The Local Government (County Boroughs and Adjustments) Act, 1926 ( 16 & 17 Geo. 5 c.38) was an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

that amended the

Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

, changing the process by which

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

s could be created or extended. The Act responded to the problems caused by the fact that an increasing number of

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

s were gaining

status as soon as they reached the requisite 50,000 population. This was leading to loss of territory by

administrative counties An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

. The consequent loss of population and rate base affected the finance of

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

s. On 16 February 1923, a Royal Commission had been appointed under the chairmanship of the

Earl of Onslow Earl of Onslow, of Onslow in the County of Shropshire and of Clandon Park in the County of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1801 for George Onslow, 4th Baron Onslow. History The Onslow family descends ...

to ''"inquire into the existing law and procedure relating to the extensions of county Boroughs and the creation of new County Boroughs in England and Wales, and the effect such extensions or creations on the administration of the Councils of Counties and of non-County Boroughs, Urban Districts and Rural Districts; to investigate the relations between these several local authorities; and generally to make recommendations as to their constitution, areas and functions"''. The commission published its first report in 1925, and among their recommendations were that: *All proposals to constitute a county borough should be made by private bill, and not by provisional order under the 1888 Act. *Extensions to county boroughs should be by provisional order where there were no objections, and by private bill where objections were made. *The population requirement for the creation of a county borough should be raised to 75,000 from 50,000. *In dealing with applications for extensions to existing county boroughs, the wishes of the inhabitants of the added areas should be taken into account, except where there were "weightier considerations of public advantage".First Report of the Royal Commission on Local Government: constitution and extension of county boroughs (Cmd. 2506) The 1926 Act implemented most of the commission's recommendations by making the following changes: *The

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

lost the power to constitute county boroughs by provisional order. *The corporation of a borough could not promote a bill constituting the borough into a county borough unless the population according to the last census was 75,000 or above. *County boroughs could not apply to the Minister for a provisional order extending the borough boundaries unless they had first sent a draft of their proposals to all the councils of the

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

and

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

s affected. The councils had four weeks to object. *The Minister could refuse to extend the boundaries due to objections by the affected councils, or for any other reason. *Where a provisional order to extend the municipal boundaries was refused by the Minister, the county borough corporation could promote a bill, having first informed all objectors of their intention. The last county borough constituted under the 1888 Act was

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, with a population of about 60,000, in 1927. Another county borough was not created until 1964. The provisions of the Act were later incorporated in the

Local Government Act 1933 The Local Government Act 1933 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated and revised existing legislation that regulated local government in England (except the County of London) and Wales. It remained the principal legi ...

. The population limit for county boroughs was raised to 100,000 by the

Local Government Act 1958 The Local Government Act 1958 (6 & 7 Eliz.2 c.55) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom affecting local government in England and Wales outside London. Among its provisions it included the establishment of Local Government Commissio ...

References

Sources

*Local Government (County Boroughs and Adjustments) Act 1926 {{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1926 Local government legislation in England and Wales