Local Government Act 1985 English metropolitan counties abolished

The Local Government Act 1985 (c. 51) is an Act of Parliament in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Its main effect was to abolish the six

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

s of the

metropolitan counties Metropolitan counties are a subdivision of England which were originally used for local government. There are six metropolitan counties: Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands and West Yorkshire. The m ...

that had been set up by the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, along with the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

that had been established in 1965. In their place many single purpose authorities known collectively as 'joint authorities' were established for fire service, police and passenger transport. An ad hoc education authority was established for Inner London and a planning authority for Greater London. The legislation permitted councils to form 'joint arrangements' for waste disposal and other services that they wished to provide together. Time-limited residuary bodies were created to dispose of the assets of the former authorities.

Background

Following the victory of the Conservative Party at the 1979 general election,

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

were involved in a series of high-profile disputes with the GLC and Metropolitan County Councils. All of the authorities were controlled by, or came under the control of the opposition Labour Party during Thatcher's first term. The Conservative

manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

for the 1983 general election pledged their abolition, describing the councils as "a wasteful and unnecessary tier of government". Having won a landslide victory in the 1983 General Election, the government published a

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...

in October of that year, '' Streamlining the cities''. Its proposals formed the basis of the Local Government Bill.

Provisions

The core provision, section 1, stated that "the Greater London Council; and the metropolitan county councils" shall cease to exist. It came into effect on 1 April 1986, with some powers being devolved to the

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distr ...

s themselves and

London borough The London boroughs are the current 32 districts of England, local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London, England; each is governed by a London borough council. The present ...

s and others to joint authorities (such as for fire or police purposes) consisting of members of each of the metropolitan district councils within each county. At the time of the Act, one third of the population of England were living in Greater London and the metropolitan counties.Hampton, W., ''Local Government and Urban Politics'', (1991) Time-limited residuary bodies were created to handle the disposal of the councils' assets. Part III of the Act also set up the

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was the local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. From 1965 to 1986 it was an ad hoc committee of the Greater London Co ...

, which had previously been a committee of the GLC responsible for education in

Inner London Inner London is the group of London boroughs that form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. With its origins in the bills of mortality, it became fixed as an area for statistics in 1847 and was used as an area ...

, as a directly elected body. This was to remain in existence for only three years. The

allowed councils to voluntarily form joint committees to provide services together and the Local Government Act 1985 extended this principle by directing local authorities to form some shared arrangements whilst permitting them to form others as they wished.

Local authorities abolished by Part I

Six metropolitan county councils were abolished and the local authority of Greater London. *

* Greater Manchester County Council *

Merseyside County Council Merseyside County Council (MCC) was, from 1974 to 1986, the upper-tier administrative body for Merseyside, a metropolitan county in North West England. MCC existed for a total of twelve years. It was established on 1 April 1974 by the Local Gov ...

* South Yorkshire County Council *

Tyne and Wear County Council Tyne and Wear County Council was the county council of the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear in northeast England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1974 and was abolished on 1 April 1986. The county council was based at Sandyford House in Ne ...

* West Midlands County Council * West Yorkshire County Council

Joint committees established by Part II

* Joint planning committee for Greater London *Greater Manchester Trading Standards Joint Committee *Merseyside County Trading Standards Joint Committee *South Yorkshire Trading Standards Joint Committee *Tyne and Wear Trading Standards Joint Committee *West Midlands Trading Standards Joint Committee *West Yorkshire Trading Standards Joint Committee

Joint arrangements established by Part II

*East London Waste Authority * Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority * Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority *North London Waste Authority *Western Riverside Waste Authority *West London Waste Authority

Ad hoc authorities established by Part III

Note: The outer London borough councils and metropolitan district councils were already education authorities.

Joint authorities established by Part IV

A number of single purpose authorities were established, collectively known as ''joint authorities'' in the legislation. ;Fire and civil defence authorities *Greater Manchester Fire and Civil Defence Authority *

London Fire and Civil Defence Authority London Fire and Civil Defence Authority (LFCDA) was the fire authority of Greater London from 1 April 1986 to 3 July 2000. It replaced the Greater London Council as fire authority when it was abolished. The LFCDA was a joint authority, made up o ...

*Merseyside Fire and Civil Defence Authority *South Yorkshire Fire and Civil Defence Authority *Tyne and Wear Fire and Civil Defence Authority *West Midlands Fire and Civil Defence Authority *West Yorkshire Fire and Civil Defence Authority ;Passenger transport authorities * Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority *Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority *South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority *Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority *West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority *West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority Note:

London Regional Transport London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in London, England, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operation ...

was established separately by the

London Regional Transport Act 1984 London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. ;Police authorities *Greater Manchester Police Authority *Merseyside Police Authority *Northumbria Police Authority *South Yorkshire Police Authority *West Midlands Police Authority *West Yorkshire Police Authority Note: The Metropolitan Police was under the control of the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

and unaffected by the legislation.

Ad hoc bodies established by Part V

* London Boroughs Grants Committee

Residuary bodies established by Part VII

*Greater Manchester Residuary Body * London Residuary Body *Merseyside Residuary Body *South Yorkshire Residuary Body *Tyne and Wear Residuary Body *West Midlands Residuary Body *West Yorkshire Residuary Body

Ad hoc bodies established by Part IX

* London Research Centre

References

{{Margaret Thatcher United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1985 Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning England Local government legislation in England and Wales