66-476: West Berkshire is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Berkshire , England. It is administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council . The district of Newbury was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the borough of Newbury, Bradfield Rural District , Hungerford Rural District and Newbury Rural District , along with part of Wantage Rural District . Until 1 April 1998, Newbury District Council and Berkshire County council were responsible for
132-497: A centralised system of local government officially called local administration as it is a branch of the Executive . The country is divided into 27 governorates ( محافظة muḥāfaẓah ; Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [moˈħɑfzˤɑ] ; genitive case : muḥāfaẓat [moˈħɑfzˤet] ; plural: محافظات muḥāfaẓāt [moħɑfˈzˤɑːt] ), the top tier of local administration. A governorate
198-470: A federal republic operates three tiers of government: federal (or central), states and local government. The country's constitution provides for each local government (which exists in a single tier countrywide), and its development areas and autonomous communities created by individual state legislation to have democratically elected local government heads. There is a ministry (or bureau) of local government and chieftaincy affairs in each state charged with
264-483: A Nazim (the word means "supervisor" in Urdu, but is sometimes translated as Mayor). Some districts, incorporating large metropolitan areas, are called City Districts. A City District may contain subdivisions called Towns and Union Councils. Council elections are held every four years. District Governments also include a District Coordination Officer (DCO), who is a civil servant in-charge of all devolved departments. Currently,
330-479: A [local] jurisdiction that has adequate political, administrative, and fiscal autonomy and authority to respond to the needs and priorities of its constituents". Questions regarding the empowerment of local government institutions, the structure and nature of local political leadership, and the extent of local self-governance and municipal autonomy are key questions of public administration and governance. Local elections are held in many countries. Egypt has
396-441: A chairperson and a number of members. In 1997, a parliamentary act was passed to reserve three seats (out of 12) in every union for female candidates. Dhaka is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. The cities with a city corporation, having mayoral elections, include Dhaka South, Dhaka North, Chittagong, Khulna, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Barisal, Rangpur, Comilla and Gazipur. Other major cities, these and other municipalities electing
462-594: A cluster of around 80 mobile phone related businesses in Newbury, while the Lambourn area is the second most important centre for the racehorse industry in Great Britain , employing over 800 people directly, and producing an annual income of £20 million. West Berkshire is also home to Atomic Weapons Establishment , near Aldermaston , Wolseley plc , Bayer and PepsiCo . The coat of arms for West Berkshire
528-516: A few locations), but share strategic functions with joint boards and arrangements. On the other hand, the City of London Corporation and the 32 London borough councils, although they have a high degree of autonomy, share strategic functions with the directly elected Mayor of London and London Assembly . Unitary authorities should not be confused with another formation in English local government,
594-571: A local authority in England is 170,000, three times that of Europe. Most unitary authority areas are divided into a number of multiple member wards from which councillors are elected in the same way as in two-tier district council elections. The exceptions, which are divided into electoral divisions as in county council elections, are Cornwall, County Durham, the Isle of Wight, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire. Districts are usually named after
660-418: A mayor and councilors for each ward, include Mymensingh, Gopalganj, Jessore, Bogra, Dinajpur, Saidapur, Narayanganj, Naogaon and Rangamati. Both the municipal heads are elected for a span of five years. The administrative divisions of Brunei mainly consist of daerah , mukim and kampung or kampong . They are organised hierarchically, with daerah being the first level and kampong the third level. All
726-530: A number of districts were split off from their associated counties. The changes caused the ceremonial counties to be defined separately, as they had been before 1974. The review caused 46 unitary authorities to be created. A further review was initiated in 2007 and was enacted in 2009. The review established Cornwall and Northumberland as counties of a single district; established unitary authorities in County Durham , Shropshire and Wiltshire covering
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#1732772581614792-687: A separate level of government, provided they are also able to raise and spend some funds on their own initiative and own responsibility." Other definitions for local governments are less prescriptive and emphasize the political or representative nature of local governments. For instance, OECD defines local governments as "decentralized entities whose governance bodies are elected through universal suffrage and which has general responsibilities and some autonomy with respect to budget, staff and assets." The Local Public Sector Alliance defines local government institutions as "a corporate body (or institutional unit) that performs one or more public sector functions within
858-554: A single large town or city, while those created since 2009 often cover entire non-metropolitan counties. The term " unitary authority " was first used in the Redcliffe-Maud Report in 1969 in its current sense of a local government authority which combines the functions of a county council and a district council. Strictly speaking, the term does not necessarily mean a single level of local government within an area, because in some cases there are also parish councils in
924-599: A smaller number of loya jirga delegates— according to allotted numbers assigned to each district. The delegates then took part in the Loya Jirga. The warlords who rule various regions of the country exert local control. The transitional government is attempting to integrate local governing authorities with the central government, but it lacks the loyalty from the warlords necessary to its governing authority. More traditional elements of political authority—such as Sufi networks, royal lineage, clan strength, age-based wisdom, and
990-655: A three-tier system of local self-government in rural areas in India; The Israeli Ministry of Interior recognizes four types of local government in Israel: Since the Meiji restoration , Japan has had a local government system based on prefectures . The national government oversees much of the country. Municipal governments were historical villages. Now mergers are common for cost effective administration. There are 47 prefectures . They have two main responsibilities. One
1056-401: A town, city, geographical area or county (historic and or ceremonial). With no effect on powers or functions, districts can have the status of royal borough , borough or city . A district having a charter is dependent on the charter's wording: as a charter trustee to a place in the district; having joint charter to the place and district or to the district itself. Notes The Council of
1122-603: A wide range of services to local residents," while "the scope of their authority is generally much less than that of central government or state governments, and they may or may not be entitled to levy taxes." They are often heavily dependent on grants (transfers) from higher levels of government, and they may also act, to some extent, as agents of central or regional governments. They should also be able to appoint their own officers, independently of external administrative control. Even when local governments act as agents of central or state governments to some extent, they can be treated as
1188-586: Is administered by a governor , who is appointed by the President of Egypt and serves at the president's discretion. Governors have the civilian rank of minister and report directly to the prime minister , who chairs the Board of Governors and meets with them on a regular basis. The Minister of Local Development coordinates the governors and their governorate's budgets. In recent years , Mali has undertaken an ambitious decentralization program, which involves
1254-473: Is as follows: Unitary government has been criticised for damaging local democracy. Opponents to unitary authority criticise the 'bigger is better' assumption and highlight that larger councils breed mistrust of councillors and reduction in public engagement and voter turnout. Outside the UK, multi-level local government is the prevailing system, with major towns normally having a local authority. The average size of
1320-517: Is divided between the Newbury and Reading West and Mid Berkshire parliamentary constituencies, the latter also extending into parts of Reading Borough . There are 10 state-funded secondary schools operating in West Berkshire as well as numerous primary schools and a special school provision. There are also a number of private schools . Further and higher education in the area
1386-405: Is divided into several unions , with each union consisting of multiple villages. In the metropolitan areas, police stations are divided into wards, which are further divided into mahallas . There are no directly elected officials at the divisional or district levels, although elected chairs of subdistricts also sit on district councils. Direct elections are held for each union (or ward), electing
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#17327725816141452-575: Is important to the area, whilst the cogwheels represent manufacturing and manufacturing achievement. The mural crown represents local government and the grassy mount symbolises the downs of the surrounding area. Finally, the horseman represents the two battles of Newbury in the English Civil War . West Berkshire Council is the local authority for the area, based at the Council Offices on Market Street in Newbury. The district
1518-567: Is mediation between national and municipal governments. The other is area wide administration. Local government is the lowest level in the system of government in Malaysia —after federal and state. It has the power to collect taxes (in the form of assessment tax), to create laws and rules (in the form of by-laws) and grants licenses and permits for any trade in its area of jurisdiction, in addition to providing basic amenities, collecting and managing waste and garbage as well as planning and developing
