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[AS AMENDED IN COMMITTEE] |
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Make provision with respect to local government and the functions and |
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procedures of local authorities and certain other authorities; to make |
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provision with respect to persons with functions of inspection and audit in |
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relation to local government; to establish the Valuation Tribunal for England; |
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to make provision in connection with local involvement networks; to abolish |
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Patients’ Forums and the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in |
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Health; to make provision with respect to local consultation in connection |
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with health services; and for connected purposes. |
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Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and |
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consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present |
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Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— |
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Structural and boundary change in England |
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Structural and boundary change |
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Change from two tiers to single tier of local government |
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1 | “Principal authority” and “single tier of local government” |
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(1) | For the purposes of this Chapter, each of the following is a “principal |
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(a) | a county council in England; |
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(b) | a district council in England. |
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(2) | For the purposes of this Chapter there is “a single tier of local government” for |
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(a) | there is a county council and no district councils for that area; or |
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(b) | there is a district council and no county council for that area. |
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(3) | For the purposes of subsection (2)(b) there is a county council “for” an area |
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which is a district if there is a county council which has in relation to that area |
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the functions of a county council. |
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2 | Invitations and directions for proposals for single tier of local government |
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(1) | The Secretary of State may invite or direct any principal authority to make one |
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of the following proposals— |
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(2) | A Type A proposal is a proposal that there should be a single tier of local |
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government for the area which is the county concerned. |
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(3) | A Type B proposal is a proposal that there should be a single tier of local |
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government for an area which— |
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(a) | is currently a district, or two or more districts, in the county concerned; |
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(b) | is specified in the proposal. |
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(4) | A Type C proposal is a proposal that there should be a single tier of local |
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government for an area specified in the proposal which currently consists of— |
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(a) | the county concerned or one or more districts in the county concerned; |
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(b) | one or more relevant adjoining areas. |
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(5) | A combined proposal is a proposal that consists of— |
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(a) | two or more Type B proposals, |
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(b) | two or more Type C proposals, or |
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(c) | one or more Type B proposals and one or more Type C proposals, |
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| but a proposal is not a combined proposal if it includes any Type B or C |
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proposals that are alternatives. |
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(6) | In this section “the county concerned” means— |
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(a) | in relation to a principal authority which is the council for a county, that |
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(b) | in relation to a principal authority which is the council for a district, the |
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county in which the district is. |
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(7) | In this section a “relevant adjoining area” means an area which adjoins the |
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county concerned and is currently a county in England, a district in England, |
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or two or more such counties or districts. |
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(8) | An invitation or direction may either— |
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(a) | be such that the authority may choose whether to make a Type A, Type |
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B, Type C or combined proposal; or |
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(b) | specify which one of those kinds of proposal is invited (or, in the case |
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of a direction, required). |
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(9) | Subsection (1) is subject to section 3(1). |
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3 | Invitations, directions and proposals: supplementary |
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(1) | A direction under section 2— |
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(a) | may not be given after 25 January 2008; and |
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(b) | may be given on or before that date only where the Secretary of State |
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believes that giving the direction would be in the interests of effective |
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and convenient local government. |
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(2) | A direction under section 2 may specify a date by which a proposal must be |
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(3) | An invitation under section 2 may specify a date by which a proposal may be |
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(4) | A proposal made by virtue of section 2 may not specify an area as one for |
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which there should be a single tier of local government unless the whole or any |
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part of that area is currently a two-tier area (as defined by section 23(2)). |
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(5) | In responding to an invitation under section 2, or complying with a direction |
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under that section, an authority must have regard to any guidance from the |
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Secretary of State as to— |
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(a) | what a proposal should seek to achieve; |
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(b) | matters that should be taken into account in formulating a proposal. |
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(6) | Where invitations or directions under section 2 are given to more than one |
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authority, any authority that has received an invitation or direction may |
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respond to the invitation, or comply with the direction, either by— |
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(a) | making its own proposal in accordance with the invitation or direction; |
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(b) | making a proposal, in accordance with the invitation or direction, |
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jointly with any of the other authorities. |
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(7) | An invitation or direction under section 2 may be varied or revoked. |
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(8) | But a direction under section 2 may not be varied after 25 January 2008 if— |
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(a) | the direction as originally given required the making of a Type A or |
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(b) | the direction as varied would require or permit the making of a Type C |
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4 | Request for Boundary Committee for England’s advice |
