Misplaced Pages

#34965

58-499: Medway Council is the local authority of Medway , a local government district in the ceremonial county of Kent , England. The council is a unitary authority , being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council ; it is independent from Kent County Council . The council was created on 1 April 1998 and replaced Rochester-upon-Medway City Council and Gillingham Borough Council . The council has been under Labour majority control since 2023. It meets at

116-505: A Mayor of London and 25-member London Assembly . The first mayoral and assembly elections took place in 2000. The former Leader of the Greater London Council , Ken Livingstone , served as the inaugural Mayor, until he was defeated by future Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2008 . The incumbent, Sadiq Khan , was first elected in 2016 . The Mayor's functions include chairing Transport for London , holding

174-468: A non-metropolitan county council and two or more non-metropolitan district councils share responsibility for these services. In single-tier areas a unitary authority , London borough , or metropolitan borough provides all services. The City of London and Isles of Scilly have unique local authorities. The London boroughs, metropolitan boroughs, and some unitary authorities collaborate through regional authorities. The Greater London Authority (GLA)

232-483: A county council and a district council, which would share local authority functions. In May 2022, 21 non-metropolitan county councils and 164 non-metropolitan district councils remain. These are better known as simply county councils and district councils. The Local Government Act 1985 also abolished metropolitan county councils, but there are still 36 metropolitan district councils as of May 2022. There are also (as of April 2023) 62 unitary authorities. These carry out

290-547: A devolution deal, which are usually reserved to combined authorities for additional functions and funding. And, like some combined authorities and parish councils, local authorities do have a general power of competence . Separate to combined authorities, two or more local authorities can also work together through joint boards (for legally-required services: fire, public transport and waste disposal), joint committees (voluntarily) or through contracting out and agency arrangements. The Greater London Authority Act 1999 established

348-741: A large increase in powers necessitated a change of office; previously the department had worked out of the Lord Chancellor's offices in the House of Lords , but it now moved to dedicated offices in Whitehall . The passing of the Supreme Court Act 1981 and a 1992 move that transferred responsibility for the magistrates' courts to the department also served to increase its responsibilities. The department ceased to exist as an independent body in 2003, when its functions were transferred to

406-515: A local authority. Ten currently exist, with more planned. Parish councils form the lowest tier of local government and govern civil parishes . They may also be called a 'community council', 'neighbourhood council', 'village council', 'town council' or (if the parish holds city status) 'city council', but these names are stylistic and do not change their responsibilities. As of December 2021 there are 10,475 parishes in England, but they do not cover

464-633: A parish council must meet certain conditions of quality. Civil parishes developed in the nineteenth century and were based on the Church of England's parishes , which until then had both ecclesiastical and local government functions; parish councils were created by the Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73). The ecclesiastical parishes continue to exist, but neither they nor their parochial church councils have any local government role. There are 317 local authorities covering

522-561: A whole has limited revenue-raising powers compared to other G7 countries. In the 20th century, local authorities found that the costs of providing services exceeded the revenues raised from local taxes and so grants from the UK Government (specifically the Treasury ) gradually increased. However, UK Government grants were cut by 40% in real terms between the financial years 2009/10 and 2019/20, although grant income did grow due to

580-532: A yearly budget of £2.4 billion. The Lord Chancellor's Department was significantly different from other government departments in a number of ways. Until 1992 it had no representative in the House of Commons ; as Speaker of the House of Lords the Lord Chancellor could not sit in the House of Commons. The department was also exempt from being scrutinised by the parliamentary select committees , something which changed in 1990. The Permanent Secretary also had to be

638-481: Is a public interest in disclosing information about local government investments which will generally outweigh any concerns about whether disclosure could affect an investment's performance or be protected by confidentiality requirements. Local authorities cannot borrow money to finance day-to-day spending and so must rely on yearly income or reserves for this type of expenditure, although they can borrow to fund capital expenditure. Local government in England as

