The Boundary Committee for England was a statutory committee of the Electoral Commission, an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. The Committee’s aim was to conduct thorough, consultative and robust reviews of local government areas in England, and for its recommendations to be evidence-based, accurate and accepted. The Boundary Committee was abolished in 2010, with its functions assumed by a new Local Government Boundary Commission for England.
The Committee’s responsibilities related solely to local government boundaries: responsibility for parliamentary boundaries lies with the Boundary Commission for England, a non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Justice.
On 1 April 2002 responsibility for electoral reviews in England transferred to the Electoral Commission. On the same day the Boundary Committee for England became a statutory committee of the Commission. The Committee undertakes electoral reviews and makes recommendations to the Commission as to whether electoral changes should be made in respect of the area under review. The Commission then decides whether to implement the Committee’s recommendations. The decision of the Commission is taken at a Commission meeting comprising the Electoral Commissioners as members.
The Boundary Committee for England replaced the Local Government Commission for England, which was the body responsible for reviewing the structure of local government in England from 1992 to 2002. The equivalent bodies operating in other parts of the United Kingdom are the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales, the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland and the Local Government Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland.