Local Government Act 1985

Part I — Abolition of Greater London Council and Metropolitan County Councils

Transitional provisions for interim authorities.

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• (1) On the date on which this subsection comes into force—

• (a) the Greater London Council; and

• (b) the metropolitan county councils,

shall cease to exist.

• (2) The date on which subsection (1) above comes into force is in this Act referred to as the “abolition date” and shall be 1st April 1986.

Part II — Transfer of Functions to London Borough Councils, Metropolitan District Councils and Other Existing Authorities

Preliminary

Commencement of Part II

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Except so far as otherwise provided the following provisions of this Part of this Act shall have effect from the abolition date.

Town and country planning etc.

Local planning authorities

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• (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) In paragraph 55(1) of Schedule 16 to the Local Government Act 1972 after the words “Elsewhere than in Greater London” there shall be inserted the words “, a metropolitan county”.

Development plans

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Joint planning committee for Greater London

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• (1) The local planning authorities in Greater London shall not later than the abolition date establish a joint committee to discharge the functions mentioned in subsection (2) below.

• (2) The joint committee shall—

• (a) consider and advise those authorities on matters of common interest relating to the planning and development of Greater London;

• (b) inform the Secretary of State of the views of those authorities concerning such matters including any such matters as to which he has requested their advice;

• (c) inform the local planning authorities for areas in the vicinity of Greater London, or any body on which those authorities and the local planning authorities in Greater London are represented, of the views of the local planning authorities in Greater London concerning any matters of common interest relating to the planning and development of Greater London and those areas;

and the committee may, if it thinks fit, contribute towards the expenses of any such body as is mentioned in paragraph (c) above.

• (3) The expenses of the joint committee which have been incurred with the approval of at least two-thirds of the local planning authorities in Greater London shall be defrayed by those authorities in such proportions as they may decide or, in default of a decision by them, as the Secretary of State may determine.

• (4) In this section references to the local planning authorities in Greater London are to the authorities which are the local planning authorities in Greater London for the purposes of Part II of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 or section 4 above.

Listed buildings, conservation areas and ancient monuments

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Schedule 2 to this Act shall have effect for amending the law relating to listed buildings, conservation areas, ancient monuments and certain related subjects, the principal purpose of the amendments being—

• (a) to transfer functions relating to those matters from the Greater London Council to the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England; and

• (b) to make, in the enactments relating to those functions, amendments consequential on section 3(1) above.

National Parks and countryside functions

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• (1) Schedule 3 to this Act shall have effect for transferring functions relating to National Parks and the countryside from—

• (a) the Greater London Council to London borough councils and the Common Council; and

• (b) from metropolitan county councils to metropolitan district councils.

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Highways and road traffic

Highways and road traffic functions

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• (1) Schedule 4 to this Act shall have effect for amending the law relating to highways, streets and bridges, and Part I of Schedule 5 to this Act for amending certain enactments relating to road traffic, the principal purpose of the amendments being to transfer functions relating to those matters—

• (a) from the Greater London Council to London borough councils and the Common Council; and

• (b) from metropolitan county councils to metropolitan district councils.

• (2) The supplementary provisions in Part II of Schedule 5 to this Act shall have effect in relation to the regulation of road traffic in Greater London and the metropolitan counties.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Waste regulation and disposal

Waste regulation and disposal functions

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Schedule 6 to this Act shall have effect for transferring functions relating to waste regulation and disposal—

• (a) from the Greater London Council to London borough councils and the Common Council; and

• (b) from metropolitan county councils to metropolitan district councils.

Joint arrangements for waste disposal functions

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• (1) If it appears to the Secretary of State in the case of Greater London or of any metropolitan county—

• (a) that all or any of the councils by which functions to which this section applies will be exercisable in that area from the abolition date could with advantage make joint arrangements for the discharge of all or any of those functions from that date but have not made any or any satisfactory arrangements for that purpose before 15th November 1985; or

• (b) that satisfactory arrangements for that purpose have ceased or will cease to be in operation at any time after the abolition date,

he shall by order establish for the whole or any part of that area a single authority to discharge from that date or, as the case may be, from any subsequent time all those functions or such of them as are specified in the order.

• (2) For the purposes of subsection (1) above the Secretary of State shall have particular regard to the need for satisfactory arrangements in respect of hazardous waste.

