2.Description
2.1. In Northern Ireland, the boundaries of local government districts and the number and boundaries wards are drawn up by a Local Government Boundaries Commissioner. The District Electoral Areas Commissioner’s role is to group the wards into multi-member constituencies or district electoral areas for the purposes of local elections in Northern Ireland. At present, the District Electoral Areas Commissioner can only be appointed after an Order giving effect to the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner’s recommendations has been made. This Order enables the District Electoral Areas Commissioner to be appointed at an earlier stage in the process (as soon as practicable after the appointment of the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner). It also makes minor amendments to the list of assessors to the Commissioner; and enables the Commissioner to hold combined inquiries into his provisional recommendations for adjacent local government districts.
