Welsh Statutory Instruments
2021 No. 1114 (W. 269)
Local Government, Wales
The County Borough of Neath Port Talbot (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2021
Made
4 October 2021
Coming into force in accordance with article 1(2) and (3)
The Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales(1) has, in accordance with section 36(5) of the Local Government (Democracy) (Wales) Act 2013(2) (“the 2013 Act”), submitted to the Welsh Ministers a report dated August 2020 containing its recommendations for change and the details of its review of the electoral arrangements for the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot.
The Welsh Ministers have, after consideration of the matters referred to and set out in section 37(2)(a) and (c) of the 2013 Act, decided to give effect to those recommendations with modifications.
In accordance with section 37(3) of the 2013 Act, more than 6 weeks have elapsed since those recommendations were submitted to the Welsh Ministers.
The Welsh Ministers make the following Order in exercise of their powers conferred by section 37(1) of the 2013 Act.
Title and commencement
1.—(1) The title of this Order is the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2021.
(2) For any purpose set out in regulation 4(1) of the Regulations, this Order comes into force on the second day after the day on which it is made.
(3) For all other purposes, this Order comes into force on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2022(3).
Interpretation
2. In this Order—
“electoral ward” (“ward etholiadol”) means any area for which members are elected to Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council;
“the Regulations” (“y Rheoliadau”) means the Local Government Area Changes Regulations 1976(4);
any reference to a map means one of the 5 maps marked “Map of the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2021” deposited in accordance with regulation 5 of the Regulations, labelled “1” to “5”, and a reference to a numbered map is a reference to the map that bears that number;
where a boundary is shown on a map as running along a road, railway line, footway, watercourse or similar geographical feature, it is to be treated as running along the centre line of the feature;
words and expressions used in this Order have the same meaning as they have in Part 3 of the Local Government (Democracy) (Wales) Act 2013, except so far as a contrary intention appears.
Electoral arrangements for the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot
3.—(1) The electoral wards of the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot, as they exist immediately before the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2022, are abolished.
(2) The County Borough of Neath Port Talbot is divided into 34 electoral wards each bearing the English language name listed in column 1 and the Welsh language name listed in column 2 of the Table in the Schedule to this Order.
(3) Each electoral ward comprises the areas specified in relation to that electoral ward in column 3 of the Table in the Schedule to this Order.
(4) The number of members of the council to be elected for each electoral ward is the number specified in column 4 of the Table in the Schedule to this Order.
(5) The provisions in this Order take precedence over any conflicting provision in any previous statutory instrument made under section 58(2) of the Local Government Act 1972(5).
The town of Pontardawe: changes to community wards
4. The part of the Pontardawe ward of the town of Pontardawe shown hatched on Map 1 is transferred to the Trebanos ward of the town of Pontardawe.
The town of Coedffranc: changes to community wards
5. The part of the West Central ward of the town of Coedffranc shown hatched on Map 2 is transferred to the East Central ward of the town of Coedffranc.
The town of Coedffranc: changes to electoral arrangements
6. In the town of Coedffranc—
(a)the number of members to be elected for the East Central ward is 4;
(b)the number of members to be elected for the North ward is 4;
(c)the number of members to be elected for the West ward is 3.
The communities of Dyffryn Clydach and Blaenhonddan: changes to community boundaries
7. The part of the community of Blaenhonddan shown hatched on Map 3 is transferred to the community of Dyffryn Clydach.
The community of Blaenhonddan: change to electoral arrangements
8. The number of members to be elected for the Bryn-côch North ward of the community of Blaenhonddan is 4.
Abolition of the community of Glyncorrwg and creation of the communities of Gwynfi and Croeserw, and Cymer and Glyncorrwg
9.—(1) The community of Glyncorrwg is abolished.
(2) There are constituted the following communities—
(a)the community of Gwynfi and Croeserw shown hatched on Map 4;
(b)the community of Cymer and Glyncorrwg shown hatched on Map 5.
