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Local Government Act 1972
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Everything about The Local Government Act 1972 totally explained

The Local Government Act 1972 (1972 c. 70) is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, that reformed local government in England and Wales, on 1 April 1974.
   Its pattern of two-tier metropolitan and non-metropolitan county and district councils remains in use today in large parts of England, although the metropolitan county councils were abolished in 1986 and it was replaced with unitary authorities in many areas in the 1990s. In Wales, it established a similar pattern of counties and districts. These have since been entirely replaced with a system of unitary authorities. In Scotland, the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 established a similar system of two-tier regions and districts in 1975 — this was also replaced by a system of unitary council areas in 1996. Elections were held to the new authorities in 1973, and they acted as 'shadow authorities' until the handover date. Elections to county councils were held on April 12, for metropolitan and Welsh districts on May 10 for non-metropolitan district councils on June 7.

England

Background

Elected county councils had been established in England and Wales for the first time in 1888, covering areas known as administrative counties. Some large towns, known as county boroughs were politically independent from the counties they were physically situated in. The county areas were two-tier, with many municipal borough, urban district and rural districts within them, each with its own council.
   Apart from the creation of new county boroughs, the most significant change since 1899 (and the establishment of metropolitan boroughs in the County of London) had been the establishment in 1965 of Greater London and its thirty-two London boroughs, covering a much larger area than the previous county of London. A Local Government Commission for England was set up in 1958 to review local government arrangements throughout the country, and had some successes, such as merging two pairs of small administrative counties to form Huntingdon and Peterborough and Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely, and the creation of several contigous county boroughs in the Black Country. However, the Local Government Commission was routinely having its recommendations ignored in favour of the status quo, such as its proposal to abolish Rutland, or to reorganise Tyneside.
   It was generally agreed that there were significant problems with the structure of local government. They invited comments from interested parties regarding the previous government's proposals. The Association of Municipal Corporations put forward a scheme with 13 provincial councils and 132 main councils, about twice the number proposed by Redcliffe-Maud.

White Paper and Bill

The incoming government's proposals for England were presented in a White Paper published in February 1971. The White Paper substantially trimmed the metropolitan areas, and proposed a two-tier structure for the rest of the country. Many of the new boundaries proposed by the Redcliffe-Maud report were retained in the White Paper. The proposals were in large part based on ideas of the County Councils Association, Urban District Councils Association and the Rural District Councils Association.
   The White Paper outlined principles, including an acceptance of the 250,000 minimum limit for education authorities in the Redcliffe-Maud report, and its finding that the division of governance between town and country had been harmful, but that some functions were better performed by smaller units. It gave the division of functions between the districts and the counties, and also suggested a minimum population of 40,000 for districts. The government aimed to introduce the bill in the 1971/1972 session of Parliament for elections in 1973 and the new authorities coming into full power on April 1, 1974. The White Paper held off on making any commitments on regional or provincial government, waiting instead for the Crowther Commission to report back. The Bill as introduced also included two new major changes based around the concept of unifying estuaries - Humberside on the Humber estuary, and the inclusion of Harwich and Colchester in Suffolk to unify the Stour estuary. The latter was removed from the Bill before it became law. Proposals from Plymouth for a Tamarside county were rejected. It also provided names for the new counties for the first time.
   The main amendments made to the areas during the Bill's passage through Parliament were
  • renaming of Malvernshire to Hereford and Worcester (the name "Wyvern" was also suggested)
  • renaming of Teesside to Cleveland, exclusion of Whitby
  • renaming of Tyneside to Tyne and Wear
  • removal of Seaham from Tyne and Wear, keeping it in County Durham
  • removal of Skelmersdale and Holland from Merseyside
  • exclusion of Newmarket and Haverhill from Cambridgeshire, kept in Suffolk (despite protests of Newmarket UDC, which was happy to see the town transferred to Cambridgeshire)
  • keeping the Isle of Wight independent of Hampshire
  • adding part of Lothingland Rural District from Suffolk to Norfolk In the Bill as published, the Dorset/Hampshire border was between Christchurch and Lymington. On 6 July 1972, a government amendment added Lymington to Dorset, which would have had the effect of having the entire Bournemouth conurbation in one county (although the town in Lymington itself doesn't form part of the built-up area, the borough was large and contained villages which do). The House of Lords reversed this amendment in September, with the government losing the division 81 to 65. In October, the government brought up this issue again, proposing an amendment to put the western part of Lymington borough. The amendment was withdrawn.
       The government lost divisions in the House of Lords at Report Stage on the exclusion of Wilmslow and Poynton from Greater Manchester and their retention in Cheshire, and also on whether Rothwell should form part of the Leeds or Wakefield districts. (Rothwell had been planned for Wakefield, but an amendment at report stage was proposed by local MP Albert Roberts
       Two more metropolitan districts were created than originally in the Bill:
  • Rochdale and Bury were originally planned to form a single district (dubbed "Botchdale" by local MP Michael Fiddler) Rochdale took Middleton from Oldham in compensation.
  • Knowsley wasn't originally planned, and was formed from the western part of the planned St Helens district
       Protests from Rutland and Herefordshire failed, although Rutland was able to secure its treatment as a single district despite not even managing to meet the stated minimum population of 40,000 for districts.
       Several metropolitan boroughs fell under the 250,000 limit, including three of Tyne and Wear's five boroughs (North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Gateshead), and the four metropolitan boroughs that had resulted from the splitting of the proposed Bury/Rochdale and Knowsley/St Helens boroughs.

