Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Bob Blackman Excerpts
Thursday 11th June 2020

(3 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Penny Mordaunt Portrait Penny Mordaunt
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I thank all those people in my hon. Friend’s constituency, no matter which sector, for the work they have been doing on PPE. It just shows what can be done when the private, public and third sectors work together and are facilitated in doing that. If he writes to me with the details of those organisations, I will see what we can do to get them those raw materials.

Bob Blackman Portrait Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)
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What the Government’s timetable is for the boundary review process.

Chloe Smith Portrait The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Chloe Smith)
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The Parliamentary Constituencies Bill received its Second Reading last week. It delivers our manifesto pledge of equal and updated parliamentary boundaries. The Bill determines that the next boundary review, due to start in 2021, will complete by 1 July 2023 at the latest, and after that boundary reviews will take place every eight years.

Bob Blackman Portrait Bob Blackman [V]
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I thank the Minister for that response. The building blocks for all the new constituency boundaries are local authority ward boundaries. In London, the vast majority of local authorities have recently had boundary reviews within their boroughs by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, but they await orders in the House of Commons to implement them. When will my hon. Friend implement those orders, so that the new ward boundaries in London come into operation and the Boundary Commission can commence its review of them?

Chloe Smith Portrait Chloe Smith
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I thank my hon. Friend for that important question, which allows me to clarify that the laying of the orders is the Local Government Boundary Commission for England’s responsibility. I understand that, following a pause because of coronavirus-related restrictions, the commission intends to resume laying the orders before Parliament this month. There are nine areas in which revised electoral arrangements are agreed but an order is not laid, all of which are in London, and the commission intends to lay those over the summer and autumn.