England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

, charter trustees are set up to maintain the continuity of a

town charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charter ...

city charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document ('' charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charte ...

after a district with the status of a borough or city has been abolished, until such time as a parish council is established. Duties are limited to ceremonial activities such as the election of a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

, and various other functions depending upon local customs and laws. The charter trustees are made up of local councillors in the district representing wards within the boundaries of the town/city. If there are fewer than three district councillors for the former borough, then qualified local electors may be co-opted to make the number up to three. Charter trustees must hold an annual meeting within twenty-one days of the annual meeting of the district council. The first item of business is the election of a town or city mayor and deputy mayor for the next year. The charter trustees of Lowestoft failed to nominate any candidate for the office of town mayor for several years until a change of political control in 2003, the trustees being effectively in abeyance. Since 2021 there have been sixteen towns in England which continue to appoint charter trustees.

History

Local Government Act 1972

The original bodies of charter trustees were set up in 1974, under section 246 of the Local Government Act 1972. The concept was introduced into the Bill by a government amendment in September 1972. Section 245(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 allowed the 'shadow' district councils to make a petition to

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

for borough status, before their coming into effect on 1 April 1974. In this case, if "it is signified on behalf of Her Majesty before that date that She proposes to accede" to the request then, the style of borough could be used immediately from 1 April 1974, despite the fact that the charter would be presented only later. For the new districts which made no such petition (or where it was refused), for each former

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. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

in the district which was to become an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unpa ...

rather than a

successor parish Successor parishes are civil parishes with a parish council, created in England in 1974. They replaced, with the same boundaries, a selected group of urban districts and municipal boroughs: a total of 300 successor parishes were formed from the ...

, a body corporate styled the charter trustees of the town or city, were established, under section 246(4) of the Act. In the original legislation, charter trustees could also be formed in Welsh districts, but the Charter Trustees Order 1974, which provided for the establishment of the trustees, stated that the section ''"shall not apply to the area consisting of the counties established by section 20 of the Act (new local government areas in Wales)"'', and ''"there will be no charter trustees in Wales."''

Charter Trustees Act 1985

Originally, under section 246(7), when the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

in which a town for which charter trustees had been established gained the status of a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

, the trustees would be immediately dissolved. Some new district councils petitioned for borough status soon after 1 April 1974, quickly dissolving the charter trustees. This was changed by the Charter Trustees Act 1985, which provided that charter trustees would cease to exist only when a parish council was formed for the area of the former borough.

Local Government Act 1992

Legislation passed in 1992 led to the establishment of Local Government Commission whose remit was to review the system created in 1974. As a result there was a partial reorganisation, with a number of districts with borough or city status being abolished. The mechanism of creating charter trustees to preserve civic traditions was again used. However, trustees were created only where an outgoing council requested their establishment. The failure of the extinguished

City of Rochester-upon-Medway Rochester-upon-Medway was a local government district in north Kent, England from 1974 to 1998. It covered Rochester, Chatham, Luton, Lordswood, Walderslade, Strood and the Hoo Peninsula. The district was formed as the District of Medway under t ...

council to appoint charter trustees for

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

or to apply for Rochester's

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...

to be transferred to the replacement

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

of Medway led to Rochester losing its

. Some abolished boroughs such as

Beverley Beverley is a market and minster town and a civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre and north-west of City of Hull. The town is known fo ...

included a large rural area. In such cases, the charter trustees were not established for the entire area of the former borough, but were limited to that part of the new authority which was unparished: the area identifiable as the town.

Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007

A further wave of reorganisations came into effect in some areas of England on 1 April 2009, under the terms of the

Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (c 28) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act allows for the implementation of many provisions outlined in the Government white paper ''Strong and Prosperous Com ...

. The reforms saw the creation of new unitary authorities and the abolition of a number of districts with city or borough status. The Charter Trustees Regulations 2009 allow for the creation of trustees to preserve civic traditions in those areas where there is no obvious successor parish council. In the case of the cities of Chester and Durham the charter trustees area are identical to the entire abolished district, which includes not only the central unparished area but also the surrounding parishes.

List

Changes in April 2009

The structural changes to local government in 2009 affected charter trustees. Trustees were formed in a number of new unitary authorities to preserve the mayoralty and civic traditions of abolished boroughs. At the same time, the charter trustees of Salisbury were dissolved on the parishing of the area.

Changes in 2019

Charter trustees were established in April 2019 for Bournemouth, Poole and

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

as a consequence of local government structural changes in Dorset and Somerset.The Local Government (Structural and Boundary Changes) (Supplementary Provision and Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2019
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Changes in 2023

On 1 April 2023 unitary authorities will be created in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

and

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

. Elections to the councils were held in May 2022 and they are acting as 'shadow' councils until 2023. It has been announced that charter trustees will be established for Carlisle (which will also preserve its

The North Yorkshire (Structural Changes) Order 2022 establishes trustees for

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa w ...

and

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

An article about Charter Trustees from the City of Bath

Sources

* Local Government Act 1972 *Charter Trustees Act 1985 (C.45) *''Local Government in England and Wales : A guide to the New System'', HMSO, London 1974 Local government in the United Kingdom