About the client
The Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru (DBCC) is the body responsible for conducting reviews of the Senedd (the Welsh Parliament) and local government boundaries in Wales.
DBCC is an independent Welsh Government sponsored body with the main purpose of publishing a programme of work which keeps under review the electoral arrangements for the 22 principal councils, as well as reviewing the constituency boundaries of the Welsh Parliament.
The Senedd Reform
In May 2024 Members of the Senedd voted to introduce some changes that are part of a broader parliamentary reform, aimed at creating a more effective and representative Welsh Parliament. As part of these changes, the Senedd will be made of 16 new constituencies, which will be created by pairing the 32 UK Parliamentary constituencies, in time for the 2026 Senedd election.
Project goals
In September this year, DBCC published its initial proposal for the new constituencies and is now engaging with the Welsh public to hear their thoughts on the proposed boundary changes.
The initial proposal is part of a larger consultation which will be completed by April 2025.
Working alongside DBCC we designed and built a new bilingual website that will enable them to collate written responses from members of the public in English and Welsh.
The website is made of:
- A public-facing site for the people of Wales to have their say in the consultation.
- An admin site to enable DBCC to process and analyse public written responses.
Interactive map – making the boundary information clear
As part of the public facing site, we developed an interactive map that gives an immediate overview of the boundary changes. With layers that can be turned on or off as required, users can view the existing 32 UK Parliamentary constituencies and the newly proposed 16 Senedd constituencies.
This visual tool allows a direct comparison between the UK and Welsh boundaries so respondents can see at a glance what changes are being proposed and how they may be affected.
Giving people a say on highly visible and important proposed changes is key to any successful outcome. We are proud to have partnered with the DBCC to create this website. To see it being used by so many people so soon after launching is especially encouraging.
Encouraging responses
Directly below the map, members of the public are invited to participate in the consultation by filling out a form. Their response can be a simple ‘yes I agree’ or, where a more detailed answer is required, people can write a message or attach a file.
The responses are then tagged to help the admin staff with their analysis and to see whether the initial proposal can be amended or improved based on the feedback.
A custom application built in Laravel
All responses received from the form are collated via an admin system, which we custom-built using Laravel, a PHP framework.
The admin system provides a thorough yet easy-to-use experience for DBCC staff to manage, translate, and publish comments. Additionally, staff can redact or manually add scanned versions of hard copy or email responses they receive.
The admin system and its public-facing site are the fruit of our close collaboration with the DBCC, with whom we’ve worked since 2022. Working hand-in-hand with their tight-knit team based in Cardiff, we’ve designed, iterated, and improved the consultation portal.
The expertise and communication with the staff and our project manager at Studio 24 has been second to none and we are very grateful for the guidance and support they have provided so far.
Working with Studio 24 has been a really smooth and enjoyable experience for us. We will definitely look to work with them in the future should we need further services.