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(1) | This section applies where the Secretary of State receives a proposal in |
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response to an invitation or direction under section 2. |
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(2) | The Secretary of State may request the Boundary Committee to advise, no later |
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than a date specified in the request, on any matter that— |
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(a) | relates to the proposal; and |
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(b) | is specified in the request. |
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(3) | The Secretary of State may at any time substitute a later date for the date |
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specified in a request under subsection (2) (or for any date previously |
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substituted under this subsection). |
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5 | Boundary Committee’s powers |
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(1) | This section applies where the Boundary Committee receive a request for |
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(2) | The Boundary Committee may provide the advice requested. |
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(3) | Where they provide that advice, the Boundary Committee may also do any of |
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the following that they think appropriate— |
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(a) | recommend that the Secretary of State implements the proposal |
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(b) | recommend that he does not implement it; |
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(c) | make an alternative proposal to him. |
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(4) | In subsection (3)(a) “the proposal” means the Type A, Type B, Type C or |
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combined proposal to which the request for advice related. |
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(5) | In subsection (3)(c) “an alternative proposal” means— |
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(a) | a proposal that there should be a single tier of local government for an |
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(i) | is, or includes, the whole or part of the county concerned; and |
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(ii) | is specified in the alternative proposal; or |
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(b) | a proposal consisting of two or more proposals that are within |
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paragraph (a) (and are not alternatives to one another). |
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(6) | In this section “the county concerned” means— |
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(a) | the county that, under section 2(6), is the county concerned in relation |
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to the authority which made the proposal referred to in subsection (4) |
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(b) | where that proposal was made by more than one authority, any county |
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that (under section 2(6)) is the county concerned in relation to any of the |
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authorities which made that proposal. |
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(7) | The area specified in an alternative proposal under this section may not extend |
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into any area that is not currently a local government area. |
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6 | Boundary Committee’s procedure |
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(1) | A local authority must if requested by the Boundary Committee to do so |
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provide the Boundary Committee, by such date as the Boundary Committee |
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may specify, with any information that the Boundary Committee may |
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reasonably require in connection with any of their functions under section 5. |
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(2) | In making a recommendation or alternative proposal under section 5 the |
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Boundary Committee must have regard to any guidance from the Secretary of |
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State about the exercise of the Boundary Committee’s functions under that |
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(3) | Any recommendation or alternative proposal under section 5 must be made no |
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later than the relevant date. |
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(4) | Before making an alternative proposal under section 5(3)(c) the Boundary |
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(a) | publish a draft of the proposal; and |
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(b) | take such steps as they consider sufficient to secure that persons who |
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may be interested are informed of— |
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(i) | the draft proposal; and |
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(ii) | the period within which representations about it may be made |
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to the Boundary Committee. |
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(5) | The Boundary Committee— |
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(a) | must take into account any representations made to them within that |
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(b) | if they make any proposal to the Secretary of State, must inform any |
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person who made such representations— |
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(i) | of the proposal made; and |
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(ii) | that representations about the proposal may be made to the |
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Secretary of State until the end of the relevant period. |
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(6) | In subsection (5)(b) “the relevant period” means four weeks beginning with the |
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(7) | In this section and section 7 “the relevant date” means the date specified in the |
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request under section 4(2) (or, if a later date is substituted under section 4(3), |
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the date substituted (or last substituted) under that provision). |
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7 | Implementation of proposals by order |
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(1) | Where the Secretary of State has received a proposal in response to an |
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invitation or direction under section 2, he may— |
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(a) | by order implement the proposal, with or without modification; |
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(b) | if he has received an alternative proposal from the Boundary |
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Committee under section 5, by order implement that alternative |
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proposal with or without modification; or |
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(c) | decide to take no action. |
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(2) | But where the Secretary of State has made a request under section 4 in relation |
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to the proposal received in response to the invitation or direction, he may not |
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make an order or decision under this section before the end of six weeks |
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beginning with the relevant date (as defined by section 6(7)). |
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(3) | The Secretary of State may not in any case make an order under subsection |
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(1)(a) implementing a proposal unless he has consulted the following about the |
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(a) | every authority affected by the proposal (except the authority or |
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authorities which made it); and |
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(b) | such other persons as he considers appropriate. |
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(4) | For the purposes of this section an authority is “affected by” a proposal if it is |
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a principal authority for an area which is, or any part of which is, in an area that |
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the proposal suggests should have a single tier of local government. |
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(5) | Subsection (3) does not apply if the proposal was made jointly by every |
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authority affected by it, and in that case the Secretary of State may before |
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making an order under subsection (1)(a) consult such other persons as he |
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