Local Government (Democracy) (Wales) Act 2013

Principal areas

29Review of electoral arrangements for principal area

(1)The Commission must conduct a review of the electoral arrangements for each principal area at least once in every review period.

(2)The Commission must, in respect of each review period—

(a)prepare and publish a programme which sets out its proposed timetable for conducting all the reviews required under subsection (1) during the period, and

(b)send a copy of the programme to the Welsh Ministers.

(3)For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2) “review period” means—

(a)the period of 10 years beginning with the day on which this section comes into force, and

(b)each subsequent period of 10 years.

(4)The Commission must comply with its duties in subsection (2)—

(a)in respect of the the first review period, as soon as possible after it begins, and

(b)in respect of each subsequent review period, before the period begins.

(5)The Commission may also, of its own initiative or at the request of a principal council, conduct a review of the electoral arrangements for a principal area.

(6)But the Commission must not conduct a review under subsection (5) at the request of a principal council if it considers that doing so would impede the proper exercise of its functions.

(7)The changes that the Commission may recommend in relation to a review under this section are—

(a)such changes to the electoral arrangements for the principal area under review as appears to it appropriate, and

(b)in consequence of such change—

(i)such community boundary changes as it considers appropriate in relation to any community in the principal area,

(ii)such community council changes and changes to the electoral arrangements for such a community as it considers appropriate,

(iii)such preserved county changes as it considers appropriate.

(8)The Commission must not, in any period of 9 months preceding the day of an ordinary council election under section 26 of the 1972 Act (elections of councillors), make or publish any recommendations relating to the electoral arrangements of a principal area.

(9)In this Part, a reference to the electoral arrangements of a principal area is a reference to —

(a)the number of members of the council for the principal area,

(b)the number, type and boundaries of the electoral wards into which the principal area is for the time being divided for the purpose of the election of members,

(c)the number of members to be elected for any electoral ward in the principal area, and

(d)the name of any electoral ward.

(10)For the purposes of subsection (9)(b), a reference to the type of an electoral ward is a reference to whether the ward is a single or multiple member ward.

(11)In this Part—

• “electoral ward” means any area for which members are elected to a local authority,

• “multiple member ward” means an electoral ward in respect of which a specified number (greater than one) of members are to be elected for that ward, and

• “single member ward” means an electoral ward in respect of which only one member is to be elected.

30Considerations for a review of principal area electoral arrangements

(1)The Commission, in considering whether to make recommendations for changes to the electoral arrangements for a principal area, must—

(a)seek to ensure that the ratio of local government electors to the number of members of the council to be elected is, as nearly as may be, the same in every electoral ward of the principal area,

(b)have regard to—

(i)the desirability of fixing boundaries for electoral wards which are and will remain easily identifiable,

(ii)the desirability of not breaking local ties when fixing boundaries for electoral wards.

(2)For the purposes of subsection (1)(a), account is to be taken of—

(a)any discrepancy between the number of local government electors and the number of persons that are eligible to be local government electors (as indicated by relevant official statistics), and

(b)any change to the number or distribution of local government electors in the principal area which is likely to take place in the period of five years immediately following the making of any recommendation.

(3)In this section, “relevant official statistics” means such official statistics within the meaning of section 6 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (c. 18) as the Commission considers appropriate.

(4)In this Part, “local government elector” means a person registered as a local government elector in the register of electors in accordance with the provisions of the Representation of the People Acts.