Opportunity for people in the Highlands to comment on Boundaries Scotland revised constituency boundaries for the Scottish Parliament

The Second Review of the Scottish Parliament by Boundaries Scotland is currently underway.  Boundaries Scotland is responsible for reviewing and making recommendations for:

• constituencies and regions for the Scottish Parliament;
• the number of councillors on each council in a local government area;
• the number of wards for local government elections and their boundaries; and
• the extent of council areas.

This Second Review of the constituencies and regions of the Scottish Parliament by Boundaries Scotland commenced on 1 September 2022. On Tuesday (16 April) they published their revised proposals for new constituency boundaries for the Scottish Parliament.

The summary for The Highland Council area is as follows;

• All of the existing constituency names have been retained.
• Retained one constituency boundary – Caithness, Sutherland and Ross from the provisional proposals.
• Make changes to the other two constituency boundaries (Inverness and Nairn; and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) to the south of Inverness to align with a ward boundary, following feedback from the public on the provisional consultation.

People now have an opportunity to provide feedback on these proposals as part of a consultation which is now underway and will run until Wednesday 15 May 2024.

Constituency Maps – Revised Proposal Maps:  Caithness, Sutherland and Ross |Inverness and Nairn | Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch

Comments on the Revised Proposals can be made on the consultation site https://boundaries.scot, where you can view the boundaries of the revised proposals and compare them with the existing constituency boundaries, see consult.boundaries.scot.

Comments can also be made by email to boundaries.scot@scottishboundaries.gov.uk, or by writing to Boundaries Scotland, Thistle House, 91 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh, EH12 5HD.  All comments should be submitted no later than 15 May 2024 which is the end of the statutory consultation period.

The boundary commission (external link) will further consult on proposals for the boundaries of Scottish Parliament regions in 2024, with a report to be submitted to Scottish Ministers on the revised Constituencies and Regions by 1 May 2025. If subsequently approved by the Scottish Parliament, the new boundaries will be effective at the next Scottish Parliament election, expected in May 2026.