§ 6. Mr. Madelasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is satisfied with the workings of the Parliamentary Boundaries Commission; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LaneThe answer to the first part of the Question is "Yes, Sir." I know of nothing which calls for a further statement at this time.
§ Mr. MadelAs the commission has the right to make interim recommendations for redistribution of seats, between nation-wide redistributions, does my hon. Friend agree that we should both encourage and implement its recommendations so that we can avoid having too many seats nearing the 90,000 mark, as will be the case even after the boundary changes at the next election?
§ Mr. LaneThat is a desirable ideal, but there is a difficulty in dealing with very large or very small constituencies except at a general review. I doubt whether the commission would want to start any more interim reviews before the initial review of the new district wards that will be made by the Local Government Boundary Commission, but we shall keep my hon. Friend's suggestions very much in mind.