    Wales

    In Wales, the background was substantially different. The Redcliffe-Maud Commission hadn't considered Wales, which had been the subject of the Welsh Office proposals in the 1960s. A White Paper was published in 1967 on the subject of Wales, based on the findings of the 1962 report of the Local Government Commission for Wales. The White Paper proposed five counties, and thirty-six districts. The county boroughs of Swansea, Cardiff and Newport would be retained, but the small county borough of Merthyr Tydfil would become a district. The proposed counties were as follows
       After the 1970 general election, the new Conservative government published a Consultative Document in February 1971, at the same time as the English White Paper. The proposals were similar to the Labour proposals of 1968, except that the county boroughs were instead two-tier districts, and that Glamorgan was to be subdivided into West Glamorgan and East Glamorgan, making 7 counties and 36 districts.
       In the Bill as introduced Glamorgan had been split into three authorities: with East Glamorgan further subdivided into a Mid Glamorgan covering the valleys, and South Glamorgan. The decision to split East Glamorgan further left South Glamorgan with only two districts (one of which was the Conservative-controlled Cardiff, who had requested the split) and Mid Glamorgan one of the poorest areas in the country. The Labour-controlled Glamorgan County Council strongly opposed this move, placing adverts in newspapers calling for Glamorgan to be saved from a "carve up", and demanding that the East/West split be retained. The resulting South Glamorgan was the only Welsh county council the Conservatives ever controlled (from 1977-1981).
       Apart from the new Glamorgan authorities, all the names of the new Welsh counties were in the Welsh language, with no English equivalent. The names were taken from ancient British kingdoms. Welsh names were also used for many of the Welsh districts. There were no metropolitan counties and, unlike in England, the Secretary of State couldn't create future metropolitan counties there under the Act.

