Local Government Boundary Commission for England (1972)
Encyclopedia
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) was the statutory body established under the Local Government Act 1972
to settle the boundaries, names and electoral arrangements of the non-metropolitan district
s which came into existence in 1974, and for their periodic review. The stated purpose of the LGBCE was to ensure "that the whole system does not get frozen into the form which has been adopted as appropriate in the 1970s". In the event it made no major changes and was replaced in 1992 by the Local Government Commission for England
.
in October 1972.
On 25 November 1971, Peter Walker
, Secretary of State for the Environment
, announced the membership of the commission designate. The chairman was Sir Edmund Compton
, who had been the first Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (or Ombudsman
), and the Deputy Chairman was John Mitchell Rankin QC
. There were five other members.
Schedule 7 of the 1972 Act placed the commission on a statutory basis, It provided that "The Commission shall be a body corporate consisting of a chairman, a deputy chairman and not more than five other members." All were to be appointed by the Secretary of State for the Environment for fixed terms.
and the metropolitan counties
into non-metropolitan district
s. In February 1972 it was announced that the government wished to hold elections for the new district councils in June 1973, requiring the commission to finalise its scheme by November 1972, five months earlier than originally envisaged. It was expected that there would be about 300 districts.
and non-county borough
s and urban
and rural district
s. The commission's target population for the new districts was between 75,000 and 100,000 inhabitants: 115 of the proposed districts fell into this range. There was some surprise that it was proposed that more than 30 existing county boroughs were to continue as districts without boundary changes. It had been expected that the town boundaries would be extended to include surrounding rural areas, but this was instead to be left to later periodic reviews. No district was to have less than 40,000 population, although this led to some very large districts in sparsely populated areas of Cumbria
, Northumberland
, Somerset
and Shropshire
. The populations of the districts to be created varied from 425,203 in Bristol
to 40,245 in Tamworth. The largest district was to be that containing the Hexham
and Prudhoe
areas of Northumberland at 548825 acres (2,221 km²) and the smallest was to be Watford
in Hertfordshire
with an area of 5298 acres (21 km²).
Urban District Council, who submitted a petition
with 12,000 signatures objecting to its proposed merger with the neighbouring Borough of Reigate
. However, over 20,000 submissions from individuals and organisations were received.
In September 1972 the commission held a number of meetings with councils in Dorset
, Herefordshire
, Lincolnshire
and Shropshire
. It was clear that it was reconsidering the number and size of districts in these counties, as well as in Cumbria and Northumberland.
Proposed boundaries for wards for the election of district councillors were to be circulated within three weeks, with final arrangements to be made by February or March 1973, allowing polling to be held in June.
The commission invited the merging authorities to suggest up to three names for each district which should have "general acceptance and should be relevant to the geography or history of the locality".
In March 1973 the commission published the names by which the new districts would be known: the report stated that names "were chosen with regard to local feeling, and to geographical background. Simple names were preferred to hybrid or concocted names, and care was taken to avoid names that might cause confusion between the new districts and existing parishes or other authorities."
s and municipal borough
s should become successor parish
es. The existing urban district council or town council would become a parish council, and would retain some of the property and minor responsibilities of the abolished authority. These successor councils could also adopt the status of "town", and elect a "town mayor" as chairman. The concept of successor parishes had been introduced late in the passage of the Local Government Act following pressure from small towns that felt they would lose their identity in the large new districts. The guidelines issued to the commission were that towns were to have 20,000 or fewer inhabitants and were also to make up less than one fifth of the total population of the new district. In June 1973 the commission published a list of 269 boroughs and urban districts that would become successor parishes. All but twenty met the guidelines.
The Secretary of State for the Environment
, Geoffrey Rippon
, referred a number of failed applications back to the commission. In November 1973 a further twenty-seven towns were approved for successor status. The original rules had been relaxed slightly to allow larger towns such as Bideford
and Chichester
to become parishes.
