EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Local Government and Police and Crime Commissioner (Coronavirus) (Postponement of Elections and Referendums) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/395) to remove the restriction on petitions for a referendum on a change of local authority governance being validly presented to a local authority during the period from 16th March 2020 to 5th May 2021 (inclusive).
Regulation 3 substitutes paragraph (3) to remove this restriction and inserts new paragraphs (3A) and (3B) into regulation 12 of S.I. 2020/395 to provide that a petition presented during the period from 16th March 2020 to 8th February 2021 (inclusive) is to be treated for the purposes of the Local Authorities (Referendums) (Petitions) (England) Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/2914) as having been presented on 9th February 2021 but that, for the purposes of establishing the validity of the petition, the local authority must use the version of the electoral register which had effect on the day on which the petition was actually presented to the authority.
A full regulatory impact assessment has not been prepared as this instrument will have no impact on the costs of business and the voluntary sector.