    The Act

    After much comment, the proposals were introduced as the Local Government Bill into Parliament soon after the start of the 1971/1972 session.
       In the Commons it passed through Standing Committee D, who debated the Bill in fifty-one sittings from 25 November 1971, to 20 March 1972.
       The Act abolished previous existing local government structures, and created a two-tier system of counties and districts everywhere. Some of the new counties were designated metropolitan counties, containing metropolitan boroughs instead. The allocation of functions differed between the metropolitan and the non-metropolitan areas (the so-called 'shire counties') — for example, education and social services were the responsibility of the shire counties, but in metropolitan areas was given to the districts. The distribution of powers was slightly different in Wales than in England, with libraries being a county responsibility in England — but in Wales districts could opt to become library authorities themselves. One key principle was that education authorities (non-metropolitan counties and metropolitan districts), were deemed to need a population base of 250,000 in order to be viable.
       Although called two-tier, the system was really three-tier, as it retained civil parish councils, although in Wales they were renamed community councils.
       The Act introduced 'agency', where one local authority (usually a district) could act as an agent for another authority. For example, since road maintenance was split depending upon the type of road, both types of council had to retain engineering departments. A county council could delegate its road maintenance to the district council if it was confident that the district was competent. Some powers were specifically excluded from agency, such as education.
       The Act abolished various historic relics such as aldermen. Many existing boroughs that were too small to constitute a district, but too large to constitute a civil parish, were given Charter Trustees.
       Most provisions of the Act came into force at midnight on 1 April 1974. Elections to the new councils had already been held, in 1973, and the new authorities were already up and running as 'shadow authorities', following the example set by the London Government Act 1963.

    The new local government areas

    The Act specified the composition and names of the English and Welsh counties, and the composition of the metropolitan and Welsh districts. It didn't specify any names of districts, nor indeed the borders of the non-metropolitan districts in England — these were specified by Statutory Instrument after the passing of the Act. A Boundary Commission, provided for in the Act, had already begun work on dividing England into districts whilst the Bill was still going through Parliament.
       In England there were 46 counties and 296 districts, in Wales there were 8 and 37. Six of the English counties were designated as metropolitan counties. The new English counties were based clearly on the traditional ones, albeit with several substantial changes. The 13 historic counties of Wales, however, were abandoned entirely for administrative purposes, and 8 new ones instituted.
       The Act substituted the new counties "for counties of any other description" for purposes of law. This realigned the boundaries of ceremonial and judicial counties used for lieutenancy, custodes rotulorum, shrievalty, commissions of the peace and magistrates' courts to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties. The Act also extended the rights of the Duchy of Lancaster to appoint Lord-Lieutenants for the shrunken Lancashire along with all of Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
       In England prior to the passing of the Act there had been 1086 urban and rural districts and 79 county boroughs. The number of districts was reduced about fourfold.

    England

    Metropolitan counties

    Metropolitan county Existing geographic county or subdivision County boroughs Other parts
    Greater Manchester Cheshire Stockport urban north-east Cheshire
    Lancashire Bury, Bolton, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Wigan urban south-east Lancashire
    Yorkshire, West Riding none Saddleworth urban district
    Merseyside Cheshire Birkenhead, Wallasey most of Wirral peninsula
    Lancashire Bootle, Liverpool, St Helens, Southport urban south-west Lancashire
    South Yorkshire Yorkshire, West Riding Barnsley, Doncaster, Sheffield, Rotherham southern West Riding
    Nottinghamshire none Finningley
    Tyne and Wear Durham Gateshead, South Shields, Sunderland urban north-east Durham
    Northumberland Tynemouth, Newcastle upon Tyne urban south-east Northumberland
    West Midlands Staffordshire Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton Aldridge-Brownhills
    Warwickshire Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull Sutton Coldfield, Meriden Gap
    Worcestershire Warley Halesowen and Stourbridge
    West Yorkshire Yorkshire, West Riding Bradford, Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield western West Riding of Yorkshire

