§ Mr. ElletsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his response to the recommendations from the Local Government Commission following its recent reviews of Blackburn, Blackpool, Halton, Medway Towns, Peterborough, The Wrekin, Thurrock and Warrington. [9948]
§ Mr. CurryThe Local Government Commission has made recommendations for changes to the district warding arrangements in all eight areas that it has reviewed. It has also made some recommendations for changes to parish boundaries and parish electoral arrangements.
I have decided to accept all of the Commission's recommendations. It is important that the process for making local authority electoral arrangements should be seen to be fully independent. For this reason, it is the Government's intention not to modify the substance of electoral recommendations from the Local Government Commission.
My Department will be consulting on draft orders so that these recommendations can be implemented in time for the elections to the future unitary councils on 1 May 1997.