Implementing electoral reviews in England

There are different types of local government boundary review. This briefing is about how electoral reviews are implemented in England by the UK Parliament.

Reviews also take place in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. They are implemented in similar ways but are the responsibility of the devolved legislatures (Scottish Parliament, Senedd Cymru Northern Ireland Assembly).

What are electoral reviews?

An electoral review looks at ward boundaries and the number of councillors in each ward. Wards are called electoral divisions in county councils.

There are separate types of review for the external boundaries of councils and reviewing parish boundaries.

An electoral review might change the boundaries or number of wards, the number of councillors in each ward, or both. It will also name each ward.

Who does the reviews?

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) is responsible for conducting electoral reviews in England.

How are reviews conducted?

The commission must follow statutory rules. These include that the ratio of electors to councillors in each electoral ward/division should be the same as far as possible. This is balanced against the need to reflect local community identities and interests and provide for effective and convenient local government.

There must be at least one round of public consultation on draft recommendations.

What happens at the end of a review?

When the LGBCE issues its final recommendations new ward arrangements need to be implemented. This is done by a type of delegated legislation.

The LGBCE must produce a draft Order and lay it before Parliament. It will be in the form of “The [name of local authority] (Electoral Changes) Order 202X”.

The draft Order is subject to the “draft negative procedure”. It means the draft Order cannot be made into law if Parliament rejects it within a 40 sitting day period after being laid.

Draft Orders cannot be amended.

The progress of a draft Order can be tracked using the UK Parliament’s Statutory Instrument tracker, Find a Statutory Instrument.

To date, a draft order implementing recommendations of the LGBCE has never been rejected.

Can an MP stop an Electoral Changes Order?

MPs can table Early Day Motions (EDMs) requesting that they be rejected using the phrase “that draft Electoral Changes Orders be not made”.

In practice these types of order have never been rejected. The EDM is a way for an MP to place the issue on the record. However, as reviews include a full public consultation, where anyone can comment on proposals, it is unlikely to lead to proposals being rejected.

Parliamentary procedure

To register an objection to the proposed boundary changes once the draft order has been laid before the House, an MP can table an Early Day Motion in the form:

“That the draft [name of local authority] (Electoral Changes) Order 202x, which was laid before this House on ____________, be not made.”

These EDMs are like prayers against statutory instruments (SIs) but take a slightly different form because Electoral Changes Orders are not made when they are laid (regular SIs that are prayed against have already been made).

Like other prayers against negative statutory instruments, such an EDM could, in theory, lead to the draft Order being referred to a delegated legislation committee.

However, the committee would only ‘consider’ the draft Order. It cannot amend, accept, or reject the draft Order. It would be an opportunity for the local MP to raise their concerns and get them on the record.

An example of a draft order being referred to a delegated legislation occurred in the Second Delegated Legislation Committee on Tuesday 2 February 2016. A local MP was unhappy about the outcome of an electoral review.

In this debate the MP speaking on behalf of the LGBCE said the Commission considered local arguments against a particular proposal but also noted the Commission:

…must not only consider local views, but come up with alternatives that can be implemented…It did not believe that any of the alternative proposals would be a better balance to its statutory criteria than the draft recommendations.

…

In conclusion, my hon. Friend made some important points, but sadly the commission cannot withdraw the order without starting the process all over again.

Further information

Changing wards & number of councillors a council has – LGBCE

Local government structure and elections from gov.uk website