Commentary on Sections Part 1: Elections Paragraph 8 - Final report
79.Paragraph 8 requires that, following the period for representations, the Boundary Commission must re-consider its initial report, in light of the representations received. It must then prepare a final report including its recommendations for the electoral arrangements for the area under review, any consequential recommendations to community boundaries and wards, details of the review and details of any changes made to the initial report in light of representations and explanations for the changes made.
80.The Boundary Commission is required to submit the final report to the Welsh Ministers and publish it, providing copies for mandatory consultees and other persons it considers appropriate. The Boundary Commission must also inform persons who provided evidence or made representations with regard to the interim report preceding the final report and such other persons the Boundary Commission considers appropriate, how to access the report.
81.A principal council which has been sent a final report must publish it, make it available for inspection at its offices, free of charge, for six weeks after receiving it and make local government electors in its area aware of how to access the report.
82.Ordinarily no recommendations may be made or published in connection with electoral arrangements reviews in the nine months before an ordinary election to ensure preparations for an ordinary election are not confused by the publication of alternative electoral arrangements. The timescales for initial reviews under this Act may not be consistent with the standard electoral cycles, so paragraph 8(5) suspends the relevant provision of the Local Government (Democracy) (Wales) Act 2013 (“the 2013 Act”) for recommendations made by the Boundary Commission under this Act.