Section 2: Orders in Council giving effect to reports
Section 2 makes amendments to section 4 of the 1986 Act and concerns Orders in Council giving effect to recommendations in boundary reports.
	Subsection (2) of section 2 substitutes existing subsections (1) to (4) of section 4 of the 1986 Act with new subsections (1) to (4B).
	New section 4(1) of the 1986 Act requires the Secretary of State or the Minister for the Cabinet Office to submit to Her Majesty in Council a draft Order in Council for giving effect to the recommendations of each of the four Boundary Commissions following a boundary review.
	New section 4(2) provides that the draft Order must be submitted as soon as reasonably practicable after all four Boundary Commission review reports have been laid before Parliament by the Speaker under section 3(2ZB), and in any case, no later than the end of the four month period unless there are exceptional circumstances. New section 4(3) defines "the four month period" as the period of four months beginning with the first date on which all four reports have been laid before Parliament. A draft Order in Council is not required to be submitted if each of the four Boundary Commission review reports states that no alteration is required to be made to existing parliamentary constituencies.
	Under new section 4(4), if the draft of an Order in Council is not submitted before the end of the four month period, the Secretary of State or the Minister for the Cabinet Office is required to lay one or more statements before Parliament specifying the exceptional circumstances.
	Under new section 4(4A), a statement must be laid before Parliament before the end of the period of 10 sitting days beginning with the first sitting day after the end of the four month period. After this, a statement would be required to be laid before the end of each subsequent period of 20 sitting days beginning with the first sitting day after the previous statement was so laid, until the draft of an Order in Council is submitted.
	New section 4(4B)(a) provides that a draft Order in Council submitted under new section 4(1) may only give effect to the recommendations of the review reports with modifications where those modifications are required in accordance with new section 4A (introduced by section 3 of the Act). New section 4(4B)(b) provides that a draft Order in Council may make provision for any matters which appears to the Secretary of State or the Minister for the Cabinet Office to be incidental to, or consequential on the recommendations in the reports or those recommendations with the modifications required in accordance with new section 4A.
	Subsection (3) of section 2 of the Act amends section 4(7) of the 1986 Act to remove reference to the need for the approval of each House of Parliament of draft Orders in Council under section 4 prior to making, as such approval will no longer be required as a result of the changes made by the Act. Section 4(7) of the 1986 Act provides that the validity of any Order in Council purporting to be made under the 1986 Act shall not be called in question in any legal proceedings.
	Subsection (4) of section 2 inserts new subsection (7A) into section 4 of the 1986 Act. New section 4(7A) sets out a definition of "sitting day", which is defined as meaning a day on which both Houses of Parliament sit; and for that purpose a day is only a day on which a House sits if the House begins to sit on that day.