Local Government Act 1933
Local Government Act, 1933
(23 & 24 Geo. 5.) CHAPTER 51.
An Act to consolidate with amendments the enactments relating to authorities for the purposes of local government in England and Wales exclusive (except in relation to certain matters) of London.
[17th November 1933]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I.—
Constitution and Elections.
Local Government Areas.
Local Government Areas.
1 Division into administrative areas.
(1) For the purposes of local government, England and Wales (exclusive of London) shall be divided into administrative counties and county boroughs, and administrative counties shall be divided into county districts, being either non-county boroughs, urban districts or rural districts, and county boroughs and county districts shall consist of one or more parishes.
(2) Subject to any alteration of boundaries or the constitution of new authorities which may take effect after the passing of this Act—
(a ) the administrative counties shall be the administrative counties which are named in Part I of the First Schedule to this Act;
(b ) the county boroughs shall be the boroughs which are named in Part II of the First Schedule to this Act;
(c ) the non-county boroughs shall be the boroughs which are named in Part III of the First Schedule to this Act;
(d ) the urban districts shall be the urban districts other than boroughs existing at the passing of this Act;
(e ) the rural districts shall be the rural districts existing at the passing of this Act; and
(f ) the parishes shall be the urban parishes which at the passing of this Act are comprised in boroughs or urban districts, and the rural parishes which at the passing of this Act are comprised in rural districts.
(3) Every county borough shall, with respect to the functions which the council of the borough discharge, form a separate administrative area.
Administrative Counties.
Constitution of County Councils.
2 Establishment of county councils.
(1) For every administrative county there shall be a county council consisting of the chairman, county aldermen and county councillors, and the council shall have all such functions as are vested in the county council by this Act or otherwise.
(2) The county council shall be a body corporate by the name of the county council with the addition of the name of the administrative county, and shall have perpetual succession and a common seal and power to hold land for the purposes of their constitution without licence in mortmain.
Chairman and Vice-Chairman of County Council.
3 Chairman of county council.
(1) The chairman of a county council shall be elected annually by the county council from among the county aldermen or county councillors or persons qualified to be county aldermen or county councillors.
(2) The chairman shall, unless he resigns or ceases to be qualified or becomes disqualified, continue in office until his successor becomes entitled to act as chairman.
(3) During his term of office, the chairman shall continue to be a member of the council notwithstanding the provisions of this Act relating to the retirement of county councillors at the end of three years.
(4) The county council may pay to the chairman such remuneration as they think reasonable.
(5) The chairman shall, by virtue of his office, be a justice of the peace for the county, but before acting as such justice he shall take the oaths required by law to be taken by a justice of the peace for the county, unless he is, at the date on which he becomes entitled to act as chairman, a justice of the peace for the county and has taken the oaths required by law to be taken to enable him to act as a justice of the peace for the county.
4 Election of chairman.
(1) The election of the chairman shall be the first business transacted at the annual meeting of the county council.
(2) An outgoing county alderman shall not, as alderman, vote at the election of a chairman.
(3) In the case of an equality of votes, the person presiding at the meeting, whether or not entitled to vote in the first instance, shall have a casting vote.
5 Vice-chairman.
(1) A county council shall appoint a member of the council to be vice-chairman of the council.
(2) The vice-chairman shall, unless he resigns or ceases to be qualified or becomes disqualified, hold office until immediately after the election of a chairman at the next annual meeting of the council and during that time shall continue to be a member of the council notwithstanding the provisions of this Act relating to the retirement of county councillors at the end of three years.
(3) Subject to any standing orders made by the county council, anything authorised or required to be done by, to or before the chairman may be done by, to or before the vice-chairman, except that he shall not, as vice-chairman, act as a justice of the peace.
County Aldermen.
6 County aldermen.
(1) The county aldermen shall be elected by the county council from among the county councillors or persons qualified to be county councillors.
(2) The number of county aldermen shall be one-third of the whole number of county councillors or, if that number is not divisible by three, one-third of the highest number below that number which is divisible by three:
Provided that, if at the commencement of this Act the number of county aldermen for any county exceeds the number permitted by this section, the number of such county aldermen shall not be reduced until the ordinary election of county aldermen held next or next but one after the commencement of this Act, as the Secretary of State may direct.
(3) If a county councillor is elected to and accepts the office of county alderman, his office of county councillor shall thereupon become vacant.
(4) In every third year, being the year in which county councillors are elected, one half as near as may be of the whole number of county aldermen, being those who have been county aldermen for the longest time without re-election, shall retire immediately after the election of the new county aldermen, and their places shall be filled by the newly elected county aldermen who shall come into office on that day.
7 Election of county aldermen
(1) The ordinary election of county aldermen shall be held in every third year, being the year in which county councillors are elected, at the annual meeting of the county council, and shall take place immediately after the election of the chairman.
(2) A county alderman shall not, as such, vote at the election of a county alderman.
(3) Every person entitled to vote may vote for any number of persons, not exceeding the number of vacancies to be filled, by signing and delivering at the meeting to the person presiding thereat a voting paper containing the full names and places of residence and descriptions of the persons for whom he votes.
(4) The person presiding at the meeting, as soon as all the voting papers have been delivered to him, shall openly produce and read them or cause them to be read, and then deliver them to the clerk of the county council to be kept for six months.
(5) In the case of an equality of votes, the person presiding at the meeting, whether or not entitled to vote in the first instance, shall have a casting vote.
(6) As many persons as there are vacancies to be filled, being the persons who have the greatest number of votes, shall be declared by the person presiding at the meeting to be elected.
County Councillors.
8 Term of office, retirement, &c. of countycouncillors.
(1) The county councillors shall be elected by the local government electors for the county in manner provided by this Act.
(2) The term of office of county councillors shall be three years, and they shall retire together in every third year, on the eighth day of March, and their places shall be filled by the newly-elected councillors, who shall come into office on that day.
9 Day of election of county councillors.
9. The ordinary day of election of county councillors shall be such day, not being earlier than the first day and not later than the eighth day of March, as the county council may, not later than the preceding twenty-fifth day of January, fix for that purpose, and, if no date is so fixed, shall be the eighth day of March.
Election of County Councillors.
10 Division of county into electoral divisions.
10. For the purpose of the election of county councillors, every county shall be divided into electoral divisions, each returning one councillor, and there shall be a separate election for each electoral division.
11 Alteration of electoral divisions.
(1) A county council may at any time, either on the receipt of proposals from the council of a county district or without any such proposals, make a representation to the Secretary of State for the alteration of the boundaries of any electoral division of the county, or of the number of county...
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