138.Introduces a new section 57A in the 1972 Act to enable the Welsh Commission and a principal council to agree arrangements by which the Welsh Commission may exercise the principal council’s functions of reviewing the community areas or electoral arrangements for communities and considering requests received from community meetings and councils in this respect.
139.The existing legislation enables the Welsh Commission to undertake these functions at present, but the Welsh Commission must first be directed to do so by Welsh Ministers. The cost of undertaking reviews currently falls to the Welsh Commission as the existing legislation does not allow it to charge any fee to the principal council concerned. The new provision alleviates the need for a direction from the Welsh Ministers where a principal council and the Welsh Commission have reached agreement about the arrangements for the review.