Prospective
Boundary changeE+W
8Review by Boundary Committee of local government areasE+W
(1)The Boundary Committee may, either on their own initiative or at the request of the Secretary of State or a local authority, conduct a review of one or more local government areas.
(2)Where they have conducted a review under this section the Boundary Committee may (subject to subsection (4)) recommend to the Secretary of State such boundary change as in consequence of the review seems to them desirable.
(3)For the purposes of this section “boundary change” means any of the following or any combination of the following—
(a)the alteration of a local government area boundary;
(b)the abolition of a local government area;
(c)the constitution of a new local government area.
(4)None of the following may be recommended under this section—
(a)a change consisting of the alteration of the boundary of a single-tier area and consequent abolition of an area that is currently two-tier;
(b)a change consisting of the alteration of the boundary of a two-tier area and consequent abolition of an area that is currently single-tier;
(c)a change consisting of the constitution of a new local government area and consequent abolition of an existing local government area, where the new local government area would include—
(i)the whole or part of any area that is currently single-tier; and
(ii)the whole or part of any area that is currently two-tier;
(d)a change consisting of the alteration of a local government area, or constitution of a new local government area, where the altered or new area would extend into an area that is currently outside all local government areas;
(e)a change whose effect would be that England (excluding the Isles of Scilly, the City of London, the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple) is no longer divided into areas each of which is—
(i)a county divided into districts, or comprising one district; or
(ii)a London borough.
(5)Where the Boundary Committee have conducted a review under this section and consider that no boundary change is desirable, they may recommend to the Secretary of State that no boundary change should be made.
(6)In considering whether (and, if so, what) boundary change is desirable, the Boundary Committee must have regard to—
(a)the need to secure effective and convenient local government; and
(b)the need to reflect the identities and interests of local communities.
(7)In exercising a function under subsection (1), (2), (5) or (6), a local authority or the Boundary Committee must have regard to any guidance from the Secretary of State about the exercise of that function.
(8)A local authority must if requested by the Boundary Committee to do so provide the Boundary Committee, by such date as the Boundary Committee may specify, with any information that the Boundary Committee may reasonably require in connection with any of their functions under this section.
9Boundary Committee's review: consultation etcE+W
(1)This section applies where the Boundary Committee conduct a review under section 8.
(2)In conducting the review the Committee must consult—
(a)the council of any local government area to which the review relates; and
(b)such other local authorities, parish councils and other persons as appear to them to have an interest.
(3)Before making any recommendation to the Secretary of State the Boundary Committee must—
(a)publish a draft of the recommendation; and
(b)take such steps as they consider sufficient to secure that persons who may be interested are informed of—
(i)the draft recommendation; and
(ii)the period within which representations about it may be made to the Boundary Committee.
(4)The Boundary Committee—
(a)must take into account any representations made to them within that period; and
(b)if they make any recommendation to the Secretary of State, must inform any person who made such representations—
(i)of the recommendation made; and
(ii)that representations about the recommendation may be made to the Secretary of State until the end of four weeks beginning with the recommendation date.
(5)In this section and section 10 “the recommendation date” means the date the recommendation was sent by the Boundary Committee to the Secretary of State.
10Implementation of recommendations by orderE+W
(1)Where the Boundary Committee make a recommendation to the Secretary of State under section 8(2), the Secretary of State may do any of the following—
(a)by order implement the recommendation, with or without modification;
(b)decide to take no action with respect to the recommendation;
(c)make a request under section 8 for a further review.
(2)Where the Boundary Committee make a recommendation to the Secretary of State under section 8(5) the Secretary of State may—
(a)make a request under section 8 for a further review; or
(b)decide not to make such a request.
(3)The Secretary of State may not do as mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (1) or paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (2) before the end of six weeks beginning with the recommendation date (as defined by section 9(5)).
(4)Before doing as mentioned in any of those paragraphs the Secretary of State may request the Boundary Committee to provide him with information or advice on any matter relating to the recommendation.
(5)Where they receive such a request the Boundary Committee may provide the information or advice requested.