    Metropolitan districts

    Metropolitan county Metropolitan district County boroughs Other components
    Greater Manchester Bury Bury Prestwich, Radcliffe, Ramsbottom (part), Tottington, Whitefield (Lancashire)
    Bolton Bolton Blackrod, Farnworth, Horwich, Kearsley, Little Lever, Turton (part), Westhoughton (Lancashire)
    Manchester Manchester Ringway from Bucklow Rural District (Cheshire)
    Oldham Oldham Chadderton, Shaw and Crompton, Failsworth, Lees and Royton (Lancashire); Saddleworth (West Riding)
    Rochdale Rochdale Heywood, Littleborough, Middleton, Milnrow and Wardle (Lancashire)
    Salford Salford Eccles, Irlam, Worsley, Swinton and Pendlebury (Lancashire)
    Stockport Stockport Bredbury and Romiley, Cheadle and Gatley, Hazel Grove and Bramhall and Marple (Cheshire)
    Tameside none Dukinfield, Hyde, Longdendale, Stalybridge (Cheshire); Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Mossley (Lancashire)
    Trafford none Altrincham, Bowdon, Hale, Sale, part of Bucklow Rural District (Cheshire); Stretford, Urmston (Lancashire)
    Wigan Wigan Abram, Ashton-in-Makerfield (most), Aspull, Atherton, Billinge-and-Winstanley (part), Golborne (part), Hindley, Ince-in-Makerfield, Leigh, Orrell, Standish-with-Langtree, Tyldesley, part of Wigan Rural District (Lancashire)
    Merseyside Knowsley none Huyton-with-Roby, Kirkby, Prescot, Simonswood, part of Whiston Rural District (Lancashire)
    Liverpool Liverpool none
    St Helens St Helens Ashton-in-Makerfield (part), Billinge-and-Winstanley (part) Haydock, Newton-le-Willows, Rainford, part of Whiston Rural District (Lancashire)
    Sefton Bootle, Southport Crosby, Formby, Litherland, part of West Lancashire Rural District (Lancashire)
    Wirral Birkenhead, Wallasey Bebington, Hoylake, Wirral (Cheshire)
    South Yorkshire Barnsley Barnsley Cudworth, Darfield, Hoyland Nether, Penistone, Royston, Wombwell, Worsbrough; Penistone Rural District, part of Hemsworth Rural District; part of Wortley Rural District (West Riding)
    Doncaster Doncaster Adwick le Street, Bentley with Arksey, Conisbrough, Mexborough, Tickhill (West Riding), Finningley (Nottinghamshire)
    Sheffield Sheffield Stocksbridge, part of Wortley Rural District (West Riding)
    Rotherham Rotherham Maltby, Rawmarsh, Swinton, Wath upon Dearne; Kiveton Park Rural District, Rotherham Rural District (West Riding)
    Tyne and Wear Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne Gosforth, Newburn, part of Castle Ward Rural District (Northumberland)
    North Tyneside Tynemouth Wallsend, part of Whitley Bay, Longbenton, part of Seaton Valley (Northumberland)
    Gateshead Gateshead Blaydon, Felling, Ryton and Whickham, part of Chester-le-Street Rural District (Durham)
    South Tyneside South Shields Jarrow, Boldon, Hebburn (Durham)
    Sunderland Sunderland Hetton, Houghton-le-Spring, Washington, part of Easington Rural District, part of Chester-le-Street Rural District (Durham)
    West Midlands Birmingham Birmingham Sutton Coldfield (Warwickshire)
    Coventry Coventry Allesley and Keresley from Meriden Rural District (Warwickshire)
    Dudley Dudley Halesowen and Stourbridge (Worcestershire)
    Sandwell Warley and West Bromwich none
    Solihull Solihull many parishes from Meriden Rural District, and Hockley Heath from Stratford-on-Avon Rural District (Warwickshire)
    Walsall Walsall Aldridge-Brownhills (Staffordshire)
    Wolverhampton Wolverhampton none
    West Yorkshire Bradford Bradford Baildon, Bingley, Denholme, Ilkley, Keighley, Queensbury and Shelf (part), Shipley, Silsden; part of Skipton Rural District (West Riding)
    Calderdale Halifax Brighouse, Elland, Hebden Royd, Queensbury and Shelf (part), Ripponden, Sowerby Bridge, Todmorden, Hepton Rural District (West Riding)
    Kirklees Dewsbury, Huddersfield Batley, Colne Valley, Denby Dale, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Kirkburton, Meltham, Mirfield, Spenborough (West Riding)
    Leeds Leeds Aireborough, Garforth, Horsforth, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwell; part of Tadcaster Rural District, part of Wetherby Rural District, part of Wharfedale Rural District (West Riding)
    Wakefield Wakefield Castleford, Featherstone, Hemsworth, Horbury, Knottingley, Normanton, Ossett, Pontefract, Stanley; Wakefield Rural District, part of Hemsworth Rural District, part of Osgoldcross Rural District (West Riding)

