The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) is a parliamentary body established by statute to conduct boundary, electoral and structural reviews of local government areas in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The LGBCE is independent of government and political parties, and is directly accountable to the Speaker's Committee of the House of Commons.
History and establishment
The
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, which received royal assent on 12 November 2009, provided for the establishment of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE), and for the transfer to it of all the boundary-related functions of the
Boundary Committee for England of the
Electoral Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
.
The transfer took place in April 2010.
Responsibilities and objectives
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is responsible for three types of review: electoral reviews; administrative boundary reviews; and structural reviews.
Electoral reviews
An electoral review considers whether the boundaries of wards or divisions within a local authority need to be altered to take account of changes in electorate. The Electoral Commission directs the commission to undertake electoral reviews and is also responsible for implementing them.
The commission also looks at the number of councillors, the number of wards or divisions and whether the wards or divisions should be represented by a single councillor, or jointly by two or three councillors.
Administrative boundary reviews
At the request of the
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government or of a local authority, or at the Local Government Boundary Commission for England's own instigation, the commission can undertake administrative boundary reviews, which review the external boundaries of a local authority.
Structural reviews
A structural review is used to establish whether one or more single, all-purpose councils, known as
unitary authorities, should be established in an area instead of the
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
and
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
councils of the existing two-tier system.
References
External links
Local Government Boundary Commission for England
2010 establishments in England
Local government in England
Public bodies and task forces of the United Kingdom government
Boundary commissions in the United Kingdom
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