, reducing the number of councillors from 70 to 66. Enfield council had submitted their own scheme, which they claimed provided a fairer distribution of seats to electors, and began court proceedings against the commission. In January 1978 Mr Justice Boswell ruled in favour of the council, and set aside the commission's decision. The ruling effectively halted the redrawing of wards throughout England. This in turn prevented the redrawing of parliamentary constituencies, which were to be formed by grouping the new wards, until the 1983 election
. The judicial decision of January was overturned in the Court of Appeal
in July 1978. The LGBCE was able to carry out the routine work of reviewing wards and parishes, with a large number of orders made during the 1970s and 1980s.
and the two districts on the Isle of Wight
.
In March 1990 the commission finished a review of Humberside. It was recognised that the county was very unpopular, but the LGBCE recommended its retention as there was no agreement on what should replace it. By November 1990 the commission had changed its mind, and recommended that Humberside be abolished. The districts south of the Humber
were to become part of an enlarged Lincolnshire
, while those to the north would become part of a new county of East Yorkshire. The commission also agreed that the two districts in the Isle of Wight should be abolished, with the county council becoming a unitary authority
. However, this was beyond their powers and would require primary legislation.
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
to settle the boundaries, names and electoral arrangements of the non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...
s which came into existence in 1974, and for their periodic review. The stated purpose of the LGBCE was to ensure "that the whole system does not get frozen into the form which has been adopted as appropriate in the 1970s". In the event it made no major changes and was replaced in 1992 by the Local Government Commission for England
Local Government Commission for England (1992)
The Local Government Commission for England was the body responsible for reviewing the structure of local government in England from 1992 to 2002. It was established under the Local Government Act 1992, replacing the Local Government Boundary Commission for England...
.
Formation and membership
The commission was initially formed as the Local Government Boundary Commission for England Designate, a provisional body. The Commission only became permanent when the Local Government Bill received the royal assentRoyal Assent
The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
in October 1972.
On 25 November 1971, Peter Walker
Peter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester
Peter Edward Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester, MBE, PC , was British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet as the Environment Secretary , Trade and Industry Secretary , Agriculture Minister , Energy Secretary and Welsh Secretary...
, Secretary of State for the Environment
Secretary of State for the Environment
The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment . This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15...
, announced the membership of the commission designate. The chairman was Sir Edmund Compton
Edmund Compton
Sir Edmund Gerald Compton CB KCB GCB KBE was a civil servant and the first Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration.-Early life:...
, who had been the first Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (or Ombudsman
Ombudsman
An ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...
), and the Deputy Chairman was John Mitchell Rankin QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
. There were five other members.
Schedule 7 of the 1972 Act placed the commission on a statutory basis, It provided that "The Commission shall be a body corporate consisting of a chairman, a deputy chairman and not more than five other members." All were to be appointed by the Secretary of State for the Environment for fixed terms.
List of chairmen and members
| Chairman | Deputy Chairman | Members |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Diana Keppel, Countess of Albemarle Diana Keppel, Dowager Countess of Albemarle, DBE married Walter Egerton George Lucian Keppel, son of Lt.-Col. Arnold Allen Cecil Keppel, 8th Earl of Albemarle and Lady Gertrude Lucia Egerton, on 24 February 1931 at St Columba's Church, London... , (Chairman of the Development Commission) 1971– York York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence... City Council) 1971– Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Hampshire in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are district councils, and town and parish councils... ) 1971– Preston Rural District Preston was a rural district in Lancashire, England from 1894 to 1974. It surrounded Preston on the north, west and east sides.The district was created under the Local Government Act 1894. It was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, with its area being split between the new... Council) 1971– |
Initial work
The first task of the LGBCE Designate was to divide England outside of Greater LondonGreater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
and the metropolitan counties
Metropolitan county
The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, typically with populations of 1.2 to 2.8 million...
into non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...
s. In February 1972 it was announced that the government wished to hold elections for the new district councils in June 1973, requiring the commission to finalise its scheme by November 1972, five months earlier than originally envisaged. It was expected that there would be about 300 districts.