SECTION 10

#1732766039035

696-517: Is clear both practically and democratically that the overly centralised arrangements of government in England are problematic" and that reform was also needed of funding structures. As of May 2024, the various combined authorities, county, district, and sui generis councils formed an administrative hierarchy as shown in the table below. Unitary authorities are legally either district councils which also perform county functions or county councils which also perform district functions; they therefore straddle

754-462: Is the regional authority for Greater London , with responsibility for transport, policing, fire and rescue, development and strategic planning. Combined authorities are statutory bodies which allow two or more local authorities to voluntarily pool responsibilities and negotiate a devolution deal with the UK Government for the area they cover, giving it powers beyond those typically held by

812-563: The COVID-19 pandemic . Local government receives two types of grants: the Revenue Support Grant, which can be spent on any service according to the wishes of the local government body in question, and specific grants, which are usually 'ring fenced' to specifically defined service areas. Council tax was introduced in 1993 to replace the ' poll tax '. It is a domestic property tax, based on eight bands (A to H) depending on

870-717: The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and London Fire Commissioner to account and keeping strategies up to date, including the London Plan . Meanwhile, it is the Assembly's role to regularly hold the Mayor and their key advisers to account and it can also amend the budget or a strategy by a two-thirds majority, though this has not ever happened as of March 2022. Combined authorities can be created at

928-970: The Courts Service , the Official Solicitor's Office , the Office of the Judge Advocate General , the Legal Aid Board and several more government agencies. The office was run by the Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Office , a senior member of the Civil Service who also served as Clerk of the Crown in Chancery . The office he ran was initially small, consisting of five individuals;

986-548: The Localism Act 2011 . In every area, one local authority acts as the billing authority (the district council in two-tier areas), which prepares and collects council tax bills. Other parts of local government (like county councils in two-tier areas, police and crime commissioners, fire authorities, parish councils and combined authorities) act as precepting authorities, which notify the relevant billing authority of their decision on council tax and later receive this money from

1044-553: The Lord Chancellor with jurisdiction over England and Wales . Created in 1885 as the Lord Chancellor's Office with a small staff to assist the Lord Chancellor in his day-to-day duties, the department grew in power over the course of the 20th century, and at its peak had jurisdiction over the entire judicial system and a staff of over 22,000. In 2003, it was succeeded by the Department for Constitutional Affairs (now

1102-504: The Ministry of Justice ). The department was created in 1885 by Lord Selborne , who was the Lord Chancellor at the time. The Lord Chancellor was the only cabinet minister (other than those without portfolio ) not to have a department of civil servants answerable to him, and justified the expenditure of creating a permanent department by saying that: The Lord Chancellor, though Minister of Justice for almost every purpose unconnected with

1160-720: The St George's Centre in the Chatham Maritime area of the borough and has its main offices at Gun Wharf in Chatham. Throughout the 19th century there had been proposals to join the Medway towns under a single authority. By 1903 moves began to take place: that year saw the creation of the Borough of Gillingham, to which, in 1928, the adjoining parish of Rainham was added. In 1944, a Medway Towns Joint Amalgamation Committee

1218-518: The St George's Centre , along with some committee meetings. It was completed in 1906 as a chapel for the Royal Naval Barracks, Chatham . The building has a Chatham postal address, but was in the borough of Gillingham prior to the creation of Medway in 1998. The council's main offices are usually at Gun Wharf on Dock Road in Chatham. The building was completed in 1978 as offices for Lloyd's of London . They vacated it in 2006, after which

SECTION 20

#1732766039035

1276-636: The sui generis City of London Corporation . The other sui generis local authorities are the Council of the Isles of Scilly , Middle Temple and Inner Temple . Outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly , the Local Government Act 1972 divided England into metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties, which would have one county council and multiple district councils each. That meant that each area would be covered by two tiers of local authorities - both

1334-459: The 1960s it had a staff of only 13 trained lawyers and a few secretaries. The passing of the Courts Act 1971 and the additional duties it gave to the Lord Chancellor's Department forced it to expand, and by the time it ceased to exist as an independent department it had a staff of 12,000 direct employees, 10,000 indirect employees, 1,000 buildings (more than any other government department) and

1392-477: The 1982 letters patent, when it was abolished, it also ceased to be a city. The other local government districts with city status that were abolished around this time ( Bath and Hereford ) appointed charter trustees to maintain the existence of the city and the mayoralty. However, Rochester-upon-Medway City Council had decided not to and as a result their city status was rescinded. Medway Council apparently only became aware of this when they discovered that Rochester

1450-468: The Criminal Law, had no assistance of the kind given to the other chief Departments of State, either of permanent secretaries or under secretaries. The officers attached to him were personal and liable to change with every change of government.. but on each change of government the lack of continuity was more or less felt; and as the Lord Chancellor's Department work had a constant tendency to increase,

1508-573: The Electoral Commission has recommended that all authorities use whole council elections every 4 years. Local authorities have a choice of executive arrangements under the Local Government Act 2000 : mayor and cabinet executive, leader and cabinet executive, a committee system or bespoke arrangements approved by the Secretary of State. As of April 2023, just 15 local authorities have directly-elected mayors . Some functions are just

1566-527: The Labour Party as of 2024 except for Tees Valley . Each combined authority's executive consists of a representative from each of its constituent local authorities, plus (if applicable) the mayor. Functions can be devolved directly to the mayor, to the combined authority as a whole, or have a different decision-making requirement. The budget and functions of each combined authority can be vastly different, but possible functions include responsibility for

1624-519: The Lord Chancellor's Department grew in power in the 1920s, with the transfer of control of the county courts from HM Treasury to the department in 1922 and the Supreme Court (consolidation) Act 1925. The power of the department reached its peak after the Courts Act 1971 was passed, which modernised the English court system and put the Lord Chancellor's Department in direct control. Such

1682-474: The Permanent Secretary, his personal secretary, the personal secretary to the Lord Chancellor, the Secretary of Presentations (who advised the Lord Chancellor on the appointment of senior members of the Church of England ) and the Secretary of Commissions (who advised the Lord Chancellor on the appointment of magistrates ). The department stayed small compared to other ministerial departments; in

1740-637: The Secretary of State the power to provide for a directly-elected combined authority mayor . And, as of May 2022, nine out of the 10 combined authorities have mayors, including Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester and Andy Street in the West Midlands . In the 2024 local elections , new Combined Authorities were elected; they were the new York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority , North East Mayoral Combined Authority , East Midlands Combined County Authority . They are all controlled by

1798-405: The agreement of the relevant local authorities, and under the Localism Act 2011 eligible parish councils can be granted a " general power of competence " (GPC) which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this

Medway Council - Misplaced Pages Continue

1856-604: The billing authority. Between financial years 2009/10 and 2021/22, council tax rates increased by 30% in real terms, in light of reduced grants from the UK Government. Business rates is a tax on business premises. It is based on the rateable value of the premises (set by the Valuation Office Agency ) and a business rate multiplier. It is set and collected by billing authorities. Reforms in 2013 now mean that local authorities keep 50% of business rate revenues raised locally. The UK Government then distributes

1914-556: The body and those from Rochester voting against. The motion to disband was passed on the casting vote of the chairman, Alderman Semple from Chatham. Under the Local Government Act 1972 , on 1 April 1974 the City of Rochester, the Borough of Chatham and part of Strood Rural District were amalgamated to form the Borough of Medway , a local government district in the county of Kent. Gillingham chose to remain separate. Under letters patent

1972-459: The changes that the Acts required. Due to the odd nature of the Lord Chancellor's Office compared to other government departments (it was staffed almost entirely by lawyers and had an initial staff of only five) it developed slightly differently from other departments, regarding itself more as a lobbying organisation for the judges and the courts than a traditional government department. The office

2030-426: The committee. In 1960, a proposal was made by Rochester Council that the merger be effected by the city absorbing the two other towns, in order to safeguard its ancient charters and city status. This led to Gillingham Council voting to leave the committee, as it believed the three towns should go forward as equal partners. On 9 March, the committee held its last meeting, with the Chatham representatives voting to dissolve

2088-472: The council bought the building to use as its headquarters. The building was temporarily closed in 2023 following the discovery of problems with parts of the building's reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete structure. The building is not anticipated to reopen until 2026. [REDACTED] Media related to Medway Council at Wikimedia Commons Local government in England Civil parishes are

2146-415: The council was held in 1997. It acted as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements formally came into effect on 1 April 1998. Political control of the council since 1998 has been as follows: The role of Mayor of Medway is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council . The first leader, John Shaw, had been the last leader of

2204-412: The county and district columns. Metropolitan districts and London boroughs are also shown straddling the county and district columns. In much of the country there is also a lower tier of civil parishes . This administrative hierarchy differs from the ceremonial hierarchy . Lord Chancellor%27s Office The Lord Chancellor's Department was a United Kingdom government department answerable to

2262-540: The entire borough. On 1 April 1998, the existing local government districts of Rochester-upon-Medway and Gillingham were abolished under the local government review and merged to become the new unitary authority of Medway, administratively independent from Kent County Council . The Lieutenancies Act 1997 was amended to keep Medway in Kent for ceremonial purposes. Since it was the local government district of Rochester-upon-Medway that officially held city status under

2320-576: The financial year 2019/20, local authorities received 22% of their funding from grants, 52% from council tax and 27% from retained business rates. In the financial year 2023/24, 51% of revenue expenditure is expected to come from UK Government grants, 31% from council tax and 15% from retained business rates. Local government can also receive some money from fees and charges for the use of services, returns and interest from investments , commercial income, fixed penalty notices and capital receipts. The Information Commissioner's Office has ruled that there

2378-411: The former city council area was to continue to be styled the "City of Rochester" to "perpetuate the ancient name" and to recall "the long history and proud heritage of the said city". The city was unique, as it had no council or charter trustees and no mayor or civic head. In 1979, the Borough of Medway was renamed as Rochester-upon-Medway , and in 1982 further letters patent transferred the city status to

Medway Council - Misplaced Pages Continue

2436-703: The functions of both county and district councils and have replaced two-tier local government in some areas. The creation of these first became possible under the Local Government Act 1992 , but now takes place under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 . In the 2023/24 financial year, 33% of budgeted service expenditure across local government as a whole is set to be on education , 19% on adult social care , 13% on police , 11% on children's social care and 24% on all other services. Notably, Cornwall Council has been subject to

2494-565: The honour as part of The Queen's Diamond Jubilee civic honours competition. Ultimately Medway was unsuccessful with the eventual winners being Chelmsford (Essex), Perth (Perthshire), and St Asaph (Denbighshire). As a unitary authority, the council provides both district-level and county-level services. Parts of the borough (generally the more rural north and south-west) are included in civil parishes , which form an additional tier of local government for their areas. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2023. The first election to

2552-413: The lowest tier of local government, and primarily exist in rural and smaller urban areas. The responsibilities of parish councils are limited and generally consist of providing and maintaining public spaces and facilities. Local authorities cover the entirety of England, and are responsible for services such as education, transport, planning applications, and waste collection and disposal. In two-tier areas

2610-590: The newly created Department for Constitutional Affairs (which itself became the Ministry of Justice in 2007). At the time of its merger the Lord Chancellor's Department was charged with appointing and advising on the appointment of judges, running the court system and a certain number of tribunals and assisting in the reform of the English law . To this end it controlled the Public Trust Office ,

2668-550: The old Rochester-upon-Medway City Council. The leaders since 1998 have been: Following the 2023 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to July 2024, the composition of the council was: Four of the independents sit together as the 'Independent Group'. The next election is due in 2027. Since the last boundary changes in 2023, the council has comprised 59 councillors representing 24 wards , with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. Full council meetings are generally held at

