Local Government Act 1985

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to abolish the Greater London Council and the metropolitan county councils; to transfer their functions to the local authorities in their areas and, in some cases, to other bodies; and to provide for other matters consequential on, or connected with, the abolition of those councils.
Citation	1985 c. 51
Territorial extent	England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent	16 July 1985
Commencement	1 April 1986 (1986-04-01)
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Local Government Act 1985 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

English metropolitan county councils abolished by the Local Government Act 1985

Principal local authorities in England after the passing of the act

The Local Government Act 1985 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Its main effect was to abolish the six county councils of the metropolitan counties that had been set up in 1974, 11 years earlier, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with the Greater London Council 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's government 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 for the 1983 general election pledged their abolition, describing the councils as "a wasteful and unnecessary tier of government".^[1] Having won a landslide victory in the 1983 General Election, the government published a white paper in October of that year, Streamlining the cities. Its proposals formed the basis of the Local Government Bill.^[2]

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 boroughs themselves and London boroughs 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.^[3]

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, which had previously been a committee of the GLC responsible for education in Inner London, as a directly elected body. This was to remain in existence for only three years.

The Local Government Act 1972 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.

References