Draft proposals for non-metropolitan districts
The commission duly produced its draft proposals on 26 April 1972, proposing the creation of 278 districts, replacing 950 existing countyCounty borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
and non-county borough
Municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...
s and urban
Urban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
and rural district
Rural district
Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the administrative counties.-England and Wales:In England...
s. The commission's target population for the new districts was between 75,000 and 100,000 inhabitants: 115 of the proposed districts fell into this range. There was some surprise that it was proposed that more than 30 existing county boroughs were to continue as districts without boundary changes. It had been expected that the town boundaries would be extended to include surrounding rural areas, but this was instead to be left to later periodic reviews. No district was to have less than 40,000 population, although this led to some very large districts in sparsely populated areas of Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
and Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
. The populations of the districts to be created varied from 425,203 in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
to 40,245 in Tamworth. The largest district was to be that containing the Hexham
Hexham
Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. The three major towns in Tynedale were Hexham, Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population, Prudhoe was...
and Prudhoe
Prudhoe
Prudhoe is a medium sized town just south of the River Tyne, in the southern part of the county of Northumberland, England about west of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The town is sited on a steep, north-facing hill in the Tyne valley and nearby settlements include Ovingham, Ovington, Wylam,...
areas of Northumberland at 548825 acres (2,221 km²) and the smallest was to be Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
with an area of 5298 acres (21 km²).
Consultation
Written objections to the scheme were to be received by 21 June, after which the commission would hold meetings with existing authorities before presenting their final proposals. The only formal objection from an existing local authority was from BansteadBanstead
Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in the county of Surrey, England, on the border with Greater London. It lies south of London, west of Croydon and of the county town of Kingston-Upon-Thames. Banstead is on the North Downs and is protected by the Metropolitan Green Belt;...
Urban District Council, who submitted a petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
with 12,000 signatures objecting to its proposed merger with the neighbouring Borough of Reigate
Reigate
Reigate is a historic market town in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs, and in the London commuter belt. It is one of the main constituents of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead...
. However, over 20,000 submissions from individuals and organisations were received.
In September 1972 the commission held a number of meetings with councils in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
and Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
. It was clear that it was reconsidering the number and size of districts in these counties, as well as in Cumbria and Northumberland.
Final report
The commission's Report No.1 was published on 21 November 1972. Following the process of consultation, the number of districts had increased by 18 to 296. There were also a number of changes to districts due to the alteration of county boundaries as the Local Government Act had passed through parliament. There were now 14 districts with populations of less than 40,000 population, while 104 were to be of the optimum range of between 75,000 and 100,000. The recommendations were accepted, and carried into effect by statutory instrument on 21 December 1972.Proposed boundaries for wards for the election of district councillors were to be circulated within three weeks, with final arrangements to be made by February or March 1973, allowing polling to be held in June.
Names
The second task of the commission was to decide on names for the new districts. A deadline of 13 February 1973 was given for suggested names to be submitted.The commission invited the merging authorities to suggest up to three names for each district which should have "general acceptance and should be relevant to the geography or history of the locality".
In March 1973 the commission published the names by which the new districts would be known: the report stated that names "were chosen with regard to local feeling, and to geographical background. Simple names were preferred to hybrid or concocted names, and care was taken to avoid names that might cause confusion between the new districts and existing parishes or other authorities."
Successor parishes
The third task of the commission was to decide which small urban districtUrban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
s and municipal borough
Municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...
s should become successor parish
Successor parish
Successor parishes are civil parishes with a parish council created by the Local Government Act 1972 in England. They replaced, with the same boundaries, a selected group of urban districts and municipal boroughs that were abolished in 1974. Most successor parish councils exercised the right to...
es. The existing urban district council or town council would become a parish council, and would retain some of the property and minor responsibilities of the abolished authority. These successor councils could also adopt the status of "town", and elect a "town mayor" as chairman. The concept of successor parishes had been introduced late in the passage of the Local Government Act following pressure from small towns that felt they would lose their identity in the large new districts. The guidelines issued to the commission were that towns were to have 20,000 or fewer inhabitants and were also to make up less than one fifth of the total population of the new district. In June 1973 the commission published a list of 269 boroughs and urban districts that would become successor parishes. All but twenty met the guidelines.
The Secretary of State for the Environment
Secretary of State for the Environment
The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment . This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15...
