Report published on the Parliamentary Constituencies Bill

• Report: Parliamentary Constituencies Bill (PDF)
• Report: Parliamentary Constituencies Bill (HTML)

Background 

The Bill amends the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 to provide for: the number of parliamentary constituencies, the setting of parliamentary constituency boundaries, and the conduct of reviews by the four United Kingdom Boundary Commissions.

Key findings 

• The Committee finds the removal of Parliament's power to block Boundary Commission recommendations constitutionally appropriate and therefore welcome.  
• Automatic implementation of Boundary Commission recommendations will only protect against undue political influence if they are themselves genuinely independent. 
• The Committee recommends that the House may wish to consider what safeguards are required to ensure the independence and impartiality of the Boundary Commissions and their recommendations.