1584-622: Is no single, commonly accepted definition of the term, the most precise definition of local governments is provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) , which divides the general government sector into three sub-sectors (central, state, and local government) and defines local governments as "institutional units whose fiscal, legislative, and executive authority extends over the smallest geographical areas distinguished for administrative and political purposes." The IMF further notes that local governments "typically provide
1650-523: Is provided by Newbury College , however there are no universities , the nearest being the University of Reading and one of the University of West London campuses, both in the neighbouring Reading Borough. The area is served by BBC South and ITV Meridian with television signals receive from the Hannington TV transmitter. Radio stations for the area are: Local newspapers for the area
1716-531: Is the Newbury Weekly News and Newbury & Thatcham Chronicle . Unitary authorities of England The unitary authorities of England are a type of local authority responsible for all local government services in an area. They combine the functions of a non-metropolitan county council and a non-metropolitan district council, which elsewhere in England provide two tiers of local government. Unitary authorities are constituted under
1782-844: Is the lowest administrative level in Brunei and headed by a ketua kampong or village head. Its population varies from a few hundreds to tens of thousands. The subdivisions of Georgia are autonomous republics ( Georgian : ავტონომიური რესპუბლიკა , avtonomiuri respublika ), regions (მხარე, mkhare ), and municipalities (მუნიციპალიტეტი, munits'ipaliteti ). Local government is the third tier of government in India , after Union Government and State Government . The urban local bodies (municipalities) are for urban governance and panchayati raj institutions (panchayats) for rural governance. Urban Local Bodies (ULBs): Rural Local Bodies: Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), knowns as " Panchayats " are
1848-487: The Local Government Act 1992 , which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to allow the existence of non-metropolitan counties that do not have multiple districts. Most were established during the 1990s , with more created in 2009 and 2019–23 . The size of the areas governed by unitary authorities varies greatly; the authorities created in the 1990s were generally created from single districts and covered
1914-705: The barangay . The country remains a unitary state and the National Government continues to have strong influence over local government units. A province is led by a governor along with the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Council) composed of board members. A mayor leads a city or municipality while the Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Council) and the Sangguniang Bayan (Municipal Council) constitute
1980-399: The combined authority . Local government List of forms of government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state . Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such as a nation or state. Local governments generally act within
2046-596: The Berkshire Downs to the Thames Valley. The highest point in southeast/south-central England is located in West Berkshire at Walbury Hill with a summit height of 297 m (974 ft) 2 km to the south of the village of Inkpen , though the hill is not particularly prominent. West Berkshire has a number of water courses running through the area. In addition to the River Thames , there are
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2112-622: The Exchequer Rachel Reeves outlined that a forthcoming English Devolution Bill would include plans for "working with councils to move to simpler structures that make sense for their local areas", suggesting that a new round of local government reorganisation could be likely. The process of changing from a two-tier local government to a structure based on unitary authorities is called 'restructuring'. The Secretary of State responsible for local government invites proposals from local areas to restructure into unitary authorities, and
2178-461: The Isles of Scilly is a sui generis single-tier authority, created in 1890 and since 1930 has held the "powers, duties and liabilities" of a county council. It thus is not a unitary authority as those are such authorities created under the Local Government Act 1992 . The 36 metropolitan borough councils are also the sole elected local government units in their areas (except for parish councils in
2244-680: The Mayor is the supreme of each local government which is elected every 5 (Five) year by local public. Local government is the third tier of government in Pakistan , after Federal Government and Provincial Government. There are three types of administrative unit of local government in Pakistan: There are over five thousand local governments in Pakistan. Since 2001, these have been led by democratically elected local councils, each headed by
