An Act to make provision with respect to local government and the functions of local authorities in England and Wales; to amend Part II of the Transport Act 1968; to confer rights of appeal in respect of decisions relating to licences under the Home Counties (Music and Dancing) Licensing Act 1926; to make further provision with respect to magistrates' courts committees; to abolish certain inferior courts of record; and for connected purposes.
Citation
1972 c. 70
Territorial extent
England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent
26 October 1972
Commencement
26 October 1972 1 April 1974
Other legislation
Relates to
Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971, Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972; Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
Status: Amended
Revised text of statute as amended
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v
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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.[1] It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Government of 1970–74.
The Act took the total number of councils in England from 1,245 to 412 (excluding parish councils), and in Wales to 45.[2] Its pattern of two-tier metropolitan and non-metropolitan county and district councils remains in use today in large parts of England, although the metropolitan county councils were abolished in 1986, and both county and district councils have been replaced with unitary authorities in many areas since the 1990s. In Wales, too, the Act established a similar pattern of counties and districts,[3] but these have since been entirely replaced with a system of unitary authorities.
Elections were held to the new authorities in 1973, and they acted as "shadow authorities" until the handover date. Elections to county councils were held on 12 April, for metropolitan and Welsh districts on 10 May, and for non-metropolitan district councils on 7 June.[4]
^Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN 0-10-547072-4.
^Copus, Colin. "The political and governance implications of unitary reorganisation". Local Government Association. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^Arnold-Baker, C. (1973). Local Government Act 1972.
^The Times, 13 April, 11 May, 8 June 1973
and 22 Related for: Local Government Act 1972 information
Retrieved 23 June 2023. LocalGovernmentAct1972, ss 12A(2), 17A(2). LocalGovernmentAct1972, s 245(6). LocalGovernmentAct1972, ss 245(6), (10). "Parishes...
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The LocalGovernmentAct 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament which established county councils and county borough councils in England and...
government until the LocalGovernmentAct1972 took effect in 1974. Although local authorities acquired few new powers or duties, the Act did include a few...
The LocalGovernmentAct 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed localgovernment in England and Wales...
London GovernmentAct 1963 (c. 33) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new localgovernment structure...
searching for an idealised system of localgovernment. The most sweeping change in that period was the LocalGovernmentAct1972, which resulted in a uniform...
Vict. c. 73) Local Government Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo V c.17) LocalGovernmentAct1972 (1972 c. 70) Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's...
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closed. Land: The local board could purchase land. The 1848 act was replaced by the LocalGovernmentAct 1858 (21 & 22 Vict. c. 98). The act came into force...
election manifesto. Instead, the Heath government produced the LocalGovernmentAct1972 which reorganised localgovernment from 1 April 1974 into a two-tier...
new two-tier authorities, instead called 'counties' by the LocalGovernmentAct1972 (1972 c. 70). These counties were sub-divided into lower-tier districts...
metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties under the LocalGovernmentAct1972. In 1888 the government, led by the Tory prime minister Lord Salisbury established...
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still ambiguous in the view of some people until confirmed by the LocalGovernmentAct1972. Each county or shire consisted of fewer than a dozen hundreds...
charter of incorporation to become a municipal borough. Under the LocalGovernmentAct1972, the Municipal Borough of Farnworth was abolished on 1 April 1974...
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