Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which provisions of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 can take effect only after orders have been passed by both Houses of Parliament.
Answer
Section 10(6) of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 modifies an existing power in the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 to make delegated legislation, but does not confer a new power. It provides that the Secretary of State must lay before Parliament the draft of an Order in Council giving effect to the final recommendations of the boundary commissions on redrawing the parliamentary constituency boundaries of the UK. This order can take effect only if approved by resolution of each House of Parliament. The Act contained three more powers under which any orders made would need to be approved by resolution of each House. One of those powers was repealed in July 2011 and the remaining two cannot be exercised after 5 May 2011. A table summarising orders subject to the affirmative procedure in the 2011 Act has been placed in the library of both Houses.