Every wondered which electoral ward you live in? And which housing authority you come under? And who is your MP? Even if you just want to report a crime, which police team will it get assigned to?

Sadly, most local residents don’t know the answer to these questions, but its not really that surprising. Its a strange world of ever-changing boundaries and reshaping of communities. For example, the “Kirkstall” ward doesn’t really fully reflect the identity of the Kirkstall community: it omits some parts of what locals would consider Kirkstall and conversely includes parts of other communities. Maybe it’s the naming of the wards that is the issue?

Then there are the police divisions and the ever-evolving neighbourhood policing teams (since I first drew this chart they’ve changed their names of the team again!) which don’t quite reflect the wards and areas in the same way that the electoral commission thinks define the community.

Finally, there’s our parliamentary constituencies, which yet again draw more different boundaries about what defines our communities.

I’m not criticising the elected members and representatives of the bodies that have to work within these boundaries, but its a shame that those who define these boundaries pay less consideration to the fact that its so complex to work out who to talk to unless you happen to be a councillor, ward manager, police inspector, or an MP! So, its hardly surprising that most residents don’t have the answers.

So, to help those of you wondering how you fit in to the big picture, and who you need to contact, I’ve drawn the following summary. As always I’m happy to make changes if needed, its all been drawn up by hand from various sources as I couldn’t find anything on my web travels. I’ll try to keep it up to date, but need amendments pointing out please!

There’ll be a test at the end of the quiz…

PS I was only joking about the test.