The Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make provision for securing the political balance on certain relevant authorities, committees and bodies and for determining the voting rights of members of certain committees.

Part II of the Regulations specifies the circumstances in which the members of certain committees and sub-committees may have voting rights.

Regulations 7 to 11 specify the circumstances in which members of a relevant authority as defined in relation to England and Wales in section 9(11) of, and paragraph 4(1) of Schedule 1 to, the 1989 Act, or a body which is treated as a relevant authority by virtue of the Regulations are to be treated as divided into different political groups, how those groups are to be constituted, who is to be treated as a member of a political group, and the circumstances in which membership of the group ceases and impose restrictions to prevent a person from being a member of more than one political group at any one time.

Regulation 12 makes provision for treating the members of two or more political groups as members of the same political group.

Regulation 13 makes provision for ascertaining the wishes of a political group.

Regulation 14 imposes a duty on the proper officer to notify the leader or deputy leader of a political group when a seat is allocated to the group or a seat which has been allocated to it is vacated. Provision is also made by virtue of regulation 15 to enable appointments to be made to a seat where a political group has failed to notify its wishes.

Regulation 16 modifies sections 15 and 16 of the 1989 Act in circumstances where some of the members of a relevant authority to which those provisions apply are divided into different political groups and others are not.

Regulation 17 specifies additional times at which reviews of the allocation of seats to members of political groups are to be carried out.

Regulation 18 provides for the review from time to time of allocations made for the purposes of section 9 of the 1989 Act.

Regulation 19 prescribes the cases where certain committees are not to be under a duty to undertake a review of the representation of different political groups as provided in section 15(2) of the 1989 Act.

Regulation 20 sets out the procedure for alternative arrangements to those provided in sections 15 and 16 of the 1989 Act for appointments to a body by a relevant authority or committee of such an authority.

Part V of the Regulations makes special provision for securing political balance on certain sub-committees falling within section 17(4) of the 1989 Act.