    Non-metropolitan counties

    Non-metropolitan county Existing geographic county or subdivision County boroughs Other parts
    Avon Gloucestershire Bristol southern part
    Somerset Bath northern part (including Weston-super-Mare)
    Bedfordshire Bedfordshire Luton all
    Berkshire Berkshire Reading all except part around Abingdon in Oxfordshire
    Buckinghamshire none southern tip (including Slough)
    Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire none all except southern tip (including Slough) in Berkshire
    Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely none all
    Huntingdon and Peterborough none all
    Cheshire Cheshire Chester all except Tintwistle Rural District (to Derbyshire), north-eastern urban area (to Greater Manchester), Wirral peninsula (to Merseyside)
    Lancashire Warrington mid-southern part, including Widnes
    Cleveland Durham Hartlepool Stockton Rural District
    Yorkshire, North Riding Teesside urban north
    Cornwall Cornwall none all
    Cumbria Cumberland Carlisle all
    Westmorland none all
    Lancashire Barrow-in-Furness North Lonsdale
    Yorkshire, West Riding none Sedbergh Rural District
    Derbyshire Derbyshire Derby all
    Cheshire none Tintwistle Rural District
    Devon Devon Exeter, Plymouth, Torbay all
    Dorset Dorset none all
    Hampshire Bournemouth area around Christchurch
    Durham Durham Darlington all except urban north-east (to Tyne and Wear) and Stockton Rural District (to Cleveland)
    East Sussex East Sussex Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings all except eastern strip (to West Sussex)
    Essex Essex Southend-on-Sea all
    Gloucestershire Gloucestershire Gloucester all except southern part (to Avon)
    Hampshire Hampshire Portsmouth, Southampton all except part around Christchurch (to Dorset)
    Hereford and Worcester Herefordshire none all
    Worcestershire Worcester all except Stourbridge and Halesowen (to West Midlands)
    Hertfordshire Hertfordshire none all
    Humberside Lincoln, Parts of Lindsey Grimsby northern strip including Scunthorpe and Cleethorpes
    Yorkshire, East Riding Kingston upon Hull all except northern fringe
    Yorkshire, West Riding none Goole and Goole Rural District
    Isle of Wight Isle of Wight none all
    Kent Kent Canterbury all
    Lancashire Lancashire Blackburn, Blackpool, Burnley, Preston central part only (south-east to Greater Manchester, south-west part to Merseyside, mid-south to Cheshire, North Lonsdale to Cumbria)
    Yorkshire, West Riding none area including Barnoldswick
    Leicestershire Leicestershire Leicester all
    Rutland none all
    Lincolnshire Lincolnshire, Parts of Holland none all
    Lincolnshire, Parts of Lindsey Lincoln all but northern strip including Scunthorpe and Cleethorpes
    Lincolnshire, Parts of Kesteven none
    Norfolk Norfolk Norwich all
    East Suffolk none part of Lothingland Rural District near Great Yarmouth
    North Yorkshire North Riding of Yorkshire York all except urban north (to Cleveland) and Startforth Rural District (to Durham)
    Yorkshire, West Riding northern part including Harrogate, Knaresborough and Selby
    Yorkshire, East Riding northern part including Filey
    Northamptonshire Northamptonshire Northampton all
    Northumberland Northumberland none all except urban south-east (to Tyne and Wear)
    Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire Nottingham all except Finningley (to South Yorkshire)
    Oxfordshire Oxfordshire Oxford all
    Berkshire none area around Abingdon
    Salop (Shropshire) Salop none all
    Somerset Somerset none all except northern part (including Weston-super-Mare)
    Staffordshire Staffordshire Burton upon Trent, Stoke-on-Trent all except Aldridge-Brownhills
    Suffolk East Suffolk and West Suffolk Ipswich all, except part of north-east Suffolk near Great Yarmouth to Norfolk
    Surrey Surrey none all except Gatwick Airport
    Warwickshire Warwickshire none all except Sutton Coldfield and Meriden Gap (to West Midlands)
    West Sussex West Sussex none all
    East Sussex none eastern strip
    Wiltshire Wiltshire none all

