The Local Government Act 2010 (c. 35) is 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 ...
. It revokes structural change orders that would have established
Exeter and
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
as
unitary authorities
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...
and prevents the implementation of the Suffolk unitary proposals.
The implementation orders were blocked by a
High Court ruling, but
Eric Pickles
Eric Jack Pickles, Baron Pickles, (born 20 April 1952) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentwood and Ongar from 1992 to 2017. He served in David Cameron's Cabinet as Secretary of State for ...
, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said the "zombie proposals" still theoretically existed and had to be killed off.
The Bill was introduced in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
on 26 May 2010. The Bill's second reading was blocked following
Lord Howarth's argument that it constituted a
hybrid bill
In the United Kingdom a hybrid bill (which becomes a hybrid instrument or Hybrid Act) is a government measure which affects a particular individual or organisation in a different manner to other individuals or companies in the same class; it thus b ...
.
It ultimately passed third reading in Lords on 5 October.
In favour of the Bill, the Government said that halting the plan would save £40 million in reorganisation costs.
, a member of the opposition Labour Party, said that the bill would "shut out Exeter and Norwich from the opportunity to become unitary councils" in "an arrogant, dictatorial and brutal way".
References
External links
Local Government Bill– official page on UK Parliament website
{{UK legislation
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2010
Local government legislation in England and Wales