2310-499: The Peshawar parties to ensure access to weapons that were doled out to the parties by the government of Pakistan for distribution to fighters inside Afghanistan. The Taliban set up a shura (assembly), made up of senior Taliban members and important tribal from the area. Each shura made laws and collected taxes locally. The Taliban set up a provisional government for the whole of Afghanistan, but it did not exercise central control over
2376-751: The Philippines. There was an attempt to institute an autonomous region in the Cordillera , but that failed and instead the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) was established. Local governments have limited taxing authority. Most of their funds come from the national government via the Internal Revenue Allotment There are three levels of local government in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia :
2442-654: The Powers of Nazim are also held by the DCO. Local government in the Palestinian National Authority -controlled areas are divided into three main groups: Municipal councils, village council and local development committees. The Local Government Code of 1991 provides for the three levels of Local Government Units or LGUs in the Philippines : (1) the province (2) city and municipality , and (3)
2508-695: The Rivers Lambourn , Kennet , Pang , Bourne and the Kennet and Avon Canal and a number of tributaries that feed these rivers. Properties within flood plains may be at risk of flooding from rising river waters or from water coming up through the ground in some periods of heavy and/or prolonged periods of rain. Purley and Pangbourne are particularly at risk. West Berkshire has the 21st largest economy in England, characterised by low unemployment, above average wages, and abundance of jobs in technology and financial sectors. The presence of Vodafone has created
2574-672: The Secretary decides whether or not the change should be implemented. The restructuring is carried out by an Order. There are no examples in the UK of councils restructuring back into a two-tier system. Unitary authorities combine the powers and functions that are normally delivered separately by the councils of non-metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts. These functions are housing, waste management, waste collection, council tax collection, education, libraries, social services, transport, planning, consumer protection, licensing, cemeteries and crematoria. The breakdown of these services
2640-563: The Soviet occupation and the development of country-wide resistance, local areas came increasingly under the control of mujaheddin groups that were largely independent of any higher authority; local commanders, in some instances, asserted a measure of independence also from the mujaheddin leadership in Pakistan, establishing their own systems of local government, collecting revenues, running educational and other facilities, and even engaging in local negotiations. Mujaheddin groups retained links with
2706-806: The administrative divisions are under direct governance of the government through the Ministry of Home Affairs. There are four districts in Brunei: Brunei-Muara , Belait , Tutong and Temburong . The administrative level of mukim lies below the district. At present, there are 38 mukims, with 17 in Brunei-Muara, 8 in Tutong, 8 in Belait and 5 in Temburong District. A mukim is headed by a penghulu. A village (Malay: kampung or kampong)
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2772-556: The area under its jurisdiction. Gaunpalika (Rural Council) and Nagarpalika (Municipal council) are the local level divisions in Nepal . Which is ruled by third level of government after Federal and Provincial government. In Nepal there are total 753 local levels government (including 6 Metropolises , 11 Sub-metropolises , 276 Municipalities and 460 Gaunpalikas ). And there are total 6,743 wards are formed under these 753 local levels. These local government are ruled by local leaders and
2838-499: The borough councils and joint boards. A review in the 1990s was initiated to select non-metropolitan areas where new unitary authorities could be created. The resulting structural changes were implemented between 1995 and 1998. Bristol, Herefordshire, the Isle of Wight and Rutland were established as counties of a single district; the district councils of Berkshire became unitary; the counties of Avon , Humberside and Cleveland were broken up to create several unitary authorities; and
2904-545: The capital district of Bamako , seven regions subdivided into 46 cercles, and 682 rural community districts (communes). The state retains an advisory role in administrative and fiscal matters, and it provides technical support, coordination, and legal recourse to these levels. Opportunities for direct political participation, and increased local responsibility for development have been improved. In August–September 1998, elections were held for urban council members, who subsequently elected their mayors. In May/June 1999, citizens of
2970-483: The cercles will be reinstituted (formerly grouping arrondissements) with a legal and financial basis of their own. Their councils will be chosen by and from members of the communal councils. The regions, at the highest decentralized level, will have a similar legal and financial autonomy, and will comprise a number of cercles within their geographical boundaries. Mali needs to build capacity at these levels, especially to mobilize and manage financial resources. Nigeria as