    Non-metropolitan districts

    A list of non-metropolitan districts can be found at at List of English districts. The Local Government Boundary Commission originally proposed 278 non-metropolitan districts in April 1972 (still working with the county boundaries found in the Bill). A further eighteen districts were added in the final proposals of November 1972, which were then ordered.
       The splits were as follows (in most cases the splits were not exact, and many other changes to the borders of the districts took place at this time)
  • Devon: Torridge/North Devon
  • Dorset : Weymouth and Portland/Purbeck, North Dorset/East Dorset
  • Durham : Wear Valley/Teesdale
  • Hereford and Worcester : Hereford/South Herefordshire/Leominster
  • Humberside: Holderness/North Wolds
  • Isle of Wight: South Wight/Medina
  • Lancashire: Hyndburn/Rossendale
  • Leicestershire : Rutland/Melton, Harborough/Oadby and Wigston
  • Lincolnshire: Boston/South Holland
  • Northamptonshire: Daventry/South Northamptonshire
  • Northumberland : Berwick-upon-Tweed/Alnwick
  • Shropshire : Oswestry/North Shropshire, Bridgnorth/South Shropshire
  • Somerset: Taunton Deane/West Somerset
  • Suffolk: Forest Heath The new district in Suffolk was necessitated by the decision to keep Newmarket in Suffolk; which would otherwise have become part of the South Cambridgeshire district.

    Isles of Scilly

    Section 265 af the Act allowed for the continuation of the local government arrangements for the Isles of Scilly. The Isles of Scilly Rural District Council became the Council of the Isles of Scilly, and certain services were to continue to be provided by Cornwall County Council as provided by order in council made by the Secretary of State, although the Isles were not technically in Cornwall before or after 1974.

    Wales

    New county Existing geographic county County boroughs Other parts
    Clwyd Flintshire none all
    Denbighshire none all except Llanrwst and area
    Merionethshire none Edeyrnion Rural District
    Dyfed Cardiganshire none all
    Carmarthenshire none all
    Pembrokeshire none all
    Gwent Monmouthshire Newport except parts in Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan
    Breconshire none Brynmawr and Llanelly
    Gwynedd Anglesey none all
    Caernarvonshire none all
    Merionethshire none all except Edeyrnion Rural District
    Denbighshire none Llanrwst and area
    Mid Glamorgan Glamorgan Merthyr Tydfil Aberdare, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Pontypridd, Rhondda etc
    Breconshire none Penderyn and Vaynor
    Monmouthshire none Bedwas and Machen, Rhymney, part of Bedwellty
    Powys Montgomeryshire none all
    Radnorshire none all
    Breconshire none all except parts to Gwent and Mid Glamorgan
    South Glamorgan Glamorgan Cardiff Barry, Cowbridge, Penarth
    Monmouthshire none St Mellons
    West Glamorgan Glamorgan Swansea Glyncorrwg, Neath, Llwchwr, Port Talbot

