The Regional Assembly and Local Government Referendums (Date of Referendums, Referendum Question and Explanatory Material) (Yorkshire and the Humber Region) Order 2004

Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the Regional Assembly and Local Government Referendums (Date of Referendums, Referendum Question and Explanatory Material) (Yorkshire and the Humber Region) Order 2004 and shall come into force on the day after that on which it is made.

Interpretation

2.  In this Order—

“the Preparations Act” means the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Act 2003; and

“North Yorkshire” means the county area of North Yorkshire.

Regional Assembly referendum

3.  On 4th November 2004 a referendum shall be held in the Yorkshire and the Humber region about the establishment of an elected assembly for that region.

Local government referendum

4.  On 4th November 2004 a referendum shall be held in North Yorkshire about the government’s proposals for the structure of local government in that county area.

Referendum period

5.  The referendum period for a referendum held under article 3 or 4—

(a) begins on the date on which this Order comes into force; and

(b) ends with the date of the referendum.

Alteration of time for application and designation of designated organisations

6.—(1) For the purposes of section 109 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000(1), the period of 28 days referred to in subsections (2) and (3) of that section shall have effect in relation to a referendum held under article 3, as if it were a period of 42 days.

(2) For the purposes of section 9 of the Preparations Act, the appropriate day in relation to a referendum held under article 3 is—

(a) the fifty-seventh day of the referendum period if one or more applications under section 109 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (applications for assistance under section 110 of that Act) is made before the forty-third day of the referendum period in relation to each possible outcome of the referendum;

(b) the forty-third day of the referendum period in any other case.

Text of options

7.  In relation to North Yorkshire, the text of the options to be inserted in the referendum question specified in section 3(3) of the Preparations Act, is—

• “Option A—one single tier local authority (see map for option A).

• Option B—four single tier local authorities (see map for option B).”.

Explanatory material

8.  The explanatory material set out in the Schedule, which relates to the options in article 7, will be made available for voters at the time they vote in the referendum in North Yorkshire.

Signed by authority of the First Secretary of State

Minister of State,

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister