65-556: Bedford , or the Borough of Bedford , is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire , England. The council is based in Bedford , the borough's namesake and principal settlement, which is the county town of Bedfordshire. The Bedford built-up-area is the 71st largest in the United Kingdom and also includes Kempston and Biddenham . Away from
130-494: A border with Greater London . Also, Hereford and Worcester was abolished and replaced by the unitary authority of Herefordshire and the shire county of Worcestershire . Berkshire was split into six unitary authorities, but not formally abolished. The local government reform did not affect police areas , or fire and rescue service areas, but resulted in the setting of many more joint boards for such authorities: previously county councils were represented on these bodies, and
195-514: A county council. It thus is not a unitary authority as those are such authorities created under the Local Government Act 1992 . The 36 metropolitan borough councils are also the sole elected local government units in their areas (except for parish councils in a few locations), but share strategic functions with joint boards and arrangements. On the other hand, the City of London Corporation and
260-448: A high degree of autonomy as counties corporate . Some smaller settlements also enjoyed some degree of autonomy from regular administration as boroughs or liberties . The Local Government Act 1972 created areas for local government where large towns and their rural hinterlands were administered together. The concept of unitary units was abandoned with a two-tier arrangement of county and district councils in all areas of England, except
325-579: A junior local government minister during the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, was appointed as Secretary of State for the Environment (and thus responsible for local government) in John Major 's first cabinet of 1990. Heseltine was an enthusiast for unitary local government, and was also an early proponent of the idea of directly elected mayors , to be taken up by Tony Blair 's government in
390-579: A local government authority which combines the functions of a county council and a district council. Strictly speaking, the term does not necessarily mean a single level of local government within an area, because in some cases there are also parish councils in the same area. Although the term was not applied to them, county boroughs between 1889 and 1974 were effectively unitary authority areas, that is, single-tier administrative units. Before 1889, local government authorities had different powers and functions, but from medieval times some cities and towns had
455-524: A number of multiple member wards from which councillors are elected in the same way as in two-tier district council elections. The exceptions, which are divided into electoral divisions as in county council elections, are Cornwall, County Durham, the Isle of Wight, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire. Districts are usually named after a town, city, geographical area or county (historic and or ceremonial). With no effect on powers or functions, districts can have
520-461: A pattern followed also in County Durham ( Darlington ), Devon ( Plymouth and Torbay ), East Sussex ( Brighton & Hove ), Essex ( Southend-on-Sea ), Nottinghamshire ( Nottingham ), Staffordshire ( Stoke-on-Trent ) and Wiltshire ( Thamesdown ). The Commission recommended the abolition of two county councils – Berkshire (which was to have five unitary authorities) and Dorset (which
585-485: A review of all the non-metropolitan counties of England from 1993 to 1994, making various recommendations on their future. After much political debate and several legal challenges, the Commission's proposals resulted in the abolition of Berkshire county council and the counties of Avon , Cleveland , Hereford and Worcester and Humberside (created in 1974). Combined with a second wave of reviews in 1995, under
650-535: A structure based on unitary authorities is called 'restructuring'. The Secretary of State responsible for local government invites proposals from local areas to restructure into unitary authorities, and the Secretary decides whether or not the change should be implemented. The restructuring is carried out by an Order. There are no examples in the UK of councils restructuring back into a two-tier system. Unitary authorities combine
715-555: A type of local authority responsible for all local government services in an area. They combine the functions of a non-metropolitan county council and a non-metropolitan district council, which elsewhere in England provide two tiers of local government. Unitary authorities are constituted under the Local Government Act 1992 , which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to allow the existence of non-metropolitan counties that do not have multiple districts. Most were established during
