Changes made by the Act
The 1986 Act currently provides that, on implementation of the 2018 boundary review recommendations, the number of constituencies in the UK shall be 600. This Act makes provision for the number of parliamentary constituencies to remain at 650. This is a change in policy from the position previously legislated for under the Coalition Government.
	As a consequence of retaining 650 constituencies, the Act removes the duty on the Government to implement the 2018 boundary review recommendations, and the requirement, under section 14 of the PVSC Act 2011 (as amended by the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013), to make arrangements, by 30 November 2020, to review the effects of the reduction in the number of constituencies to 600.
	The Act provides for the next boundary review, due to begin in early 2021, to be carried out on the basis of 650 constituencies and for the review to take place within the slightly shortened time frame of 2 years and 7 months (rather than the current 2 years and 10 months), and to report before 1 July 2023. The Act enables this by making changes to the timings of the three stages of the publicity and consultation process at the next boundary review. In future, after the next boundary review, reviews will revert to taking place over the period of 2 years and 10 months.
	The Act also provides for the next boundary review to be based on the number of registered electors at 2 March 2020, instead of the number of registered electors as at 1 December 2020, following the 2020 annual canvass. The provision is made in light of the potential impact of Covid-19 on the operation of ongoing electoral registration activities and the annual canvass, and will provide for the next boundary review to be based on an alternative set of electoral data to mitigate potential risks of the impact of Covid-19. In future, after the next boundary review, reviews will be based on the number of registered electors included on the revised electoral registers that are due to be published following the annual canvass on or before the 1 December "review date" - the formal start of the review. For example, the boundary review that is due to report before 1 October 2031 will be based on the electoral registers that are due to be published on or before 1 December 2028.
	The Act provides that public hearings will take place at a different point in the review process. Currently, public hearings take place during the first (the "initial consultation period") of the three periods of consultation conducted during a boundary review. For the next and subsequent boundary reviews, the Act provides for public hearings to be held during the secondary consultation period. This is designed to improve the effectiveness of public hearings. Under this change, the Boundary Commissions would know from the initial consultation period the geographical areas where particular concern was being voiced; they could then plan public hearings for those locations accordingly.
	The Act also provides how Boundary Commissions may take into account local government boundaries at a boundary review. Under the current legislation, one of the factors that the Boundary Commissions may take into account when setting boundaries is the local government boundaries that are in place on the most recent ordinary council-election day before the "review date" (the formal start of the review). The Act makes provision for Boundary Commissions to be able to take into account local government boundaries that are in place on the review date, as well as any such boundaries that are set out in provisions of legislation on the review date, but where those provisions have not yet come into force. This provision is designed to allow the Boundary Commissions to take into account more up to date information in relation to local government boundaries at boundary reviews. The measure is designed to minimise the potential for inconvenience to be caused for councils, MPs, councillors and political parties, and confusion for the public, due to council wards not aligning with parliamentary boundaries.
	The Act adds a constituency named Ynys Môn, comprising the area of the Isle of Anglesey County Council, to the list of protected constituencies. This will ensure that the area of the Ynys Môn constituency will remain as a single constituency, and that, as a consequence, the requirement that the number of electors in a constituency should not vary more than 5% from the UK electoral quota will not apply to the Ynys Môn constituency.
	The Act provides that after the next boundary review, the length of time between boundary reviews is extended from 5 to 8 years. This will ensure parliamentary constituency boundaries are updated on a regular basis, though with less disruption caused to local communities and their MPs than by the current five-yearly reviews.
	The Act makes provision for how boundary recommendations come into effect following a boundary review. Currently, at the end of a boundary review, the Boundary Commissions submit their final reports to the Secretary of State or the Minister for the Cabinet Office who is required to lay the reports before Parliament. The Secretary of State is then required to lay the draft of an Order in Council giving effect to the recommendations in the reports before Parliament. The draft Order in Council must be approved by Parliament before it can be made by Her Majesty in Council. The Act provides that, in future, the Boundary Commissions will submit their final reports to the Speaker of the House of Commons (who is the Chair of the Boundary Commissions) who will lay the reports before Parliament. The Secretary of State or the Minister for the Cabinet Office will then be required to submit the draft Order in Council giving effect to the recommendations in the reports to Her Majesty in Council as soon as reasonably practicable after the date on which all four Boundary Commission reports have been laid before Parliament, and in any case, within the period of four months from that date unless there are exceptional circumstances. The Act provides that the draft Order in Council giving effect to recommendations will no longer be subject to any parliamentary procedure or approval before it is made. Finally, the Act makes provision for a process by which a Boundary Commission may submit to the Speaker of the House of Commons a statement of modifications that the Commission consider should be made to the recommendations in the Commission’s report when those recommendations are given legal effect through an Order in Council. This is the only process by which Boundary Commission recommendations can be modified.
	These changes are designed to provide certainty that the recommendations of the independent Boundary Commissions - developed through a robust and impartial process that is open to extensive consultation - will be implemented ‘automatically’ without the possibility of political interference. Parliament, of course, remains sovereign and can amend the primary legislation providing the parameters for these reviews as it sees fit.
	The Act also makes a number of consequential amendments, in particular amending section 33(3)(a) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The constituencies of the Northern Ireland Assembly are the same as those of the UK Parliament. The amendments in the Act provide that the automatic changes to the constituencies of the Northern Ireland Assembly (as a result of UK Parliamentary constituency changes) will only take place from the first Assembly election whose notice of election is published at least six months after the parliamentary constituency changes come into force (i.e. the first Assembly election to take place after six months and 25 days from the date the constituencies come into force). There would be an exception to this if, during the six month and 25-day period, the UK Parliament was dissolved prior to a Parliamentary general election to which the new constituencies apply. In this event, the new constituencies would be applied to the Northern Ireland Assembly from the date of the UK general election. The provision is designed to minimise any potential impact of future constituency changes that coincide with Northern Ireland Assembly elections.