Berkshire County Council

The Council of the Royal County of Berkshire Berkshire County Council
Berkshire
Unofficial Flag of Berkshire County Council
Type
Type	Unicameral (Defunct)
History
Established	1 April 1889
Disbanded	1 April 1998
Preceded by	Court of Quarter Sessions
Succeeded by	Six unitary authorities - West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Reading and Slough.
Leadership
Chairman	C.C. Trembath
Seats	87
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	1993
Meeting place
Shire Hall, Shinfield Park, Reading

The Council of the Royal County of Berkshire — also known as the Berkshire County Council — was the top-tier local government administrative body for Berkshire from 1889 to 1998. A strategic authority, with responsibilities for education, social services, public transport, planning, emergency services and waste disposal, it was composed of 87 members. Berkshire County Council shared power with six lower-tier district councils, each of which directed local matters.

It then used these offices up until 1 April 1998, when it was split into six unitary authorities under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1992. Rather than abolition, its powers were passed to the unitary authorities of West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Reading and Slough.

The Local Government Act 1888 created County Councils to replace the Court of Quarter Sessions and elections in 1888 brought about the county council's launch.

From ‘’’A History of the first Berkshire County Council’’’:

There can be little doubt from reading the debates in Hansard that many advocates of elected County Councils thought they would bring about a new heaven and a new earth, and it is also clear that many others regarded the new County Councils as local parliaments. Both schools of thought were in time to be disillusioned.

Berkshire County Council sat originally in the Crown Court of the Assize Court in Reading (a practice that was followed in Pembrokeshire as recently as 1938) In 1903 they moved briefly to Nisi Prius Court, before finding a more permanent residence in 1911 at Shire Hall in Reading. Following the Local Government Act 1972, the council found a need to move to bigger premises at Shire Hall in Shinfield Park in the winter of 1980/1981, at an estimated cost of £27.5 Million.