§ Mr. Rathboneasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what factors have caused the delay in approval being given by the Boundary Commission to new ward boundaries which will prevent the introduction of many of them in time for local district council elections in the current year.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesFollowing the High Court's judgment in January 1978 in a case brought by the London borough of Enfield, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England suspended work on its reviews of electoral arrangements in English districts. I similarly suspended consideration of reports already submitted by the Commission. Following its successful appeal in July, the Commission resumed work on these reviews, and I resumed consideration of its reports.
§ Mr. Rathboneasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he has decided that all district councils which have not yet been able to introduce new ward boundaries should have new local government elections in 1980.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesAfter consultations with the political parties and the local authority associations, I have decided that electoral arrangements orders made after 15 December 1978 should come into effect as soon as possible in order to avoid any undue delay in introducing new arrangements based on equality of representation. It does not follow that all such orders will provide for fresh elections in 1980. The number of orders likely to be made in time for elections to be held in 1980 depends largely on the number of reports proposing new arrangements submitted by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.
§ Mr. Rathboneasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the district councils which have not been able to introduce new ward boundaries because they have not yet been approved by the Boundaries Commission.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesThe information requested is as follows:
19 Metropolitan Districts
- Birmingham
- Bradford
- Dudley
4 - Gateshead
- Kirklees
- Knowsley
- Leeds
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- North Tyneside
- Rochdale
- St. Helens
- Salford
- Sheffield
- South Tyneside
- Sunderland
- Wakefield
- Wigan
- Wirral
- Wolverhampton
44 Non-Metropolitan Districts
- Arun
- Beaconsfield
- Blaby
- Brighton
- Bristol
- Caradon
- Charnwood
- Cheltenham
- East Cambridgeshire
- East Lindsey
- Exeter
- Forest of Dean
- Hinckley and Bosworth
- Leicester
- Lewes
- Mid Sussex
- Newbury
- North Bedfordshire
- North Devon
- North Dorset
- North West Leicestershire
- Poole
- Portsmouth
- Reading
- Redditch
- Restormel
- Rother
- Ryedale
- Slough
- South Oxford
- Stroud
- Suffolk Coastal
- Torbay
- Tewkesbury
- Warwick
- Waveney
- Wealden
- Wellingborough
- West Dorset
- West Norfolk
- West Wiltshire
- Wimborne
- Windsor and Maidenhead
- Wycombe
§ Mr. Rathboneasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what extra cost will have to be borne by district councils which have to have extra council elections in 1980 because new ward boundaries cannot be introduced before the 1979 election date.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesThis information is not available.
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§ Mr. Rathboneasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations he has had regarding special allowances in the 1981 rate support grant to cover the additional expenses incurred by district councils because of extra or more extensive council elections in 1980 due to the delayed introduction of new ward boundaries.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesNone.
§ Mr. Rathboneasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will consider postponing district council elections by one year in those council districts where new ward boundaries have not as yet been able to be introduced, or existing boundaries to be confirmed, in order to save the administrative time and the extra cost which would otherwise be incurred with elections in 1979 and 1980.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesI have no power to do so.