Rebecca Evans
Minister for Finance and Local Government, one of the Welsh Ministers
4 October 2021
Article 3
SCHEDULENAMES AND AREAS OF ELECTORAL WARDS AND NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL
Table
| Column (1) | Column (2) | Column (3) | Column (4) |
|---|---|---|---|
| English language name of electoral ward | Welsh language name of electoral ward | Area of electoral ward | Number of members of the council |
| Aberavon | Aberafan | The communities of Aberavon and Baglan Moors | 2 |
| Aberdulais | Aberdulais | The Aberdulais and Cilfrew wards of the community of Blaenhonddan | 1 |
| Allt-wen | Allt-wen | The Allt-wen ward of the community of Cilybebyll | 1 |
| Baglan | Baglan | The communities of Baglan and Baglan Bay | 3 |
| Blaengwrach and Glynneath West | Blaen-gwrach a Gorllewin Glyn-nedd | The community of Blaengwrach, and the West and West Central wards of the town of Glynneath | 1 |
| Briton Ferry East | Dwyrain Llansawel | The Craig-y-darren and Cwrt Sart wards of the town of Briton Ferry | 1 |
| Briton Ferry West | Gorllewin Llansawel | The Brynhyfryd and Shelone Wood wards of the town of Briton Ferry | 1 |
| Bryn and Cwmavon | Bryn a Chwmafan | The communities of Bryn and Cwmavon | 3 |
| Bryn-coch North | Gogledd Bryn-coch | The Bryn-côch North ward of the community of Blaenhonddan | 1 |
| Bryn-coch South | De Bryn-coch | The Bryn-côch South ward of the community of Blaenhonddan | 2 |
| Cadoxton | Llangatwg | The Cadoxton ward of the community of Blaenhonddan | 1 |
| Cimla and Pelenna | Cimla a Phelenna | The community of Pelenna and the Cefn Saeson and Crynallt wards of the town of Neath | 2 |
| Coedffranc Central | Canol Coed-ffranc | The Central and East Central wards of the town of Coedffranc | 2 |
| Coedffranc North | Gogledd Coed-ffranc | The North ward of the town of Coedffranc | 1 |
| Coedffranc West | Gorllewin Coed-ffranc | The West and West Central wards of the town of Coedffranc | 2 |
| Crynant, Onllwyn and Seven Sisters | Y Creunant, Onllwyn a Blaendulais | The communities of Crynant, Onllwyn and Seven Sisters | 2 |
| Cwmllynfell and Ystalyfera | Cwmllynfell ac Ystalyfera | The community of Cwmllynfell and the Ystalyfera ward of the community of Ystalyfera | 2 |
| Cymer and Glyncorrwg | Cymer a Glyncorrwg | The community of Cymer and Glyncorrwg | 1 |
| Dyffryn | Dyffryn | The community of Dyffryn Clydach | 2 |
| Glynneath Central and East | Canol a Dwyrain Glyn-nedd | The Central and East wards of the town of Glynneath | 1 |
| Godre’r Graig | Godre’r-graig | The Godre’r graig ward of the community of Ystalyfera | 1 |
| Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen and Lower Brynamman | Gwauncaegurwen a Brynaman Isaf | The community of Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen | 2 |
| Gwynfi and Croeserw | Gwynfi a Chroeserw | The community of Gwynfi and Croeserw | 1 |
| Margam and Tai-bach | Margam a Thai-bach | The communities of Margam, Margam Moors and Tai-bach | 3 |
| Neath East | Dwyrain Castell-nedd | The Melyncrythan and Penrhiwtyn wards of the town of Neath | 3 |
| Neath North | Gogledd Castell-nedd | The Castle and Llantwit wards of the town of Neath | 2 |
| Neath South | De Castell-nedd | The Gnoll and Mount Pleasant wards of the town of Neath | 2 |
| Pontardawe | Pontardawe | The Pontardawe and Rhyd-y-fro wards of the town of Pontardawe | 2 |
| Port Talbot | Port Talbot | The community of Port Talbot | 2 |
| Resolven and Tonna | Resolfen a Thonna | The communities of Clynne and Melincourt, Resolven and Tonna | 2 |
| Rhos | Rhos | The Gellinudd and Rhos wards of the community of Cilybebyll | 1 |
| Sandfields East | Dwyrain Sandfields | The community of Sandfields East | 3 |
| Sandfields West | Gorllewin Sandfields | The community of Sandfields West | 3 |
| Trebanos | Trebanos | The Trebanos ward of the town of Pontardawe | 1 |
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order implements the recommendations of the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales (“the Commission”), which reported in August 2020 on its review of the electoral arrangements for the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot. The Commission’s Report proposed a reduction from 42 to 34 electoral wards and from 64 to 60 members.
This Order implements the Commission’s recommendations with modifications.
Article 3 of this Order abolishes the existing electoral arrangements for the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot and introduces the Schedule, which sets out the new electoral arrangements for the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot.
This Order also implements recommendations for changes to community boundaries and electoral arrangements for some communities within the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot.
Article 4 makes changes to the boundary between the community wards of Pontardawe and Trebanos within the town of Pontardawe.
Articles 5 and 6 make changes to the boundary between the community wards of West Central and East Central of the town of Coedffranc, and to the electoral arrangements for the town of Coedffranc.
Articles 7 and 8 make changes to the boundary between the communities of Dyffryn Clydach and Blaenhonddan, and to the electoral arrangements for the community of Blaenhonddan.
Article 9 abolishes the community of Glyncorrwg, and creates the new communities of Gwynfi and Croeserw, and Cymer and Glyncorrwg.
The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to this Order. As a result, it was not considered necessary to carry out a regulatory impact assessment as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with this Order.
Prints of the maps labelled “1” to “5” to which this Order relates are deposited in the office of the Welsh Government at Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ (Local Government Democracy Division), and with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. Prints deposited with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council are open to inspection by anyone affected by the provisions of this Order.
The Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales was established by section 53 of, and Schedule 8 to, the Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) (“the 1972 Act”). Section 53 and Schedule 8 were repealed by section 73(2) of, and Schedule 2 to, the Local Government (Democracy) (Wales) Act 2013 (anaw 4) (“the 2013 Act”). The 2013 Act re-names the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales as the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales (see section 2).
The Local Authorities (Change to the Years of Ordinary Elections) (Wales) Order 2019 (S.I. 2019/1269 (W. 220)) amends section 26(1) of the 1972 Act to provide that the year in which the ordinary elections of councillors of local authorities shall take place is 2022 instead of 2021.
S.I. 1976/246. Section 74(3) of the 2013 Act provides that these Regulations continue to have effect in relation to orders made under Part 3 of the 2013 Act, as if those orders were made under Part 4 of the 1972 Act.
1972 c. 70; section 58 of the 1972 Act was repealed by section 73(2) of, and Schedule 2 to, the 2013 Act, subject to savings provisions specified in section 74 of the 2013 Act.