Title, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the District Electoral Areas Commissioner (Northern Ireland)(Amendment) Order 2007 and shall come into force on the expiry of fourteen days beginning with the day on which the Order was made.

(2) In this Order “the 1984 Order” means the District Electoral Areas Commissioner (Northern Ireland) Order 1984(3).

Amendment to the 1984 Order

2.  In Article 1(3) of the 1984 Order after “below” insert

“; “the 1972 Act” means the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972(4).”

3.  For Article 2 of the 1984 Order substitute—

“2.—(1) As soon as practicable after the appointment of the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner under section 50(1)(a) or (b) of the 1972 Act(5), the Secretary of State shall appoint a Commissioner who shall carry out the function conferred on him by this Article.

(2) The Commissioner shall, as soon as practicable after an order has been made under section 50(10) of the 1972 Act giving effect (whether with or without modifications) to recommendations made under subsections (2) or (3) of that section, submit to the Secretary of State a report setting out, in respect of each local government district in Northern Ireland, his recommendations for the grouping together of the wards, as constituted by the order, into electoral areas for the purpose of local government elections in each of those districts.”

4.  For Article 3 of the 1984 Order substitute—

“3.—(1) As soon as practicable after the appointment of the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner under section 50(4) of the 1972 Act, the Secretary of State shall appoint a Commissioner who shall carry out the function conferred on him by this Article.

(2) The Commissioner shall, as soon as practicable after an order has been made under section 50(10) of the 1972 Act giving effect (whether with or without modifications) to recommendations made under subsection (4) of that section, submit to the Secretary of State a report setting out, in respect of each local government district whose wards are affected by the order, his recommendations for the grouping together of the wards, as constituted by that order, into electoral areas for the purpose of local government elections in each such district.”

5.  In paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the 1984 Order for the words “The Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages for Northern Ireland” substitute “The Registrar General of Births and Deaths in Northern Ireland, the Chief Survey Officer of Ordnance Survey for Northern Ireland”.

6.  In paragraph 7 of Schedule 2 to the 1984 Order for “Article 2(1)” substitute “Article 2(2)” and for “Article 3(1)” substitute “Article 3(2)”.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the District Electoral Areas Commissioner (Northern Ireland) Order 1984 (S.I.1984/360)(“1984 Order”).

The boundaries and names of local government districts and their wards can be altered by an Order made under section 50(10) of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 (c. 9 (N.I.)) (“1972 Act”) following the recommendations of the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner. Under the 1984 Order, the District Electoral Areas Commissioner (“Commissioner”) could only be appointed after such an Order had been made. Articles 3 and 4 of this Order substitute articles 2 and 3 of the 1984 Order to enable the Secretary of State to appoint the Commissioner as soon as practicable after the appointment of the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner under the 1972 Act. This enables the Commissioner to be appointed at an earlier stage of the process. The Commissioner is required to make recommendations to the Secretary of State for the grouping of wards into district electoral areas as soon as practicable after an Order giving effect to the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner’s recommendations has been made (article 2(2) and 3(2) of the 1984 Order as substituted by this Order).

Article 5 adds the Chief Survey Officer of Ordnance Survey for Northern Ireland to the list of assessors to the Commissioner in paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the 1984 Order.