Local Government Act 1992

17 Implementation of recommendations by order. E+W

(1) Where the Local Government Commission submit to the Secretary of State a report on a review together with its recommendations, he may, if he thinks fit, by order give effect to all or any of the recommendations, with or without modifications.

(2) No order under this section shall be made before the end of the period of six weeks beginning with the submission of the report; and before making such an order, the Secretary of State may by a direction require the Local Government Commission to supply him with such additional information as may be described in the direction.

(3) An order under this section may, in particular, include provision which, for the purpose of giving effect (with or without modifications) to recommendations of the Local Government Commission, makes provision with respect to—

(a) the area of any authority and the name of any such area;

(b) the name of any authority;

(c) the establishment of any new authority for any county or district or the winding up and dissolution of any existing authority;

(d) the total number of councillors of any authority, the apportionment of councillors among electoral areas, the assignment of existing councillors to new or altered electoral areas, and the first election of councillors for any new or altered electoral area;

(e) without prejudice to paragraph (d) above, the holding of a fresh election of councillors for all electoral areas in a local government area where substantial changes have been made to some of those areas, or the order of retirement of councillors for any electoral areas in the local government area in question;

[F1 (ea) in the case of an order containing provision for a structural change by which the functions of district councils in relation to any area are transferred to a council for a county consisting of that area, the ordinary year of election and the order of retirement of parish councillors for any parish situated in the area]

(f) in the case of an order relating to the system of election of district councillors, the ordinary year of election and the order of retirement of parish councillors for any parish situated in the district;

(g) the constitution [F2 , election and membership] of public bodies in any area affected by the order;

(h) the abolition or establishment, or the restriction or extension, of the jurisdiction of any public body in or over any part of any area affected by the order.

(4) The power to make an order under this section shall include power to make any such provision in relation to the other provisions of that order, or to the provisions of any previous order under this section, as is equivalent to that which may be contained in regulations under section 19 below or in an agreement under section 20 below.

(5) Without prejudice to the preceding provisions of this section, where charter trustees have been constituted under section 246 of the 1972 Act for an area which is altered by an order under this section and subsection (8) of that section (incorporation of whole or part of trustees’ area in parish) does not apply, the order may make such provision with respect to the charter trustees as appears to the Secretary of State to be appropriate.

[F3 (6) The Secretary of State shall exercise his power to make orders under this section in relation to police areas in such a way as to ensure that none of the following areas—

(a) a county in which there are no district councils,

(b) a district in any other county, and

(c) a London borough,

is divided between two or more police areas; but this subsection shall not have effect so as to prevent the maintenance of any part of the boundary of the metropolitan police district as it exists [F4 on 1st April 1995]].

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 17(3)(ea) inserted (19.5.1997) by 1997 c. 29, ss. 20(1), 34(2) (with s. 25)

F2 Words in s. 17(3)(g) substituted (1.10.1994) by 1994 c. 29, s. 39(4); S.I. 1994/2025, art. 5(1)(f)

F3 S. 17(6) added (1.10.1994) by 1994 c. 29, s. 39(5); S.I. 1994/2025, art. 5(1)(f)

F4 Words in s. 17(6) substituted (22.8.1996) by 1994 c. 16, ss. 103, 104(1), Sch. 7 Pt. II para. 44