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#1732851659281780-555: A unitary authority. The proposal for an entirely unitary structure had been strongly supported by the County Council earlier, though with time and a change in political composition of the Council, it changed its mind and took this decision to court, seeking to have the entire Order declared invalid. The High Court ruled in their favour, but the Court of Appeal quashed this decision. This led to
845-451: A wish for most of the country to become unitary authorities, Howard issued revised guidance on the basis that the "two-tier structure may be appropriate in some areas", and that the costs of reorganisation might be too much for the recession-hit UK economy to take. The Commission, chaired by John Banham (named to the post in November 1991, before the legislation had been passed to create
910-534: Is based at Borough Hall on Cauldwell Street on the banks of the River Great Ouse in the centre of Bedford. The building was previously known as County Hall and had been the headquarters of Bedfordshire County Council prior to 2009. The unitary authority area is divided into 28 wards for elections to the Borough Council. Most of the area of the pre-1974 municipal borough of Bedford is unparished , although
975-489: The 2024 general election , and in her Autumn budget statement , Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves outlined that a forthcoming English Devolution Bill would include plans for "working with councils to move to simpler structures that make sense for their local areas", suggesting that a new round of local government reorganisation could be likely. The process of changing from a two-tier local government to
1040-521: The Commons that the government would not fully accept the Commission's proposals and certain districts would be referred to the Commission for a further review. He also announced John Banham's resignation in protest at this. For Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire and Dorset the government did not accept the Commission's recommendations for an entirely unitary structure, and decided to only make Luton , Milton Keynes , Bournemouth and Poole unitary, with
1105-741: The Isle of Wight , Humberside , Lincolnshire , North Yorkshire and Somerset was nearly done by the end of 1993. Banham had said that the Commission was expecting "early wins" in Cleveland, Humberside and Avon. The first recommendation, published in 1993, was the quite uncontroversial one to make Isle of Wight a unitary authority. The island had been split between South Wight and Medina boroughs, with an Isle of Wight County Council, since 1974. Three more final reports, for Cleveland, Derbyshire and Durham, were published in November 1993. In both Derbyshire and Durham, unitary authorities would be created covering
1170-630: The Isles of Scilly where the small size and distance from the mainland made it impractical. In 1986 a broadly unitary system of local government was introduced in the six metropolitan counties and Greater London , where the upper-tier authorities were abolished and their functions were split between central government, the borough councils and joint boards. A review in the 1990s was initiated to select non-metropolitan areas where new unitary authorities could be created. The resulting structural changes were implemented between 1995 and 1998. Bristol, Herefordshire,
1235-415: The 'bigger is better' assumption and highlight that larger councils breed mistrust of councillors and reduction in public engagement and voter turnout. Outside the UK, multi-level local government is the prevailing system, with major towns normally having a local authority. The average size of a local authority in England is 170,000, three times that of Europe. Most unitary authority areas are divided into
1300-498: The 1990s , with more created in 2009 and 2019–23 . The size of the areas governed by unitary authorities varies greatly; the authorities created in the 1990s were generally created from single districts and covered a single large town or city, while those created since 2009 often cover entire non-metropolitan counties. The term " unitary authority " was first used in the Redcliffe-Maud Report in 1969 in its current sense of
1365-413: The 2000s. A wide range of political opinion had always favoured in principle the establishment of unitary authorities. The Labour Party had planned to implement the Redcliffe-Maud Report in the 1970s, and the party's 1982 statement of policy "Labour's Programme 1982" said "There is an irrational split of functions between the two tiers compounded by a confusing overlap of responsibilities ... We favour
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#17328516592811430-448: The 32 London borough councils, although they have a high degree of autonomy, share strategic functions with the directly elected Mayor of London and London Assembly . Unitary authorities should not be confused with another formation in English local government, the combined authority . Local Government Commission for England (1992) The Local Government Commission for England
1495-543: The Bedford built-up area the borough includes a large rural area with many villages. 75% of the borough's population live in the Bedford built-up and the five large villages which surround it, which makes up slightly less than 6% of the total land area of the borough. The borough is also the location of the Wixams new settlement, immediately south of Bedford, which received its first residents in 2009. The ancient borough of Bedford
1560-489: The Commission for consideration under the new guidance. Gummer accepted the Commission's proposal to abolish Cleveland, but asked the Commission to consider Durham and Derbyshire again under the new guidance. The Labour Party, while remaining broadly in favour of unitary authorities, attacked the Commission for inconsistency. The leader of the Labour-controlled Derbyshire County Council questioned
1625-514: The Commission on Gloucestershire, and announced its intention to refer the county back. These changes were implemented in 1996. Reviews continued throughout 1994, with draft proposals published for consultation, outlining the Commission's preferred option and other options. The Commission made extensive usage of MORI polling in each of the local areas affected to determine which options were more popular locally. For example, in Cambridgeshire,
1690-945: The Commission outlined three options for a split of the county into unitary authorities, the preferred option being a three-way split between the "City & County of Cambridge" (consisting of Cambridge , South Cambridgeshire , East Cambridgeshire ), Huntingdonshire and Peterborough & Fenland . In final reports delivered in October 1994, the Commission recommended Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire county councils be abolished and replaced with four and three unitary authorities respectively. In other counties, it backed down from more radical draft proposals, and it recommended no change in Cambridgeshire , Cheshire , Cumbria , Lancashire , Kent and Oxfordshire . In Hampshire it recommended that Southampton , Portsmouth and New Forest become unitary authorities. A further batch of reports
1755-561: The Commission was based strongly on local opinion, noting that although a fully unitary solution for much of the country would commend all-party support in the House of Commons, he thought it would cause "mayhem" when implemented. He also advocated the creation of more parish councils in unparished areas . In a letter to The Times in March 1994, he noted he had the attitude that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". On 2 March 1995, Gummer announced to
1820-630: The Commission was concerned about the lack of "internal coherence of the area" and its size. While finding against a Basildon unitary authority, the Commission recommended the removal of Billericay and Wickford from Basildon district and their addition to Brentwood and Rochford districts, leaving Basildon district focused on the Basildon New Town. The boundary alterations proposed between Basildon, Rochford and Brentwood were never implemented. The Commission also recommended boundary revisions between Peterborough and Huntingdonshire to incorporate
1885-565: The Commission), started the reviews in July 1992. The process was originally supposed to take some years, with the shire counties being considered in five waves, or "tranches", and it was hoped that the reforms would come into effect from 1994 to 1998. The process took longer than expected, with the Commission unable to recruit enough staff until November 1992. The first tranche, covering Avon , Cleveland , Derbyshire , County Durham , Gloucestershire ,
1950-489: The Isle of Wight and Rutland were established as counties of a single district; the district councils of Berkshire became unitary; the counties of Avon , Humberside and Cleveland were broken up to create several unitary authorities; and a number of districts were split off from their associated counties. The changes caused the ceremonial counties to be defined separately, as they had been before 1974. The review caused 46 unitary authorities to be created. A further review
2015-481: The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, proposed structural changes to local government in Northamptonshire . These changes would see the existing county council and district councils abolished and two new unitary authorities created in their place. One authority, West Northamptonshire , would consist of the existing districts of Daventry , Northampton and South Northamptonshire and
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2080-585: The Wrekin were. Spelthorne was added at the request of the local MP, David Wilshire . The new commission was under the chairmanship of Sir David Cooksey , previously the chairman of the Audit Commission . The commission published draft proposals on the districts referred back to it in September 1995. It recommended unitary status for Blackpool, Blackburn, Halton, Northampton, Peterborough, Thurrock, Warrington and
2145-497: The Wrekin, and also that Rochester upon Medway and Gillingham should form a Medway Towns unitary authority. The final recommendations deleted Northampton from this list, deciding that "as with Exeter and Gloucester, the separation of Northampton from its county would have a significant and detrimental effect". The government announced its acceptance of these recommendations in March 1996, and these changes were implemented in 1998. The Commission decided against unitary status for
2210-498: The chairmanship of David Cooksey , the Commission's proposals led to the creation of unitary authorities covering many urban areas of England, including cities like Bristol , Kingston upon Hull , Leicester , Derby , Nottingham , Stoke-on-Trent and Plymouth . Reforms in the rest of Great Britain followed a different course. Following the structural review, the Commission then reviewed electoral arrangements in English local authorities, re-warding based on population changes. It
2275-546: The creation in England and Wales of unitary authorities". Heseltine announced in 1991 that the government would be looking at the creation of unitary authorities in the non-metropolitan counties as part of a more general review of local government, including the abolition of the Community Charge , or poll tax. Heseltine was replaced by Michael Howard in April 1992 after the 1992 general election . Whilst Heseltine had expressed
2340-481: The creation of new unitary authorities meant that the apportionment of representatives was adjusted. In addition to having their county councils abolished, Avon, Humberside and Cleveland were abolished as non-metropolitan counties. This, and the fact that many of the new unitary authorities were in themselves non-metropolitan counties, led to the concept of ceremonial counties for the Lieutenancy , which would include
2405-567: The district was granted a royal charter granting borough status as North Bedfordshire . The borough changed its name back from North Bedfordshire to Bedford in 1992. Bedfordshire's administrative structure was reorganised as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England , meaning that Bedford Borough Council became a unitary authority in April 2009. Bedford Borough Council assumed responsibility in areas such as education, social services and transport which were previously provided by Bedfordshire County Council . The council
2470-421: The districts of Basildon , Blackburn , Blackpool , Broxtowe , Dartford , Exeter , Gedling , Gillingham , Gloucester , Gravesham , Halton , Huntingdonshire , Northampton , Peterborough , Rochester upon Medway , Rushcliffe , Thurrock , Warrington . Shadow Environment Secretary Frank Dobson suggested that Cambridge , Ipswich , Norwich , Oxford and The Wrekin be added to this list: Norwich and
2535-547: The electorate. This work was taken over by the Boundary Committee for England in 2002, and completed in 2004. † since the government rejected the Commission's proposal for a West Riding of Yorkshire authority to include parts of North Yorkshire and the Goole area of Humberside, Goole became part of the new East Riding of Yorkshire instead. Two small areas were ceded from Surrey and Buckinghamshire to Berkshire , giving it
2600-512: The entire southern township of Peterborough in the city, and also boundary changes between Spelthorne and Runnymede as a result of changes in the path of the River Thames . The Peterborough changes were implemented as part of the Order for Peterborough, coming into force in 1998, and the alterations to the boundary between Runnymede and Spelthorne were implemented on 1 April 1997. The Commission
2665-578: The historic North Riding of Yorkshire ). It recommended no change in Lincolnshire and Gloucestershire . The County Councils of Avon, Cleveland and Somerset sought judicial review to stop these proposals going forward, but the High Court found them within the law. The government accepted most of these recommendations, but also kept the status quo in Somerset ("after taking account of the number and strength of
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2730-498: The implementation of unitary authorities of Berkshire to be delayed from 1997 to 1998. In Hampshire, the Commission had proposed unitary authorities for the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton , which were accepted by the government, and the larger and more rural New Forest district, which the government did not accept. In many counties that were to remain unchanged, the government had reservations about specific districts. Gummer identified as candidates on his 2 March statement
2795-404: The inclusion of Derbyshire in the first tranche, which otherwise consisted mainly of counties newly created in 1974 and their neighbours. The revised guidance included wording as follows: In some areas the commission may wish to recommend a continuation of the existing two-tier structure. But the government expects that to be the exception, and that the result will be a substantial increase in
2860-721: The large urban areas, but the rest of the county would remain two-tier in structure. A new Secretary of State, John Gummer , had taken over in May, and he did not like these proposals, or the long time it took to produce them. Gummer sped-up the work plan and directed that all remaining reviews should start in December and be complete by the end of 1994. Gummer also issued new guidance, making it clear that wholly unitary solutions should be preferred, particularly ones smaller than existing counties but larger than existing districts. He further announced that Derbyshire and Durham would be referred back to
