This section provides for the establishment of a body which shall be known as the Local Government Equalisation Council. It does not specify the number of members which shall comprise it; it is at the discretion of the Minister. Can the number be varied depending on the number of party supporters which the Minister might wish to appoint to the council? It also does not specify the duration or length of term of office of council members and this is also at the discretion of the Minister. The section provides that the Minister may by order determine the number of members which shall be on the council. Can the number be varied from time to time?
The section does not specify whether the chairman will be elected or appointed and what the term of office will be. It does not provide any mechanism whereby continuity would be provided for the council. For example, a certain percentage of the members of the council could retire after a specified number of years and the same percentage could retire the following year, and so on. This would be desirable as it would provide continuity.
Section 7(4) states that the Minister "may by order confer on the council one or more of the following functions". It does not oblige the Minister to confer any or all of these functions on it. What guarantee do we have that the Minister will by order confer any or all of them?