1990s United Kingdom local government reform

Last updated May 10, 2021

The structure of local government in the United Kingdom underwent large changes in the 1990s. The system of two-tier local government introduced in the 1970s by the Local Government Act 1972 and the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 was abolished in Scotland and Wales on 1 April 1996 and replaced with single-tier authorities. In England, some areas remained two-tier but many single-tier authorities (designated as Unitary Authorities in England) were created. No changes were made to local government in Northern Ireland.

Background

Prior to the 1970s, the UK had had a mixed system of local government, with some areas being covered by a county council and a more local district council, while large towns had only a single tier of authority (in England and Wales these were termed county boroughs, and in Scotland 'counties of cities'). The Acts abolished the existing county boroughs or counties of cities, and created a uniform two-tier system of government with regions or counties, and districts.

In 1986, Margaret Thatcher's government abolished the county councils of the six metropolitan counties that had been created in 1974, along with the Greater London Council,^[1] effectively creating 68 new single-tier authorities: 32 London boroughs and 36 metropolitan boroughs.

In 1990, Thatcher's government introduced the Community Charge, popularly known as the Poll Tax, a new way of funding local councils based on a fixed per-head fee. This proved very unpopular, and led to riots.^[2] Eventually, Thatcher was ousted by her own party,^[3] and the new Conservative leader and Prime Minister, John Major, pledged to abolish the Community Charge.^[4]

Legislation for the Council Tax was introduced and passed in the 1991/1992 session. Also at this time the government took the opportunity to review the structure of local government throughout Great Britain.

England

The Local Government Commission for England was established under the Local Government Act 1992, allowing the Secretary of State to order the Commission to undertake 'structural reviews' in specified areas, to create unitary authorities in the two-tier shire counties. After much political debate, the Commission's proposals resulted in:

The abolition of the counties of Avon, Cleveland, Hereford and Worcester and Humberside, created in 1974
The replacement of the county council of Berkshire with six unitary authorities
New unitary authorities covering many of the larger urban districts of England.

Scotland

The previous system in Scotland had been the regions and districts. These were quite unbalanced in terms of population — the Strathclyde region had nineteen districts and over two million people, whereas the Borders region had four districts and only 100,000 people.

The Act established 29 new 'council areas', and retained the three Island Councils. Variance in population was much less in the council areas, with just over half a million in the largest authority, City of Glasgow, compared to 50,000 in the smallest on the mainland, Clackmannanshire. These are however outliers, and only six are outside the range 75,000 to 250,000.

In some cases the names of traditional counties were revived as administrative areas, although often with vastly different borders.

Wales

In Wales the existing system was replaced with a new single-tier system, of counties and county boroughs, the only difference between them now being the name (and the councils of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport are styled as cities).

The 1974 reform in Wales had abandoned use of the names of the historic counties of Wales as local government areas. This was partially reversed in 1996, with Anglesey, Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Monmouthshire and Pembrokeshire all reappearing as local government areas, although not necessarily with their traditional borders.

The names and areas of the administrative counties abolished in 1996 remained in use (with modifications) as the preserved counties of Wales for purposes such as Lieutenancy.

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The counties of the United Kingdom are subnational divisions of the United Kingdom, used for the purposes of administrative, geographical and political demarcation. The older term, shire is historically equivalent to county. By the Middle Ages, county had become established as the unit of local government, at least in England. By the early 17th century, all of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland had been separated into counties. In Scotland shire was the only term used until after the Act of Union 1707.

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The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975.

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The history of local government Wales in a recognisably modern form emerged during the late 19th century. Administrative counties and county boroughs were first established in Wales in 1889. Urban and rural districts were formed in 1894. These were replaced in 1974 by a two-tier authority system across the country comprising eight counties and, within them, thirty-seven districts. This system was itself replaced by the introduction of 22 single-tier authorities in 1996.

References

↑ "Thatcher abolishes the GLC: from the archive, 1 April 1986". the Guardian. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
↑ "1990: Violence flares in poll tax demonstration". 31 March 1990. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
↑ "Thatcher resigns: from the archive, 23 November 1990". the Guardian. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
↑ Whitney, Craig R.; Times, Special To the New York (16 March 1991). "British Premier Set to Replace Unpopular Thatcher Poll Tax". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 9 May 2021.

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[1] "Thatcher abolishes the GLC: from the archive, 1 April 1986". the Guardian. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2021.

[2] "1990: Violence flares in poll tax demonstration". 31 March 1990. Retrieved 9 May 2021.

[3] "Thatcher resigns: from the archive, 23 November 1990". the Guardian. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2021.

[4] Whitney, Craig R.; Times, Special To the New York (16 March 1991). "British Premier Set to Replace Unpopular Thatcher Poll Tax". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 9 May 2021.

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