Commentary on Sections Part 2: Local government reviews Sections 13 - 14: Local government reviews
55.Section 13 enables the Secretary of State to direct the Boundary Committee to conduct a local government review and make recommendations as to the matters considered by the review, in respect of a region where he is considering holding an assembly referendum.
56.The Boundary Committee must carry out the review on the assumption that there is an elected regional assembly (subsection (8)(a) of section 14). They must consider what wholly unitary local government structure is appropriate for the existing two-tier parts of a region (subsection (3) of section 14) and must recommend structural change to a single tier of local government for those parts (subsection (8)(b) of section 14), together with any boundary changes in connection with or to facilitate the structural change. Changes to the boundaries of existing unitary authorities, such as the metropolitan districts, cannot be considered unless they would have the effect of making any part of a two-tier authority part of the area of an existing unitary authority. The Boundary Committee cannot consider any boundary change in relation to any area outside the region (subsection (5) of section 14).
57.The Boundary Committee must have regard to various factors when conducting a local government review (subsections (8)(c), (d) and (e) of section 14), in line with the precedent for reviews under the 1992 Act.
58.For various reasons it may not be appropriate for directions to be given in relation to two or more regions at the same time. In this case, the Secretary of State may wish to take various factors into account in deciding in relation to which region or regions (if any) he should give a direction.
59.It is a precondition to the giving of a direction in relation to any region that the Secretary of State has considered the level of interest in that region in the holding of an assembly referendum (subsection (2) of section 13). But in a situation where two or more regions are under consideration for a local government review, it may be that the Secretary of State will want to compare the levels of interest in the holding of a referendum in those different regions. Hence subsection (3) of section 13.
60.The level of interest in holding a referendum does not equate to the level of interest in having an elected regional assembly. Level of interest in having such an assembly will be what is tested by an assembly referendum itself.
61.Subsection (5) of section 13 sets out a range of additional factors which the Secretary of State may also consider if, in his view, for example:
	the level of interest test is inconclusive in informing his decision as to whether to give a direction to the Boundary Committee in relation to a region; or
	the comparison of levels of interest in different regions is not decisive in his choice between different regions in relation to the giving of that direction.
62.Subsection (7) of section 13 states that it is immaterial that anything done for the purposes of assessing the level of interest in a region in the holding of an assembly referendum, or for the purposes of comparing such levels of interest between different regions, or for consideration of the factors in section 13(5),  was done before this Act received Royal Assent.
63.Subsections (6) and (7) of section 14 enable the Boundary Committee to require a public body to supply information required in connection with a local government review. This follows the precedent set by the 1992 Act (Schedule 2, paragraph 4(3)) which gave a similar power to the Local Government Commission.