3036-554: The ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire has been composed of two unitary authority areas. In March 2018, an independent report commissioned by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, proposed structural changes to local government in Northamptonshire . These changes would see the existing county council and district councils abolished and two new unitary authorities created in their place. One authority, West Northamptonshire , would consist of
3102-533: The city council, the municipal council and the municipality. The city council is the highest level of local government. The municipal councils began in 2005 and is the second level of local government. The municipality is the third level of local government. There are 178 municipalities across the kingdom. The first began in Jeddah during the Othmanic period. Each municipality is run by its city's mayor. Collectively,
3168-445: The communes elected their communal council members for the first time. Female voter turnout was about 70% of the total, and observers considered the process open and transparent. With mayors, councils, and boards in place at the local level, newly elected officials, civil society organizations, decentralized technical services, private sector interests, other communes, and donor groups began partnering to further development. Eventually,
3234-570: The existing districts of Daventry , Northampton and South Northamptonshire and the other authority, North Northamptonshire would consist of Corby , East Northamptonshire , Kettering and Wellingborough districts. This was confirmed in May 2019, with the new councils being created in April 2021. In July 2021 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that in April 2023,
3300-575: The following subdivisions: The rayons are further divided into municipalities ( Bələdiyyə ). Bangladesh is divided into eight administrative divisions, each named after their respective divisional headquarters: Barisal , Chittagong , Dhaka , Khulna , Rajshahi , Sylhet , Rangpur and Mymensingh Division . Divisions are divided into zila . There are 64 zila in Bangladesh, each further divided into upazila or thana . The area within each police station, except for those in metropolitan areas,
3366-457: The individual considers himself to belong, whether a subtribe, village, valley, or neighborhood. Local governing authority relies upon these forms of identity and loyalty. Armenia is subdivided into eleven administrative divisions . Of these, ten are provinces, known as marzer ( մարզեր ) or in the singular form marz ( մարզ ) in Armenian . Azerbaijan is administratively divided into
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#17327725816143432-531: The kingdom's municipalities make up the Ministry of Municipality and Rural Affairs (MoMRA). The Republic of China government in Taiwan consists of special municipality governments, provincial city governments and county governments for their local governments. They also have councils in each of those three local government levels. Turkey has two levels of local government; provinces (Turkish: iller) and districts (Turkish: ilçeler). The territory of Turkey
3498-619: The legislative branches of a city and municipality, respectively. A barangay is headed by the Barangay Captain and the Barangay Council . Barangays can be further divided into puroks and sitios but their leadership is unelected. The 1987 Philippine Constitution also provides for the existence of autonomous regions. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is the only autonomous region in
3564-456: The like—still exist and play a role in Afghan society. Karzai is relying on these traditional sources of authority in his challenge to the warlords and older Islamist leaders. The deep ethnic, linguistic, sectarian, tribal, racial, and regional cleavages present in the country create what is called "Qawm" identity, emphasizing the local over higher-order formations. Qawm refers to the group to which
3630-559: The local shuras. The process of setting up the transitional government in June 2002 by the Loya Jirga took many steps involving local government. First, at the district and municipal level, traditional shura councils met to pick electors—persons who cast ballots for Loya Jirga delegates. Each district or municipality had to choose a predetermined number of electors, based on the size of its population. The electors then traveled to regional centers and cast ballots, to choose from amongst themselves
3696-489: The new council areas were formed ahead of their creation on 1 April 2019 . Buckinghamshire County Council and the non-metropolitan districts of Aylesbury Vale , Chiltern , South Bucks , and Wycombe in Buckinghamshire were replaced by a single unitary authority known as Buckinghamshire Council on 1 April 2020. The existing unitary authority of Milton Keynes was not affected; from 1 April 2020, therefore,
3762-451: The non-metropolitan counties of Cumbria , North Yorkshire and Somerset would be reorganised into unitary authority areas. The new authorities, Cumberland , Westmorland and Furness , North Yorkshire Council and Somerset Council were first elected in May 2022 and formally assumed their powers on 1 April 2023. The Labour Party returned to power following the 2024 general election , and in her Autumn budget statement , Chancellor of