2925-514: The non-metropolitan districts of Aylesbury Vale , Chiltern , South Bucks , and Wycombe in Buckinghamshire were replaced by a single unitary authority known as Buckinghamshire Council on 1 April 2020. The existing unitary authority of Milton Keynes was not affected; from 1 April 2020, therefore, the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire has been composed of two unitary authority areas. In March 2018, an independent report commissioned by
2990-651: The number of unitary authorities in both urban and rural areas. Lancashire and Derbyshire County Councils, fearing their abolition under the new guidance, took a case to the High Court , seeking a judicial review that it was illegal. On 28 January, the High Court ruled in their favour, deleting the sentence in dispute, implying that the Commission should consider retaining the status quo, either in part or wholly, as an option as well. The commission recommended that Avon and Humberside should be abolished and broken up into four unitary authorities each. It also recommended that
3055-750: The other authority, North Northamptonshire would consist of Corby , East Northamptonshire , Kettering and Wellingborough districts. This was confirmed in May 2019, with the new councils being created in April 2021. In July 2021 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that in April 2023, the non-metropolitan counties of Cumbria , North Yorkshire and Somerset would be reorganised into unitary authority areas. The new authorities, Cumberland , Westmorland and Furness , North Yorkshire Council and Somerset Council were first elected in May 2022 and formally assumed their powers on 1 April 2023. The Labour Party returned to power following
3120-587: The parish of Brickhill was created within that area in 2004. The rest of the modern borough, including Kempston (the borough's only CP with a town council ), is parished . The parishes are: The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Bedford. 52°08′04″N 0°27′47″W / 52.13444°N 0.46306°W / 52.13444; -0.46306 Unitary authorities of England The unitary authorities of England are
3185-508: The powers and functions that are normally delivered separately by the councils of non-metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts. These functions are housing, waste management, waste collection, council tax collection, education, libraries, social services, transport, planning, consumer protection, licensing, cemeteries and crematoria. The breakdown of these services is as follows: Unitary government has been criticised for damaging local democracy. Opponents to unitary authority criticise
3250-474: The representations which I received opposing the recommendations"), and in North Yorkshire retained a rump two-tier North Yorkshire without York ("in the light of the strong representations which I have received opposing the Commission's recommendations for North and West Riding") – both reportedly the subject of strong lobbying by local Conservative MPs. The government did not accept the recommendations of
3315-486: The rest of the country having administrative county councils and many smaller district councils, with different competences. The 1972 Act abolished county boroughs, making them districts in two-tier counties. This, and the consequent loss of education, social services and libraries to county control, was strongly regretted by the larger towns outside the new metropolitan counties , such as Bristol, Plymouth, Stoke, Leicester and Nottingham. Michael Heseltine , who had been
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#17328516592813380-467: The rest of those counties remaining two-tier. The proposal to abolish Berkshire County Council was accepted by the government. The Commission had recommended five unitary authorities in Berkshire, based on the districts of Newbury , Reading , Wokingham , Slough , with Bracknell Forest and Windsor and Maidenhead districts merging to form a "Royal East Berkshire". Gummer decided to make each district
3445-438: The rump Somerset be broken up into three unitary authorities (West, South and Mid). It suggested that North Yorkshire be split into three unitary authorities – one for York , and two others to be called "West Riding of Yorkshire" and "North Riding of Yorkshire" (the proposed West Riding would have taken in only a small part of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire , while the proposed North Riding would have included most of
3510-464: The status of royal borough , borough or city . A district having a charter is dependent on the charter's wording: as a charter trustee to a place in the district; having joint charter to the place and district or to the district itself. Notes The Council of the Isles of Scilly is a sui generis single-tier authority, created in 1890 and since 1930 has held the "powers, duties and liabilities" of
