ST Albans District Council is the latest in a long line of local authorities to suggest a cut its number of elected members.

The authority, which agreed deep budget cuts at a meeting last night, will examine plans to cut councillor numbers by nearly a third, from 58 to 40, with two councillors remaining in each of the district’s 20 wards.

Council leader Robert Donald argued last night that politicians needed to “share the pain” of government cuts with their constituents and council staff, who will see services and jobs disappear over the next 12 months. The move would also save up to £100,000 per year.

Many councillors, however, have argued against the move, suggesting it would be bad for democracy and increase already high workloads.

But is St Albans any different to its neighbouring local authority? Are its people over represented by councillors?

The following table, which combines population statistics with councillor numbers, suggest that at least three neighbouring authorities are more “over represented”, with people per councillor ratios confortably below the 2,366 recorded in St Albans. Other more populous boroughs, however, do have higher ratios.

Based on figures from the Office for National Statistics, the representation ratios go from high to low in the following order:

Three Rivers District Council

  • Population: 88,100
  • Councillors: 48
  • People per councillor: 1,835

Watford Borough Council

  • Population: 83,800
  • Councillors: 36
  • People per councillor: 2,328

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council

  • Population: 112,800
  • Councillors: 48
  • People per councillor: 2,350

St Albans District Council

  • Population: 137,200
  • Councillors: 58
  • People per councillor: 2,366

Hertsmere Borough Council

  • Population: 98,900
  • Councillors: 36
  • People per councillor: 2,747

Dacorurum Borough Council

  • Population: 141,600
  • Councillors: 51
  • People per councillor: 2,776

Most of these authorities are already in similar discussions to reduce their councillor numbers by about a third.

Hertfordshire County Council , whose members cover divisions across the county, is represented as follows.

  • Population: 1,095,500
  • Councillors: 77
  • People per councillor: 14,227

What do you think? Are we over represented by politicians? Let us know by commenting below.