Cornwall Councillors have backed proposals to decrease the size of the council by between eight and 18 members when local government boundaries change across the country.

Members have strongly supported an initial proposal to cut their number by at most 15 per cent, from 123 to between 105 and 115, as the basis for the first submission on the future size of the council to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

This is the first review of electoral divisions to take place in Cornwall since the creation of the unitary Council in 2009 and the main aim is to ensure that all Councillors represent, as far as practically possible, a similar number of voters. This will be done by the number of electoral divisions and councillors, and the names and boundaries of the divisions.

Following this submission the authority will have the opportunity to make two further submissions before the final decision is announced by the LGBCE on May 16 next year, immediately after the unitary council elections.

Members at this week’s meeting of the full council put forward a range of views, with some arguing that there should be a reduction in the number of elected members to reflect the recommendations of the governance review and the impact of the devolution of some services to town and parish councils, while others supported the banding put forward by the electoral review panel. Following the debate the overwhelming majority of members endorsed the recommendations of the panel.

Panel chairman John Wood said that the second submission would look at numbers outside this banding in the light of the recommendations of the governance review and would also include evidence from town and parish councils, partner organisations and the public.

He said: “We have taken an important step forward in preparing the council for the future.

“The council has endorsed the thorough work that has been undertaken by the electoral review panel but we must not lose sight of the fact that there is more analysis to be done before we settle on a future council size. What we ultimately propose to the commission may be very different to the first draft submission that has now been approved.

The draft submission will be given to the LGBCE by their deadline of October 14, and the second must be made by December 16, and a consultation and engagement programme will take place during January and February before the final submission deadline of March 3 next year.

Work on draft recommendations for the new electoral divisions will begin in May 2017, following the commission’s announcement of their decision on the size of the council, with further consultation between October and December 2017, ahead of the LGBCE's final recommendations on March 27, 2018.

The changes will come into effect in time for the 2021 elections.