3828-594: The non-metropolitan district of Christchurch , the other would be composed of the remainder of the county. In November 2017, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid stated that he was "minded to approve the proposals" and a final decision to implement the two unitary authority model was confirmed in February 2018. Statutory instruments for the creation of two unitary authorities, to be named Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council and Dorset Council , have been made and shadow authorities for
3894-442: The part of the county that was not already split off in the 1990s review; and divided the remainder of Bedfordshire and Cheshire into two unitary authority areas. The review caused nine unitary authorities to be created. In 2017, it was proposed that two unitary authority areas be formed to cover the ceremonial county of Dorset . One of the authorities would consist of the existing unitary authorities of Bournemouth , Poole and
3960-668: The population resides in the East of the district, these towns and villages including Tilehurst , Theale , Purley-on-Thames and Calcot which form part of the Reading/Wokingham Urban Area . West Berkshire borders Hampshire to the south, Wiltshire to the west, Oxfordshire to the north and both the Reading and Wokingham authorities to the east. Around three-quarters of the land is designated North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , ranging from
4026-1110: The powers and functions assigned to them by law or directives of a higher level of government. In federal states , local government generally comprises a third or fourth level of government, whereas in unitary states , local government usually occupies the second or third level of government. The institutions of local government vary greatly between countries, and even where similar arrangements exist, country-specific terminology often varies. Common designated names for different types of local government entities include counties , districts , cities , townships , towns , boroughs , parishes , municipalities , municipal corporations , shires , villages , and local government areas . The same term may be used in different countries to refer to local governance institutions with vastly different institutional features, powers, or functions. In addition to general-purpose local governments, some countries have special-purpose local governments ( special districts ), such as independent school districts , elected water boards , or local service districts . Although there
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#17327725816144092-545: The region at local government level. On 1 April 1998, Berkshire County Council was abolished and Newbury District Council changed its name to West Berkshire Council and took on the former County Council's responsibilities within its area. West Berkshire is semi-rural in character, with most of the population living in the wooded Kennet valley. Apart from Newbury, the other main centres in the district include Thatcham , Hungerford , Pangbourne and Lambourn . Larger villages include Burghfield , Mortimer and Hermitage . 30% of
4158-504: The responsibility of administration at that level. Nigeria has a total of 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs). South Africa has a two-tiered local government system comprising local municipalities which fall into district municipalities, and metropolitan municipalities which span both tiers of local government. Afghanistan was traditionally divided into provinces governed by centrally appointed governors with considerable autonomy in local affairs. There are currently 34 provinces. During
4224-656: The same area. Although the term was not applied to them, county boroughs between 1889 and 1974 were effectively unitary authority areas, that is, single-tier administrative units. Before 1889, local government authorities had different powers and functions, but from medieval times some cities and towns had a high degree of autonomy as counties corporate . Some smaller settlements also enjoyed some degree of autonomy from regular administration as boroughs or liberties . The Local Government Act 1972 created areas for local government where large towns and their rural hinterlands were administered together. The concept of unitary units
4290-483: Was abandoned with a two-tier arrangement of county and district councils in all areas of England, except the Isles of Scilly where the small size and distance from the mainland made it impractical. In 1986 a broadly unitary system of local government was introduced in the six metropolitan counties and Greater London , where the upper-tier authorities were abolished and their functions were split between central government,
4356-408: Was established in 1974 for Newbury District Council. Upon the creation of the unitary authority it was inherited by West Berkshire Council. The colours of red and gold in the arms represent industry and the richness of the area, whilst the interwoven cross represents the weaving industry which was important to Newbury in past centuries. The corn on the shield represents the agriculture industry which
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