2726-523: The people within government are unsure at times where powers and responsibility, and hence accountability, rest, this lack of clarity is magnified for individuals who have little knowledge or experience of the structures. This has the potential to leave individuals less likely to be able to access what they need from government, leaving them often unable to know who is responsible, and as a result are not properly able to hold their democratic representatives to account. The Committee also said that "[t]he evidence

2784-442: The pressure of that lack increased with it. The department was originally named the Lord Chancellor's Office, with the first employees simply being transferred from Selborne's personal retinue to the new office. The need for the office was partly due to the Supreme Court of Judicature Acts of 1873 and 1875 , which significantly changed the structure of the courts and increased the Lord Chancellor's workload as he struggled to enact

2842-773: The relevant police force and/or fire brigade , bus franchising and spatial strategy. Lower-tier of a two-tier system. Upper-tier of a two-tier system. De facto unitary authorities since abolition of metropolitan county councils . Metropolitan county councils were abolished in 1986 and most of their functions were devolved to the metropolitan boroughs making them unitary authorities in all but name. Some combined and regional authorities may assume responsibility for policing, e.g. South Yorkshire . Some combined and regional authorities may assume responsibility for policing, e.g. Greater Manchester . In England, local authorities have three main sources of funding: UK Government grants, council tax and business rates . In

2900-478: The remaining 50% of business rate revenues according to its own judgement. It was initially planned to increase the proportion of business rates that local authorities retain to 100%, but this was indefinitely delayed in 2021. In 2022, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee said that it had "significant concerns about the current governance arrangements for England": If

2958-527: The request of two or more local authorities. Combined authorities do not replace the local authorities in question, but can receive separate functions and funding. As of May 2022, there are 10 combined authorities covering some of England. The Secretary of State was first granted the power to create combined authorities by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 . The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 gave

SECTION 50

#1732766039035

3016-513: The responsibility of the executive of a local authority, but local authorities must also have at least one overview and scrutiny committee to hold the executive to account. The London Government Act 1963 established 32 London borough councils. It also established the Greater London Council , covering the whole of Greater London , but this was later abolished by the Local Government Act 1985 . Greater London also includes

3074-411: The value of the property on 1 April 1991. Various discounts are set out in law and exist at the discretion of billing authorities. On a yearly basis, local government bodies review and consider whether to increase or decrease the level of council tax to fund their spending plans. The level at which a local authority can increase council tax each year without holding a local referendum is regulated by

3132-560: The whole of England. There are five main types of local authorities: London borough councils , two-tier county and district councils , metropolitan district councils and unitary authorities . Some local authorities have borough , city or royal borough status, but this is purely stylistic. All local authorities are made up of councillors , who represent geographical wards . There are 7,026 wards as of December 2021. Local authorities run on four year cycles and councillors may be elected all at once, by halves or by thirds; although

3190-430: The whole of the country as many urban parishes were abolished in 1974. The only specific statutory function of parish councils, which they must do, is establishing allotments . However, there are a number of other functions given by powers in the relevant legislation, which they can do, such as providing litter bins and building bus shelters . Their statutory functions are few, but they may provide other services with

3248-640: Was formed by the borough corporations of Chatham, Gillingham and Rochester, to discuss the possibility of the towns forming a single county borough . In 1948 the Local Government Boundary Commission recommended that the area become a "most purposes" county borough, but the recommendation was not carried out. In 1956 the Joint Amalgamation Committee decided in favour of the amalgamation and invited representatives from Strood Rural District Council to join

3306-467: Was initially little more than a personal entourage for the Lord Chancellor and did little administrative work, with it being described in 1912 as "not far removed from an interesting little museum". The appointment of Claud Schuster as Permanent Secretary in June 1915 changed this; he set about reforming the office to allow it to effectively run the court system. Initially with only a limited jurisdiction

3364-507: Was not on the Lord Chancellor's Office 's list of cities. Medway applied for city status in the 2000 and 2002 competitions, but was unsuccessful. In 2010, it started to refer to the "City of Medway" in promotional material, but it was rebuked and instructed not to do so in future by the Advertising Standards Authority . Medway Council made a further bid for city status in 2012, when three cities were afforded

#34965