    Map

    England
    1. Northumberland
    2. Tyne and Wear †
    3. County Durham
    4. Cleveland
    5. North Yorkshire
    6. Cumbria
    7. Lancashire
    8. Merseyside †
    9. Greater Manchester †
    10. West Yorkshire †
    11. South Yorkshire †
    12. Humberside
    13. Lincolnshire
    14. Nottinghamshire
    15. Derbyshire
    16. Cheshire
    17. Shropshire
    18. Staffordshire
    19. West Midlands †
    20. Warwickshire
    21. Leicestershire
    22. Northamptonshire
    23. Cambridgeshire
    1. Norfolk
    2. Suffolk
    3. Essex
    4. Hertfordshire
    5. Bedfordshire
    6. Buckinghamshire
    7. Oxfordshire
    8. Gloucestershire
    9. Hereford and Worcester
    10. Avon
    11. Wiltshire
    12. Berkshire
    13. Greater London *
    14. Kent
    15. East Sussex
    16. West Sussex
    17. Surrey
    18. Hampshire
    19. Isle of Wight
    20. Dorset
    21. Somerset
    22. Devon
    23. Cornwall
    Wales
    1. Gwent
    2. South Glamorgan
    3. Mid Glamorgan
    4. West Glamorgan
    1. Dyfed
    2. Powys
    3. Gwynedd
    4. Clwyd
    † metropolitan county * 'administrative area' created in earlier legislation

    Elections

    Elections were held to the new authorities on three different Thursdays in 1973. Each new county and district was divided into electoral divisions, known as wards in the districts. For county councils, each electoral division elected one member; for metropolitan district councils, each ward elected three members; and wards in non-metropolitan districts could elect a varying number of members. There wasn't sufficient time to conduct a full warding arrangement so a temporary system was used: in some county councils electoral divisions elected multiple councillors.
       The two-tier structure established was also seen as problematic. In particular the division of planning between districts and counties was a source of friction between the new councils. Further complaints surrounded the loss of water supply and sewerage powers to regional water authorities created by the Water Act 1973. This was felt to reduce the ability of district councils to plan new housing developments. The campaigners claimed 10,000 signatures in favour of diverting the county boundary to include the "Berkshire White Horse". The calls were rejected by the local MP, Airey Neave, who pointed out that the horse predated county boundaries and by the chairman of the Vale of White Horse District Council. Professor Anthony Fletcher af the Department of Medieval History of the University of Sheffield suggested that the new councils place signs at the boundaries of ancient counties.
       Some of the reaction against the Act came not from people concerned with the preservation of historic counties, but instead was motivated solely by opposition to change. The Isle of Wight, for example, is historically part of Hampshire, yet resisted efforts to reintegrate with it administratively; and the county borough councils regretted the loss of their status. Especially stung was the City and County of Bristol, which had had its own Lord Lieutenant for centuries.
       Most of the criticism of the Act, however, centred on the size of the new districts. The new Minister, whose party had opposed the reforms in opposition, hoped that “it will be more efficient – but it could easily become more remote”. In order to combat this, Crosland was considering the creation of "neighbourhood councils" in unparished areas of the new districts.

    Adaption

    The system established, however, wasn't to last. In England a series of incremental measures amended the act. Firstly, the county councils of the metropolitan counties were abolished in 1986 by Margaret Thatcher's government, effectively re-establishing county borough status for the metropolitan boroughs. Secondly, a review of local government outside the metropolitan counties was announced in 1989. The consequential local government reform in the 1990s led to the creation of many new unitary authorities, and the complete abolition of Avon, Cleveland, Hereford and Worcester and Humberside. Names such as Herefordshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire reappeared as local government entities, although often with new boundaries. Several former county boroughs such as Derby, Leicester and Stoke on Trent regained unitary status. Additionally, another wave of unitary authorities will be formed in 2009. In Wales there was a more radical change in policy with the two-tier system entirely abolished in 1996, and replaced with the current principal areas of Wales. The 1974 counties have been retained as preserved counties for various purposes, notably as ceremonial counties, albeit with substantive border revisions.

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