The Local Government (Northern Ireland) Act 1972 (1972 c. 9) was an Act of the

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

that constituted district councils to administer the twenty-six local government districts created by the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971, and abolished the existing local authorities in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

District councils

Each

Local Government District The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

was to have a district council consisting of elected councillors of whom one would be chairman and another could be vice-chairman. Provision for the continuation of

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and

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 ...

status was included in the Act, which provided that the charter of each

county 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, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...

should apply to the new district containing it, and that the ''council for a district which includes the whole or the major part of a borough other than a county borough may... resolve that the charter of the corporation of the borough shall have effect in relation to the district''. In addition a district council could apply for a new charter making it a borough. In the original Act, the council could petition the Governor of Northern Ireland for a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...

. By the time the Act came into effect, however, the office of governor had been abolished, and petitions were addressed to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Where a district was designated a city or borough, the chairman and vice-chairman became the mayor and deputy-mayor. In the case of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, the chairman's title continued to be lord mayor.

Abolition of existing local authorities

Section 131 of the Act stated that ''every county and every county borough shall cease to be an administrative area for local government purposes'', and that ''every borough (other than a county borough), every urban district and every rural district shall be abolished''. Also abolished were any joint boards established under the

Public Health (Ireland) Act 1878 The Public Health (Ireland) Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict c 52) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which introduced a comprehensive code of sanitary law in Ireland. See also *Public Health Act *Irish Poor L ...

or Water Supplies and Sewerage Act (Northern Ireland) 1945 and the Belfast City and District Water Commissioners. Exempted from abolition were the corporations of the

s of

and Londonderry, and of any

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 ...

whose charter had been adopted by the new district council. In these cases the district council was to become the corporation from 1 October 1973. The Act also provided for the dissolution of new town commissions established under the New Towns Acts (Northern Ireland) 1965 to 1968. The composition of the new districts was as follows: † In 1969, both Londonderry Corporation (the county borough council) and Londonderry Rural District Council were abolished. Their functions were transferred to the Londonderry Development Commission, established to provide new housing and infrastructure in and around Derry. ‡ All district councils in Fermanagh were abolished in 1968, creating a unitary county council. § Craigavon Urban District replaced Lurgan Rural District in 1967.New Towns (Municipal Functions—Craigavon) Order (Northern Ireland) 1967 (S.R. & O. 1967, No. 57)
/ref>

Staff commission

Section 40 of the Act established the Staff Commission of Northern Ireland to oversee the recruitment, training and terms and conditions of employment of council officers, and those of the

Northern Ireland Housing Executive The Northern Ireland Housing Executive is the public housing authority for Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest social housing landlord, and the enforcing authority for those parts of housing orders that involve houses with multiple ...

. The commission was to: *Establish ''advisory appointment panels'' to advise councils on the suitability of applicants for appointment as officers *Draw up a code of conduct to ensure fair and equal consideration of all applications for employment *Monitor fair employment procedures in councils *Assess future requirements of councils for officers, and publicise the opportunities for such employment to the public. *Promote cooperation between councils *Assist development of training for local government officers *Assist with the negotiation of procedures for standard rates of remuneration, or other terms and conditions of employment

References

External links

*{{UK-LEG, title=Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972
Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 from BAILII
Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland 1972 Local government legislation in the United Kingdom Districts of Northern Ireland, 1972–2015