Clause 57
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [Lords]
2:15 pm
Julia Goldsworthy (Falmouth and Camborne, Liberal Democrat)
We welcome the transfer of functions relating to boundary changes from the Electoral Commission’s boundary committee to the Local Government Boundary Commission. Those are two different jobs and it is important that they are separated. New clause 4 is self-explanatory, and we wish to see a bottom-up process. We welcome variety in local government, and acknowledge that some places will have different set-ups that will be more appropriate for them than others would be. It is important that any review of the boundaries of local government, or any amalgamation of authorities, should be driven by what people want on the ground, rather than by a centralised process. If the new clause is aimed at achieving that, we will be happy to support it.