Centenary Action has written to the Electoral Commission about the equalities impact of creating more single-member wards in local government.
Single-member wards exist already, but in the recent statement about Liverpool City Council, one of the recommendations is to create more single-councillor wards, and there are a number of single councillor wards being proposed by the electoral commission in those local authorities facing boundary changes in the 2022 local elections.
Our concern, along with members such as Pregnant Then Screwed, is that new and expectant mothers, and those with significant caring responsibilities (predominantly women) are less likely to put themselves forward to stand in single-councillor wards, and also less likely to be selected, as they would effectively leave their wards without representation if they were to take any period of absence.
Research conducted by the Fawcett Society in 2019 shows that women are already underrepresented in local government, with women making up just 35% of local councillors. 96% of councils remain male-dominated, and only 7% of councils have maternity policies in place for all councillors. Even those councils that have maternity policies do not currently have a mechanism for maternity cover, and voters in single member wards will be left without representation for long periods of time if their councillors need to take maternity leave, or other leaves of absence related to caring or illness. In multi-member wards the workload can be shared with ward colleagues, ensuring that voters are never without representation in local government.
We believe that for the reasons outlined above women and others with caring responsibilities are less likely to put themselves forward for selection as candidates in single member wards, and that they are also less likely to get selected for these positions. Creating more of these inflexible single-member wards will be a backwards step in female representation in local government, which has been almost static in recent years.