(1)Section 6 of the 2002 Act (returning officers) is amended as follows.
(2)In subsection (2) for “and for Wales” there is substituted “and Wales (including the combined region)”.
(3)For subsection (5) there is substituted—
“(5)The Secretary of State may by regulations confer functions on the returning officers for the electoral regions and on local returning officers.
(5A)For the purposes of subsection (5) “local returning officer” means—
(a)a person who is, in relation to parliamentary elections, an acting returning officer (in England and Wales) or a returning officer (in Scotland); or
(b)the European electoral registration officer for Gibraltar (within the meaning of section 14 of the European Parliament (Representation) Act 2003).”
(4)In subsection (7) for the words from “the council” to “must” there is substituted—
“(a)in the case of an electoral region other than the combined region, the council of a relevant area falling wholly or partly within that region; and
(b)in the case of the combined region, the council of a relevant area falling wholly or partly within that region and the Government of Gibraltar,
must”.
(5)In section 17 of the 2002 Act (interpretation), there is inserted at the end—
““combined region” means the electoral region which includes Gibraltar.”