• (3) No person shall be a member of an authority established by an order under subsection (1) above unless he is a member of one of the councils for whose areas the authority is established; and any such order may make provision for enabling the Secretary of State to require the authority established by the order to submit to him a scheme for the winding up of the authority and the transfer to those councils of its functions, property, staff, rights and liabilities.

• (4) This section applies to any functions conferred by section 74 or 76 of the Public Health Act 1936, Part II of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 or section 5 or 6 of the Litter Act 1983.

• (5) The Secretary of State may by order dissolve any authority established under this section or provide for excluding any functions, or any functions in any area, from those for which the authority was established.

• (6) An order under this section may contain such supplementary and transitional provisions as the Secretary of State thinks necessary or expedient, including provisions for the transfer of property, staff, rights and liabilities and provisions amending any enactment or any instrument made under any enactment.

• (7) An order may be made by virtue of subsection (1)(a) above at any time before the abolition date.

Land drainage and flood prevention

Land drainage and flood prevention functions

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• (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) The Secretary of State may by an order made before and taking effect on the abolition date make provision for the exercise on and after that date of the functions which by virtue of Schedule 5 to that Act are exercisable by the Greater London Council in the London excluded area and for that purpose may make such consequential amendments in that Act and the Water Act 1973 as appear to him to be required.

• (3) In section 2(1) of the Reservoirs Act 1975 (local authorities for the purposes of that Act) for the words “the Greater London Council and county councils” there shall be substituted the words “the councils of counties, metropolitan districts and London boroughs”.

Administration of justice

Petty sessions areas, magistrates' courts committees etc.

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Coroners

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Local valuation panels

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The probation service

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Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous functions

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Schedule 8 to this Act shall have effect for transferring functions under the enactments there mentioned—

• (a) from the Greater London Council to London borough councils and the Common Council; and

• (b) from metropolitan county councils to metropolitan district councils.

Functions under local statutory provisions

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• (1) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act and to any other provision made by or under this Act or any other enactment—

• (a) any functions conferred by a local statutory provision which immediately before the abolition date are exercisable by the Greater London Council in or for the benefit of the whole of Greater London shall on and after that date be exercisable in or for the benefit of each London borough or the City by the council of that borough or the Common Council, as the case may be; and

• (b) any functions conferred by a local statutory provision which immediately before that date are exercisable by the council of a metropolitan county in or for the benefit of the whole of that county shall on and after that date be exercisable in or for the benefit of each district in the county by the council of that district.

• (2) In this section “local statutory provision” means a provision of a local Act (including an Act confirming a provisional order) or a provision of an instrument made under any such local Act or of an instrument in the nature of a local enactment made under any other Act.

Part III

The Inner London Education Authority

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Elections

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• (1) The ordinary elections of members of the Authority shall take place in 1986 and every fourth year thereafter, their terms of office shall be four years and they shall retire together in every such fourth year on the fourth day after the ordinary day of election of members of the Authority.

• (2) The persons elected at the ordinary elections in 1986 shall come into office on the fourth day after the day of election; and those elected at any subsequent ordinary elections shall come into office on the day on which their predecessors retire.

• (3) For the purposes of the election of members to the Authority the Inner London Education Area shall be divided into electoral divisions, each returning two members in the case of the ordinary elections in 1986 and one member in the case of any subsequent ordinary elections, and there shall be a separate election for each electoral division.

• (4) The electoral divisions shall be the areas constituted as the parliamentary constituencies in that Area by the Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983, but subject in the case of the second ordinary elections and any subsequent election to the provisions of any order under Part IV of the principal Act.

• (5) Part I of Schedule 9 to this Act shall have effect for applying to the election of members of the Authority the provisions of the Representation of the People Act 1983; and Part II of that Schedule shall have effect with respect to the alteration of the electoral arrangements for the Inner London Education Area under Part IV of the principal Act.

• (6) That Schedule has effect from the day appointed under section 18(1) above; and until the abolition date references in that Schedule to the Inner London Education Authority shall be construed as references to the Inner London Interim Education Authority.

Chairman and vice-chairman

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• (1) The Authority shall in each year appoint a chairman and a vice-chairman from among its members.

• (2) Appointments under subsection (1) above shall be the first business transacted at the annual meeting of the Authority.

• (3) Subject to any standing orders made by the Authority, anything authorised or required to be done by or in relation to the chairman may be done by or in relation to the vice-chairman.