, Geoffrey Rippon
Geoffrey Rippon
Geoffrey Frederick Rippon, Baron Rippon of Hexham, PC, was a British Conservative politician. He was Chairman of the European-Atlantic Group....
, referred a number of failed applications back to the commission. In November 1973 a further twenty-seven towns were approved for successor status. The original rules had been relaxed slightly to allow larger towns such as Bideford
Bideford
Bideford is a small port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is also the main town of the Torridge local government district.-History:...
and Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
to become parishes.
Powers and duties
Under the 1972 legislation the commission was given the duty of keeeping local government areas under review. They were given the powers to:- Alter a local government area
- The constitution of a new local government area outside Greater London by the amalgamation of two or more areas or by the aggregation of parts of such areas
- The abolition of a principal area (i.e. a county or district) outside Greater London and its distribution among other areas
- The conversion of a metropolitan into a non-metropolitan county or of a non-metropolitan into a metropolitan county and in consequence thereof the conversion of a metropolitan into a non-metropolitan district or of a non-metropolitan into a metropolitan district within the county
- The constitution of a new London borough by the amalgamation of two or more London boroughs or by the aggregation of parts of London boroughs or by the separation of part of a London borough
- The abolition of a London borough and the distribution of its area among other London boroughs
- The constitution of a new parish or abolition or redistribution of an existing parish
- The change of electoral arrangements for any local government area
Periodic reviews
The commission was to carry out a complete review of all counties in England, all metropolitan districts and all London boroughs, the boundaries between Greater London and the counties adjoining it, and the boundaries between the City and the London boroughs adjoining it not less than ten or more than fifteen years after 1st April 1974. They were to repeat this process at intervals of not less than ten or more than fifteen years. Similar reviews were to be made of the electoral arrangements for each county and district council. Each district council had the duty of keeping the system of parishes in their district under review, and were permitted to make proposals to the commission for the creation or abolition of parishes.Reviews directed by Secretary of State
The Secretary of State had the power to direct the commission to conduct a review of all or any of the principal areas in England. He could also direct a district council to carry out a review of the parishes in their area. If they failed to do so within the required time, the commission could conduct the review themselves.Review process and the Enfield case
The commission duly began the process of conducting reviews of the electoral arrangements in the London Boroughs. In June 1975 they published proposals for EnfieldLondon Borough of Enfield
The London Borough of Enfield is the most northerly London borough and forms part of Outer London. It borders the London Boroughs of Barnet, Haringey and Waltham Forest...
, reducing the number of councillors from 70 to 66. Enfield council had submitted their own scheme, which they claimed provided a fairer distribution of seats to electors, and began court proceedings against the commission. In January 1978 Mr Justice Boswell ruled in favour of the council, and set aside the commission's decision. The ruling effectively halted the redrawing of wards throughout England. This in turn prevented the redrawing of parliamentary constituencies, which were to be formed by grouping the new wards, until the 1983 election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
. The judicial decision of January was overturned in the Court of Appeal
Court of Criminal Appeal
The Court of Criminal Appeal is the name of existing courts of Scotland and Ireland, and an historic court in England and Wales.- Ireland :See Court of Criminal Appeal ...
in July 1978. The LGBCE was able to carry out the routine work of reviewing wards and parishes, with a large number of orders made during the 1970s and 1980s.
Humberside and the Isle of Wight
Although it had the power, the LGBCE never created or abolished any county, district or London borough. The only major proposals made were in relation to the county of HumbersideHumberside
Humberside was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber Estuary, created from portions of the East and West ridings of Yorkshire and parts of Lindsey, Lincolnshire...
and the two districts on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
.
In March 1990 the commission finished a review of Humberside. It was recognised that the county was very unpopular, but the LGBCE recommended its retention as there was no agreement on what should replace it. By November 1990 the commission had changed its mind, and recommended that Humberside be abolished. The districts south of the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
were to become part of an enlarged Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, while those to the north would become part of a new county of East Yorkshire. The commission also agreed that the two districts in the Isle of Wight should be abolished, with the county council becoming a unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
. However, this was beyond their powers and would require primary legislation.