3575-412: The three districts around Nottingham: Gedling, Broxtowe and Rushcliffe. Of the three, only Rushcliffe Borough Council supported a change. It considered but came down against unifying Dartford and Gravesham as a unitary authority (supported by Dartford but rejected by Gravesham). Exeter was considered too small. The Commission noted that Gloucester 's proximity to Cheltenham would cause issues and that
3640-556: The two towns should be governed together. The Commission rejected the case of Huntingdonshire (a historic county , and the constituency of the Prime Minister, John Major ), noting that there was "no exceptional county allegiance" and doubting the capacity of Huntingdonshire and the viability of the remaining Cambridgeshire. The Commission noted that tight boundaries for Norwich would cause a problem for unitary government, but that an extension would likely be strongly opposed. In Spelthorne
3705-493: Was "minded to approve the proposals" and a final decision to implement the two unitary authority model was confirmed in February 2018. Statutory instruments for the creation of two unitary authorities, to be named Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council and Dorset Council , have been made and shadow authorities for the new council areas were formed ahead of their creation on 1 April 2019 . Buckinghamshire County Council and
3770-573: Was a borough by prescription, with its original date of incorporation unknown. The earliest surviving charter was issued c. 1166 by Henry II , confirming to the borough the liberties and customs which it had held in the reign of Henry I . The borough became a municipal borough under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 . The District of Bedford was formed on 1 April 1974 as a merger of the existing borough of Bedford, along with Kempston Urban District and Bedford Rural District . In 1975
3835-434: Was delivered in December, recommending that Norfolk , Northamptonshire , Northumberland , Suffolk , Surrey , Warwickshire , West Sussex should remained unchanged. In Hereford and Worcester , Worcestershire would become a two-tier county whilst Herefordshire become a unitary authority. In Leicestershire , Leicester and Rutland would become unitary authorities, with the rest of the county remaining two-tier –
3900-643: Was directed in 1996 to review local government in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside , as a result of local demand for Southport to be removed from that borough. The final report recommended no change in the existing structure of local government in Sefton. In 1996, the Commission began a periodic electoral review of every local authority in England, reviewing the existing wards and electoral divisions and altering them to take into account changes in
3965-461: Was initiated in 2007 and was enacted in 2009. The review established Cornwall and Northumberland as counties of a single district; established unitary authorities in County Durham , Shropshire and Wiltshire covering the part of the county that was not already split off in the 1990s review; and divided the remainder of Bedfordshire and Cheshire into two unitary authority areas. The review caused nine unitary authorities to be created. In 2017, it
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#17328516592814030-416: Was proposed that two unitary authority areas be formed to cover the ceremonial county of Dorset . One of the authorities would consist of the existing unitary authorities of Bournemouth , Poole and the non-metropolitan district of Christchurch , the other would be composed of the remainder of the county. In November 2017, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid stated that he
4095-419: Was replaced by the Boundary Committee for England in 2002, which finished this review cycle in 2004. Local government was at the time organised under the Local Government Act 1972 , which had been passed during Edward Heath 's Conservative administration. Before this, local government in England had been a mixed system, with large urban areas being covered by unitary authorities called county boroughs , and
4160-620: Was the body responsible for reviewing the structure of local government in England from 1992 to 2002. It was established under the Local Government Act 1992 , replacing the Local Government Boundary Commission for England . The Commission could be ordered by the Secretary of State to undertake "structural reviews" in specified areas and recommend the creation of unitary authorities in the two-tier shire counties of England. The Commission, chaired by John Banham , conducted
4225-459: Was to have four). The final batch of recommendations was published in January 1995, slightly missing the deadline, and recommended no change for Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire and Shropshire. In Derbyshire it recommended the creation of a unitary city of Derby with the remainder of the county remaining two-tier. In a January 1995 interview, Banham explained the decision-making process of
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