Draft St Albans and Welwyn Hatfield (Boundary Change) Order 2012
The Committee consisted of the following Members:
Bell, Sir Stuart (Middlesbrough) (Lab)
† Crabb, Stephen (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)
† Dakin, Nic (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
† Evans, Graham (Weaver Vale) (Con)
† Hammond, Stephen (Wimbledon) (Con)
† Henderson, Gordon (Sittingbourne and Sheppey) (Con)
† Jones, Helen (Warrington North) (Lab)
McDonagh, Siobhain (Mitcham and Morden) (Lab)
Mactaggart, Fiona (Slough) (Lab)
Mowat, David (Warrington South) (Con)
† Neill, Robert (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government)
Shepherd, Mr Richard (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)
† Simpson, David (Upper Bann) (DUP)
† Smith, Mr Andrew (Oxford East) (Lab)
Zahawi, Nadhim (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)
Adrian Jenner, Committee Clerk
† attended the Committee
Fourth Delegated Legislation Committee
Wednesday 22 February 2012
[Mr Joe Benton in the Chair]
Draft St Albans and Welwyn Hatfield (Boundary Change) Order 2012
2.30 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Robert Neill): I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft St Albans and Welwyn Hatfield (Boundary Change) Order 2012.
It is a pleasure, as always, to see you in the Chair, Mr Benton.
May I put this as succinctly as I can? The order moves about half a dozen houses and some back gardens —a small piece of land—from one local authority to
another. It happens to be a cul-de-sac that was built, no doubt, after the boundary between the two local authorities was laid out. The end of the cul-de-sac is stuck—isolated—with another district council in between.The order rectifies the situation and puts all the cul-de-sac into one local authority. Everyone who has been consulted about it thinks it a good idea—local residents, councils, Members of Parliament, including my right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Local Government, and the independent Boundary Commission. I commend the order to the Committee.
2.31 pm
Helen Jones (Warrington North) (Lab): It is a great pleasure, as always, to see you here, Mr Benton.
As the Minister has said, the order is a sensible move that will alter the boundary so that the cul-de-sac is all in one local authority area. I understand that the residents have campaigned for the order for some time. We see no problem with it at all, and we shall not oppose it.