The Boundary Committee for England was a statutory committee of the Electoral Commission, an independent body set up by the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

. The committee's aim was to conduct thorough, consultative and robust reviews of

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areas in England, and for its recommendations to be evidence-based, accurate and accepted. The Boundary Committee was abolished in 2010, with its functions assumed by a new

Local Government Boundary Commission for England 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. The LGBCE is independent of government and pol ...

. The committee's responsibilities related solely to local government boundaries: responsibility for parliamentary boundaries lies with the

Boundary Commission for England The boundary commissions in the United Kingdom are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: * Boundary Commission for ...

, a non-departmental public body of the

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History/establishment

On 1 April 2002 responsibility for electoral reviews in England transferred to the Electoral Commission. On the same day the Boundary Committee for England became a statutory committee of the commission. The committee undertook electoral reviews and made recommendations to the commission as to whether electoral changes should be made in respect of the area under review. The commission then decided whether to implement the committee's recommendations. The decision of the commission would be taken at a commission meeting comprising the Electoral Commissioners as members. The Boundary Committee for England replaced the Local Government Commission for England, which was the body responsible for reviewing the structure of local government in England from 1992 to 2002. The equivalent bodies operating in other parts of the

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are the

Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales The Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales ( cy, Comisiwn Ffiniau a Democratiaeth Leol Cymru) is a Welsh Government sponsored body, responsible for defining borders for local elections and government in Wales. The name of the commission ...

, the

Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland Boundaries Scotland is an independent body in Scotland created as the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. According to its website, it is responsible for: carrying out reviews of boun ...

and the Local Government Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. The protocol on the relationship between the Boundary Committee for England and the Electoral Commission sets out the roles and responsibilities of each body in terms of securing fair boundary arrangements for local elections in England.

Responsibilities and objectives

The Boundary Committee for England was responsible for three types of review: electoral reviews; administrative boundary reviews; and structural reviews.

Electoral reviews

An electoral review considered 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 would direct the committee to undertake electoral reviews and was then responsible for implementing them. The committee also looked 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

Department for Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local governme ...

or of a local authority, or at the Boundary Committee for England's instigation, the committee could undertake administrative boundary reviews, which reviewed the external boundaries of a local authority.

Structural reviews

A structural review was used to establish whether one or more single, all-purpose councils, known as

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...

, 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, subdivision ...

and

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers 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.

Organisation

Chair and committee members *Max Caller CBE was appointed chair of the Boundary Committee for England in 2007. He also serves as an Electoral Commissioner. Boundary Committee members: :*Jane Earl :*Joan Jones CBE :*Professor Colin Mellors :*Dr Peter Knight CBE DL *The Director of the Boundary Committee for England was Archie Gall

LDEDC Act – changes to Boundary Committee structure

The

Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The legislation places a duty on local authorities to promote understanding of the functions and democratic arrangements of th ...

, which received royal assent on 12 November 2009, provided for the establishment of the

(LGBCE), and for the transfer to it of all the boundary-related functions of the Electoral Commission and the Boundary Committee for England. This reflects the recommendations of the

Committee on Standards on Public Life A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

(CSPL), which were supported by the Electoral Commission and the Boundary Committee. This transfer took place in April 2010.

References

{{reflist

External links

Boundary Committee for EnglandElectoral CommissionBoundary Commission (responsible for Parliamentary boundaries)Ministry of JusticeUK ParliamentDepartment for Communities and Local Government
2002 establishments in England History of local government in England Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom 2010 disestablishments in England