Band SEO | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Band HEO | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Band EO | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 2 |
| Band AO | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Temp staff | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 18 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 18 | 12 | 18 | 9 |
Budget and expenditure by subhead (figures supplied by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities*)
| Budget component | Budget 22/23 (£) | Expenditure (£)* | Variance (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay and related costs | 897,000 | 879,500 | -17,500 |
| Travel and subsistence costs | 5,000 | 19,942 | 14,942 |
| Accommodation costs | 115,000 | 75,048 | -39,952 |
| IT and equipment costs | 310,000 | 298,723 | -11,277 |
| Staff related costs | 5,000 | 0 | -5,000 |
| Other professional services | 33,000 | 51,060 | 18,060 |
| Marketing and media | 312,000 | 308,342 | -3,658 |
| Other goods and services | 100,000 | 96,440 | -3,560 |
| Training and development | 10,000 | 0 | -10,000 |
| Conference and hospitality | 16,000 | 0 | -16,000 |
| Miscellaneous expenditure | 5,000 | 0 | –5,000 |
| Rental income*** | 0 | -28,028 | 28,028 |
| Total | 1,808,000** | 1,701,027 | 106,973 |
**Rounded to nearest pound from total derived from detailed (not rounded) component expenditure and variance figures.
***IT costs reimbursed by Boundary Commission for Scotland and Boundary Commission for Wales for a shared IT service. Back to top
Monitoring expenditure
- The Secretariat maintained information that recorded by date, topic, sub-heading, and component, every item of expenditure. Each month, the Secretariat met with officials from the DLUHC central finance team , in order to confirm monthly expenditure and to provide accurate financial reports, to profile expenditure for the financial year, confirm quarterly expenditure, and report on potential under-spends or over-spends.