About Us

The context for the appointment of the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner on 1 June 2006 is the outworking of the Review of Public Administration and the consequential Local Government (Boundaries) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, which establishes the legal framework for the review.

The main provisions of the Order are to establish seven new local government districts in Northern Ireland with reference to the existent 26 councils, and for the districts to be divided into approximately 60 wards per district.  The Commissioner is responsible for making recommendations regarding the boundaries and names of the seven new council districts, as announced by the Secretary of State on 22 November 2005, and the number, boundaries and names of the wards into which each district is to be divided.

The Commissioner is required to submit his final report to the Department of the Environment (DOE) by 31 May 2007.  Once the final report is submitted, DOE will lay the report before the Assembly together with the draft of an Order to give effect, either with or without modifications, to the recommendations contained in the report.  On the approval of the draft Order, DOE must make an Order in terms of the draft as approved.

The Commissioner is assisted by four statutory Assessors in identifying and reviewing relevant available data and in analysing various statistics.  The Department of the Environment  also, at the request of the Commissioner, appointed seven Link to details of Assistant Commissioners to hold public hearings and provide advice to the Commissioner.  A Secretariat made up of administrative and professional staff through secondment from the Northern Ireland Civil Service provides support to the Commissioner.  The remuneration and expenses of the Commissioner, Assistant Commissioners and staff are charged to the Consolidated Fund.

Following the submission of his final recommendation to the Department of the Environment on 31st May 2007, the Office of the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner is now closed.  Any future developments (post 31st May 2007) will be announced on the DOE website