Pa1 - Power Point 1. Structure Of Local Govt

Public Affairs Part I Role and Structure of Local Government in the UK

Origins of Local Government – Key Developments •

Great Reform Act 1832 – Gave right to vote in Parliamentary elections to all “tenpound households” (i.e. those with property worth £10-plus)

•

Municipal Corporations Act 1835 – Abolished pre-existing government structure in towns only, extending right to vote in municipal elections to all local ratepayers

•

Public Health Acts 1872 and 1875 – Set up urban sanitary and rural sanitary districts. These were basic forms of local authority units protected against cholera and typhoid epidemics. Overseen in towns by emerging borough councils, local boards and improvement commissioners, and in rural areas by voluntary poor law unions

•

Local Government Act 1888 – Set up more formal system of county councils to take over roles previously undertaken by Justices of the Peace in quarter sessions. Boroughs with populations of 50,000-plus given “county borough” status, which meant they could run their own affairs, like existing municipal boroughs in towns.

•

Local Government Act 1894 – Renamed the urban and rural sanitary districts urban and rural district councils

Structure of Local Government Post-1894 • County councils • County borough councils • Non-county/municipal borough councils • Urban district councils • Rural district councils

The 1974 Reorganisation • Bulk of country split into new two-tier structure: (a) county councils (covering rural areas) and (b) district councils (covering urban areas) • Towns that successfully applied for Royal Charters named borough councils • Six conurbations outside London given greater autonomy, and named metropolitan county councils. These were: West Midlands (inc Birmingham), Merseyside (including Liverpool), Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear

Roles of District and Borough Councils • Environmental health • Planning • Housing • Local tax collection (“Rates”) • Refuse collection

Roles of County Councils • Education and libraries • Social services • Highways • Environmental services • Waste disposal

The 1986 Reorganisation • Metropolitan county councils abolished – along with Ken Livingstone’s Greater London Council (GLC) • New police authorities, fire and civil defence authorities, and passenger transport authorities set up to cover the six conurbations

The 1992 Phased Reorganisation • Introduced idea of unitary authorities – councils responsible for covering all aspects of local government – to gradually replace the existing two-tier structure • First unitary authorities set up in Isle of Wight, Avon, Cleveland and Humberside • Gradual introduction of unitary authorities elsewhere, but no change for Cornwall, Cumbria, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Northumberland, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire and West Sussex • Hybrid county structure for some counties – e.g. Leicestershire and, eventually, East Sussex. Hybrid counties are those in which one or more unitary authorities coexist with neighbouring two-tier councils

East Sussex: A Hybrid County Wealden District Council

Rother District Council

East Sussex County Council - a county council

Brighton and Hove City Council – a unitary authority

Lewes District Council – a district council

Hastings Borough Council Eastbourne Borough Council – a borough council

Local Govt in London – Key Developments •

Late Medieval Period – City of London given its own Corporation

•

1829 – Metropolitan Police Force formed to cover outside City

•

1855 – Embryonic local council formed in guise of Metropolitan Board of Works

•

1889 - London County Council formed

•

1899/1900 – Powers of LCC transferred to metropolitan borough councils by central government

•

1929 – LCC given power over hospital reorganisation in London

•

1963 – Capital’s administrative power extended over Essex, Kent, Surrey, Middlesex

•

1965 (April 1) - The Greater London Council (GLC) came into effect

•

1986 – GLC abolished

•

1998 – Referendum held on idea of new Greater London Authority and elected Mayor

•

2000 – Ken Livingstone returns to power as Mayor of London, alongside newly elected GLA

GLA’s Subsidiary Bodies • Transport for London - incorporates main roads, London Underground, buses, taxis and Docklands Light Railway • The London Development Agency - quango responsible for economic development (e.g. 2012 Olympics) • The Metropolitan Police Authority - a new devolved police authority, replacing Home Secretary • The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (replaced London Fire and Civil Defence Authority)