Electoral Commission and Boundary Committee: reviews and recommendations
Section 56: Electoral Commission and Boundary Committee: reviews and recommendations
141.This section amends section 13 of the Local Government Act 1992. It changes the matters which the Electoral Commission or the Boundary Committee will have regard to when conducting electoral reviews. The amendment will apply, not only to a case in which a council moves back to partial-council elections following a resolution passed by the council under this Chapter, but also to any case in which a council is operating partial-council elections.
142.Where the Boundary Committee conducts a review of such an authority it will need to balance the desirability of recommending an ‘appropriate’ number of councillors against those other matters within section 13(5) of the 1992 Act. The appropriate number of councillors will be a number of members divisible by two where there are elections by halves; and a number of members divisible by three where there are elections by thirds. However, the Boundary Committee will continue to have the flexibility to recommend a different number of councillors per ward if it considers this best reflects those other matters within section 13(5).
Section 57: Procedure in connection with reviews
143.Section 57 amends section 13 of the Local Government Act 1992. It inserts a new subsection into section 13 which allows the Boundary Committee to request any additional information from an authority that it may require in relation to a review of electoral arrangements. The authority must provide the information if requested to do so by such date as the Boundary Committee may specify.
144.Section 57 also amends section 15 of the Local Government Act 1992. It modernises the procedure which the Boundary Committee follows when conducting electoral reviews. Section 15A of the 1992 Act is also repealed.
