Police Act 1996

33 Objections to alterations proposed by Secretary of State

(1) Before making an order under section 32 by virtue of subsection (3)(b) of that section, the Secretary of State shall give notice of his proposal to—

(a) the police authority for every area (other than the metropolitan police district) that he proposes to alter,

(b) the council of every county, district, county borough or London borough wholly or partly within any area (other than the metropolitan police district) that he proposes to alter,

(c) the council of every London borough, county or district all or part of which would under the proposal be brought into or left out of the metropolitan police district, and

(d) such other persons as he considers appropriate.

(2) A notice under subsection (1) shall—

(a) specify the proposed alterations and describe the general nature of any related provisions proposed to be included in the order,

(b) set out the Secretary of State’s reasons for proposing the alterations, and

(c) specify a date before which any objections to the proposals are to be delivered to the Secretary of State.

(3) The date specified under subsection (2)(c) shall fall after the end of the period of four months beginning with the date of the notice.

(4) Where objections have been duly delivered to the Secretary of State by a person notified under subsection (1), the Secretary of State shall before making the order under section 32—

(a) consider the objections, and

(b) give to that person a further notice stating whether he accepts the objections and, if he does not, giving his reasons.

(5) Where the Secretary of State has given a notice under subsection (1) specifying proposed alterations, the provisions of an order making the alterations may be inconsistent with the notice so far as it describes the general nature of the provisions, and may contain provisions not referred to in the notice.