• (4) The Authority may pay to the chairman and vice-chairman for the purpose of enabling him to meet the expenses of his office such allowance as the Authority thinks reasonable.

• (5) The chairman shall, unless he resigns or becomes disqualified, continue in office until his successor becomes entitled to act as chairman.

• (6) During his term of office the chairman shall continue to be a member of the Authority notwithstanding the provisions of this Part of this Act relating to the retirement of its members.

• (7) The vice-chairman shall, unless he resigns or becomes disqualified, hold office until immediately after the appointment of a chairman at the next annual meeting of the Authority and during that time shall continue to be a member of the Authority notwithstanding the provisions of this Part of this Act relating to the retirement of its members.

• (8) If apart from subsection (6) or (7) above the person presiding at the meeting referred to in subsection (2) above would have ceased to be a member of the Authority, he shall not be entitled to vote on the appointment except in accordance with subsection (9) below.

• (9) In the case of an equality of votes in respect of the appointment of a chairman the person presiding at the meeting shall give a casting vote in addition to any other vote he may have.

Consultation with inner London boroughs and the City

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• (1) The Authority shall in each financial year (beginning with that in which it is established) consult the council of each inner London borough and the Common Council about—

• (a) the Authority's proposals for expenditure and the financing of expenditure in the next financial year; and

• (b) the Authority's main policy objectives.

• (2) The Authority shall comply with subsection (1) above in each financial year before it determines for the purposes of section 11 of the General Rate Act 1967 the amount of its total estimated expenditure for the next financial year.

• (3) If in the course of any financial year and after complying with subsection (1) above the Authority proposes to change any of its main policy objectives or to make an addition to those objectives it shall consult any council mentioned in that subsection whose area will in the Authority's opinion be significantly affected by the proposal.

• (4) Any consultation under this section between the Authority and a council shall be carried out in such maimer as the Authority and that council may agree or, in default of agreement, as the Secretary of State may direct.

• (5) The Authority and the councils mentioned in subsection (1) above shall have regard to any guidance given by the Secretary of State as to the matters to be regarded as main policy objectives and generally as to consultation under this section; and for the purposes of any such consultation the Authority shall supply each of those councils with such information as that council may reasonably request.

• (6) Before publishing any proposals under section 12(1) or 15(3) of the Education Act 1980 (establishment, discontinuance or alteration of school or reduction of school places) the Authority shall consult the council or councils of the area or areas which the Authority considers are being served by the school in question or, in the case of the establishment of a new school, will be served by it.

Review of administration of education in inner London

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• (1) The Secretary of State may before 31st March 1991 review the exercise by the Authority of its functions relating to education.

• (2) The Secretary of State shall lay before Parliament a report on any review carried out by him under this section; and the report shall be laid not later than the date mentioned in subsection (1) above.

Part IV — Police, Fire Services, Civil Defence and Transport

Establishment of joint authorities

Preliminary

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In this Part of this Act “the appointed day”, in relation to the establishment of the authorities mentioned in the following provisions (in this Act referred to as “joint authorities”), means such day before the abolition date as the Secretary of State may by order appoint, and different days may be appointed for different authorities.

Metropolitan county police authorities

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Northumbria Police Authority

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Metropolitan county fire and civil defence authorities

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• (1) On the appointed day there shall be established for each metropolitan county a body corporate to be known by the name of that county with the addition of the words “Fire and Civil Defence Authority”.

• (2) The authorities established by this section shall be known as metropolitan county fire and civil defence authorities.

• (3) Subject to subsection (5), each metropolitan county fire and civil defence authority shall consist of members of the constituent councils appointed by them to be members of the authority.

• (4) The constituent councils in relation to a metropolitan county fire and civil defence authority shall be the councils of the metropolitan districts comprised in the county.

• (5) A metropolitan county fire and rescue authority may appoint a relevant police and crime commissioner to be a member of the authority.

• (6) An appointment under subsection (5) may only be made in response to a request by the relevant police and crime commissioner.

• (7) If a request under subsection (6) is made to a metropolitan county fire and rescue authority, the authority must—

• (a) consider the request,

• (b) give reasons for their decision to agree to or refuse the request, and

• (c) publish those reasons in such manner as they think appropriate.

• (8) In this section “relevant police and crime commissioner”, in relation to a metropolitan county fire and rescue authority, means a police and crime commissioner—