Local Government Act 1958
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| Long title | An Act to make further provision, as respects England and Wales, with respect to grants to local or police authorities, with respect to the rating of industrial and freight-transport hereditaments and of transport, electricity and gas authorities, with respect to the making of changes in the area, name, status and functions of local authorities, and with respect to local government finance and elections; to amend the law in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland as to the making by trustees of loans to local and other authorities; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid. |
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| Citation | 6 & 7 Eliz.2 c.55 |
| Introduced by | Henry Brooke |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 23 July 1958 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Local Government Act 1972 |
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Status: Repealed
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| Text of the Local Government Act 1958 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk | |
The Local Government Act 1958 (6 & 7 Eliz.2 c.55) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom affecting local government in England and Wales outside London. Among its provisions it included the establishment of Local Government Commissions to review the areas and functions of local authorities, and introduced new procedures for carrying these into action.
The Act originated in three government white papers.
The first of these, Local government - areas and status of local authorities in England and Wales, was published on 31 July 1956 (Cmnd. 9831). Rather than completely reforming the local government system, it proposed a partial overhaul of the existing system. Two local government commissions, one for England and one for Wales, were to be established to carry out reviews under these guidelines. The commissions were to have powers to:
The County of London was to be excluded from the reviews.
The Association of Municipal Authorities, which represented 432 boroughs in England and Wales gave its considered response to the paper in December. They pointed out that there were "unhappy relationships" between many county councils and boroughs in their area, with the inconsistent delegation of powers by the counties to the boroughs. The Association wished for these powers to be conferred by legislation instead of delegated.
They also wanted any future reviews of county districts to be conducted by the commissions and not by county councils. They also stated their view that the population requirement for new county boroughs should be based on projected rather than present population. They also suggested that where rural parishes were included in an extended borough, the parish council should continue to exist, and that it should be possible to create parish councils within existing urban areas. The Association also recommended that additional powers be devolved from the county to the boroughs in Middlesex.
The second white paper Local government - functions of county councils and county district councils was published on 2 May 1957 (Cmnd. 161). The document proposed giving additional powers to larger non-county boroughs and urban districts. Such towns, if they had a population of 60,000 would be entitled to assume responsibility for a number of county-level functions among which were education, welfare and health services, libraries, classified roads, bridges, licensing of cinemas and theatres if they so wished. County councils would also be permitted to delegate these powers to smaller county districts. Rural districts with less than 6,000 inhabitants would not be eligible to gain delegated powers, and those already exercising them would lose them.
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