Recent Changes in The Local Government of England And Wales

Extract

The purpose of this article is to describe the principal provisions of the Local Government Act recently passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, and to give some account of the forces behind the changes, without in any way touching on the controversies of political parties. The hand and brain of man have speeded up life; social conditions change ever more rapidly, and social institutions must change with them, those of government included, though some seem to believe that they are as the rocks of the ages. The Local Government Act contains 138 sections and 12 schedules, and there is room in this paper for only the more important of its provisions.

There has been in Britain for many years a steady stream of discussion, indeed at times floods, on needed changes in the structure of local government. Minds were prepared, therefore, for reforms, even if some people had almost come to the conclusion that the obstacles would prevent more than proposals. Whatever the differences of political parties, there has been a current of continuity in the development of local government throughout the big changes of the last century. Political wind and weather may have given a twist to a branch here and there, but the main outline of the old tree has been fixed by deeper causes; the big changes have been produced by underlying social conditions, independent of party; and the Local Government Act, in most of its provisions, will be found to be in line with this continuity, whatever the conflicting views on matters of detail.