Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities: 13 city councils, 53 district councils and the Chatham Islands Council. District councils serve a combination of rural and urban communities, while city councils administer the larger urban areas. Five territorial authorities also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are unitary authorities. The Chatham Islands Council is a sui generis territorial authority that is similar to a unitary authority.
Strathclyde was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The Strathclyde region had 19 districts. The region was named after the medieval Kingdom of Strathclyde but covered a broader geographic area than its namesake.
The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the current local government structure of 32 unitary authorities covering the whole of Scotland.
Referendums in the United Kingdom are occasionally held at a national, regional or local level. Historically, national referendums are rare due to the long-standing principle of parliamentary sovereignty. There is no constitutional requirement to hold a national referendum for any purpose or on any issue; the UK Parliament is free to legislate through an Act of Parliament for a national plebiscite to be held on any question at any time, but these cannot be constitutionally binding on either the Government or Parliament, although they usually have a persuasive political effect.
In the United Kingdom, passenger transport executives (PTEs) are local government bodies which are responsible for public transport within large urban areas. They are accountable to combined authorities, which were created between 2011 and 2016 and took the role of integrated transport authorities (ITAs). The PTEs have joined together to form the Urban Transport Group, in which Transport for London and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport also participate.
The North East England devolution referendum was an all postal ballot referendum that took place on 4 November 2004 throughout North East England on whether or not to establish an elected assembly for the region. Devolution referendums in the regions of Northern England were initially proposed under provisions of the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Act 2003. Initially, three referendums were planned, but only one took place. The votes concerned the question of devolving limited political powers from the UK Parliament to elected regional assemblies in North East England, North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber respectively. Each were initially planned to be held on 4 November 2004, but on 22 July 2004 the planned referendums in North West England and in Yorkshire and the Humber were postponed, due to concerns raised about the use of postal ballots, but the referendum in North East England was allowed to continue, particularly as it was assumed that the region held the most support for the proposed devolution.
Scotland has elections to several bodies: the Scottish Parliament, the United Kingdom Parliament, local councils and community councils. Before the United Kingdom left the European Union, Scotland elected members to the European Parliament.
Northumbrian Water Group plc (NWG) is the holding company for several companies in the water supply, sewerage and waste water industries. Its largest subsidiary is Northumbrian Water Limited (NWL), which is one of ten companies in England and Wales that are regulated water supply and sewerage utilities. NWL is the principal water supplier in the north-east of England, where it trades as Northumbrian Water, and also supplies water to part of eastern England, as Essex and Suffolk Water. In 2011 it was acquired by Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings.
The Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) bus operations were the bus operating divisions of the passenger transport executives in the United Kingdom. In 1986 they underwent a process of deregulation and privatisation, forming some of the largest private bus companies in the UK outside London, with all being sold to their employees or management. Despite their relative size and lucrative operating areas, none of the companies survived beyond the late 1990s, with all falling into the hands of the major bus groups, who had their origins in privatised regional subsidiaries of the former National Bus Company and the Scottish Bus Group.
The water privatisation in England and Wales involved the transfer of the provision of water and wastewater services in England and Wales from the state to the private sector in 1989, through the sale of the ten regional water authorities (RWA). The potable water supply as well as the sewerage and sewage disposal functions of each RWA were transferred to privately-owned companies.
Public water supply and sanitation in Scotland is characterised by universal access and generally good service quality. Water and sewerage services are provided by a single public company, Scottish Water. The economic water industry regulator is the Water Industry Commission for Scotland. It "promotes the interests of water and sewerage customers in Scotland by making sure that householders and businesses receive a high-quality service and value for money by setting prices, monitoring Scottish Water's performance and facilitating competition in the water industry". The environmental regulator is the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Drinking water standards and wastewater discharge standards are determined by the EU.
Public water supply and sanitation in England and Wales has been characterised by universal access and generally good service quality. Salient features of the sector in the United Kingdom compared to other developed countries is the full privatisation of service provision and the pioneering of independent economic regulation in the sector in Europe. There has been a substantial increase in real tariffs between 1989 and 2005, whilst independent assessments place the cost of water provision in the UK as higher than most major countries in the EU. The government body responsible for water regulation, together with the water companies, have claimed improvements in service quality during the same period.
A regional water authority, commonly known as a water board, was one of a group of public bodies that came into existence in England and Wales in April 1974, as a result of the passing of the Water Act 1973. This brought together in ten regional units a diverse range of bodies involved in water treatment and supply, sewage disposal, land drainage, river pollution and fisheries. They lasted until 1989, when the water industry was privatised and the water supply and sewerage and sewage disposal parts became companies and the regulatory arm formed the National Rivers Authority. Regional water authorities were also part of the Scottish water industry when three bodies covering the North, West and East of Scotland were created in 1996, to take over responsibilities for water supply and sewage treatment from the regional councils, but they only lasted until 2002, when they were replaced by the publicly owned Scottish Water.
Water supply and sanitation in Greece is characterised by diversity. While Athens receives its water from a series of reservoirs, some of which are located 200 km away, some small islands are supplied with water from tankers. Greeks have suffered from repeated droughts, the most recent one occurring in 2007. The EU supported the construction of numerous wastewater treatment plants since the 1990s in order to achieve EU environmental standards. While the wastewater discharge of the biggest cities is now in compliance with these standards, some smaller towns still lag behind.
In the United Kingdom, devolution is the Parliament of the United Kingdom's statutory granting of a greater level of self-government to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the London Assembly and to their associated executive bodies the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and in England, the Greater London Authority and combined authorities.
The Electricity Act 1989 provided for the privatisation of the electricity supply industry in Great Britain, by replacing the Central Electricity Generating Board in England and Wales and by restructuring the South of Scotland Electricity Board and the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board. The Act also established a licensing regime and a regulator for the industry called the Office of Electricity Regulation (OFFER), which has since become the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OFGEM).
The politics of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city by population, are expressed in the deliberations and decisions of Glasgow City Council, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament.
The Water Act 1989 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the bodies responsible for all aspects of water within England and Wales. Whereas previous legislation, particularly the Water Act 1973, had focused on providing a single unifying body with responsibility for all water-related functions within a river basin or series of river basins, this legislation divided those functions up again, with water supply, sewerage and sewage disposal being controlled by private companies, and the river management, land drainage and pollution functions becoming the responsibility of the National Rivers Authority.
The sixth and last election to Tayside Regional Council was held on 5 May 1994 as part of the wider 1994 Scottish regional elections. The election saw the Scottish National Party overtaking Labour to become the council's largest party, and following the election the SNP formed a minority administration. The Conservatives lost 10 seats and became the third largest party. 8 weeks later, leader of the council Lena Graham resigned 'for personal reasons' and Ewan Dow took over as council leader.
The Water (Scotland) Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the water supply industry in Scotland, by creating Regional Water Boards to manage the treatment and supply of water to consumers, and a Central Scotland Water Development Board, which was responsible for developing new sources of water, and supplying that water to the Regional Water Boards in bulk.
