Introduction

This page gives access to the websites of the three tiers of local government which control Ruddington's affairs. It is not always apparent which tier is responsible for which function, so a short history of how the various councils came into being might help - or it might confuse things further:-

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE STRUCTURE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The basis of the modern system of local government was created by the Local Government Act 1972 which took effect on 1st April 1974. All the then existing councils, with the exception of parish councils in England, ceased to exist and were replaced by:-

Counties
For local government purposes England (excl. London) was divided into 39 non-metropolitan counties and six metropolitan counties, all with county councils.

Districts
Both the non-metropolitan counties and the metropolitan counties were divided into new districts which completely superseded the former non-county boroughs, urban districts and rural districts. Each new district has a council and a large number of these districts have since applied for, and been granted, borough status in consequence of which the chairman bears the title of ‘Mayor’ or ‘Lord Mayor’.

Parishes, Towns and Communities
Before the re-organisation by the 1972 Act the parish was part of a rural district for local government purposes and although rural district councils were swept away the 1972 Act retained all existing parish councils.

The general pattern is that any place in England and Wales (other than the London boroughs, some Metropolitan districts and some of the more recently formed Unitary authorities) has at least two councils, and possibly three, a situation which may be considered as wasteful in terms of administrative costs, but is certainly confusing to many inhabitants in that it is often difficult to ascertain which council has responsibility for a particular matter which concerns them.

The County Council is responsible for: Education (the most expensive local function), personal social services, youth development, libraries, planning (in conjunction with the District Councils) but County Councils look after strategic planning, consumer protection, waste disposal, police and fire services.

Highways (apart from Motorways and trunk roads) and transportation are the responsibility of the County Council as a highway authority, with delegation of some functions to district councils under agency arrangements.

The Borough Council is responsible for: housing, most environmental health, refuse collection, clean air, markets, local licensing and cemeteries (sharing this with parish, town and community councils).

County & Borough Councils have concurrent powers in respect of: museums and art galleries, country parks, conservation areas. They also share responsibility for footpaths, recreational facilities, local parks and open spaces with parish, town and community Councils.

Political Representation

The navigation bar includes links to the MP representing Rushcliffe at Westminister and, via the Rushcliffe Borough Council Website, the six euro-MPs (MEPs) who represent our region at the European Parliament. The bottom button links to the gloriously sounding Government Office of the East Midlands - I'll leave them to explain precisely what they do!