§ Mr. Pageasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what progress is being made by the Local Government Commission for England; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. H. BrookeI understand that the Commission yesterday sent their first draft proposals to the local authorities and other bodies concerned. These cover three separate review areas, namely the West Midlands special review area (Birmingham and the Black Country), the East Midlands and the West Midlands.
128WThese proposals will not come before me at this stage, because they represent the Commission's provisional conclusions. Their final proposals will not be formulated until they have considered any representations which may be made to them either in writing or at the conferences which the statute requires them to hold with local authorities and other public authorities and bodies concerned.
I do not therefore expect to receive final proposals for these areas for some months. When they are submitted to me they must be advertised, and if objections are made by local authorities I must normally hold a local public inquiry before I decide whether to make orders and lay them before Parliament. There will therefore be ample opportunity for discussion of the proposals now being published.
Meanwhile, as the Commission have already announced, they have embarked on the next stage of their reviews, which comprises the south-west general review area, the north-east general review area, and the Tyneside special review area.