EAST Lothian Council has demanded the Local Government Boundary Commission explains how it came to the decision that people in less well-off areas required greater council representation.

The commission (LGBC) has announced plans to change local government council wards in the county and reduce the number of councillors in East Lothian by one, to 22.

It says the new figures are based on guidelines which now take into account not just population but how deprived people are.

But East Lothian Council has challenged the commission’s assertion that people living in poorer communities need more representation and demanded they prove it.

Council officials revealed this week they have lodged a Freedom of Information (FoI) request with the commission requesting it provides information to explain the “methodology behind including deprivation in its decision making”.

The move was roundly welcomed by councillors who oppose the cut unanimously; however, there were concerns raised that an FoI was needed to retrieve the information, with calls for the commission to be more transparent about its decision-making process.

Plans were announced last year by the LGBC to change the representation in East Lothian, with proposals showing changes to the council’s wards and a drop of councillors from 23 to 22.

Under the proposals, the North Berwick Coastal, Dunbar and East Linton, and Preston, Seton, Gosford wards would remain the same.

However, Musselburgh would become a single ward – meaning only four councillors would cover the town and nearby Inveresk, rather than the current six.

Meanwhile, neither Ormiston nor Pencaitland would be included in the Fa’side ward, which would instead take in Wallyford and Whitecraig, as well as Tranent, Macmerry and Elphinstone. Ormiston and Pencaitland would instead be included in the Haddington and Lammermuir ward, which would stretch from Ormiston and Humbie in the west to Papple and Garvald in the east.

Initial proposals looked at the possibility of axing two councillors but now that figure has been reduced to just one.

A 12-week public consultation is being held and senior officials at East Lothian Council are urging people to make their voice heard.

East Lothian’s population has increased from 91,500 in 2004 to more than 100,000.

More than 10,000 homes are to be built in the county before 2024, meaning the population is expected to swell even further.

However East Lothian Council’s chief executive Angela Leitch told councillors that, despite the projected increase, the commission had made its plans based on population figures from 2013.

Speaking at the first meeting of the new term of the full council, independent councillor David Berry said the decision to cut representation did not make sense.

He said: “We have a population which is growing and it does not make any sense. In my experience we get just as much work from less deprived areas as those in deprived areas.” And Shamin Akhtar, who represents Fa’side ward, said the Boundary Commission’s decision to put its revised proposals out to public consultation without further discussions with the council were “disappointing”.

She added: “It goes against their own arguments for deprivation as an issue when the most deprived ward is losing a councillor here.” SNP Councillor Stuart Currie, who represents Musselburgh East, described suggestions people who were poor needed more representatives as an insult.

He said: “I find it insulting and somewhat patronising.”