30 October 2007
16.Section 2 allows the Secretary of State to invite or direct a principal authority to make a proposal for a single tier of local government which includes all, or in the case of county councils, part of the area covered by that authority. Proposals must be based on whole local authority areas. A proposal can either be a Type A, B or C proposal or a combined proposal.
A Type A proposal is one which covers the whole of a county area and is based on existing county boundaries.
A Type B proposal is one which covers one or more districts in a county area and is based on existing district boundaries.
A Type C proposal is one which proposes the combination of a whole county or one or more districts in that county with an adjoining county or counties, or district(s) and therefore proposes an area which crosses one or more existing county boundaries.
A combined proposal is one which is either a combination of both Type B and Type C proposals or which combines two or more Type B proposals or two or more Type C proposals. However, a proposal is not a combined proposal if it includes any Type B and C proposals which are alternatives to each other.
17.Subsection (6) defines, for the purposes of this section, “the county concerned” as the county area within which the county or district council submitting a proposal lies.
18.Subsection (8) sets out that an invitation or direction from the Secretary of State may either specify the type of proposal invited or required or allow the authority to choose the type of proposal it submits.
19.Subsection (9) provides that a direction issued under subsection (1) is subject to section 3(1).