Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "England" to "English Finance" / Volume 9, Slice 4

by Various

Where a borough has not a separate court of quarter sessions, but has a separate commission of the peace, the justices of the county in which the borough is situate have a concurrent jurisdiction with the borough justices in all matters arising Jurisdiction of justices; quarter sessions. within the borough. Where, however, the borough has a court of quarter sessions, the county justices have no jurisdiction within the borough. In all cases, whether the borough has quarter sessions or a separate commission or not, the mayor, by virtue of his office, is a justice for the borough, and continues to be such justice during the year next after he ceases to be mayor. He takes precedence over all justices in and for the borough, and is entitled to take the chair at all meetings at which he is present by virtue of his office of mayor. A separate commission of the peace may be granted to a borough on the petition of the council. A borough justice is required to take the oaths of allegiance and the judicial oaths before acting; he must while acting reside in or within 7 m. of the borough, or occupy a house, warehouse or other property in the borough; but he need not be a burgess nor have the qualification by estate required of a county justice. Where the borough has a separate commission, the borough justices have power to appoint a clerk, who is now paid by salary, the fees and costs pertaining to his office being paid into the borough fund, out of which his salary is paid. The council may by petition obtain the appointment of a stipendiary magistrate for the borough. The crown may also on petition of the council grant a separate court of quarter sessions for the borough, and in that event a recorder has to be appointed by the crown. He must be a barrister of not less than five years’ standing, and he holds office during good behaviour; he receives a yearly salary. The recorder sits as sole judge of the court of quarter sessions of the borough. He has all the powers of a court of quarter sessions in a county, including the power to hear appeals from the borough justices; but to this there are a few exceptions, notably the power to grant licences for the sale of intoxicating liquor. The grant of a separate court of quarter sessions also involves the appointment by the council of a clerk of the peace for the borough. It should be added that the grant of a court of quarter sessions to any borough other than a county borough after the passing of the Local Government Act 1888, does not affect the powers, duties or liabilities of the county council as regards that borough, nor exempt the parishes in the borough from being assessed to county rate for any purposes to which such parishes were previously liable to be assessed.

When a borough is a county of itself the council appoint a sheriff on the 9th of November in every year. And where the borough has a separate court of quarter sessions the council appoint Sheriff, coroner. a fit and proper person, not an alderman or councillor, to be the borough coroner, who holds office during good behaviour. If the borough has a civil court the recorder, if there is one, is judge of it. If there is no recorder, the judge of the court is an officer of the borough appointed under the charter.

The provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act 1882 relate chiefly to the constitution of the municipal corporation. It does not itself confer many powers or impose many duties upon the council as a body. It does, however, enable a Power to acquire land. municipal corporation to acquire corporate land and buildings, the buildings including a town hall, council house, justices’ room, police stations and cells, sessions house, judges’ lodgings, polling stations and the like. The council may borrow money for the erection of such buildings; they may acquire and hold land in mortmain by virtue of their charter, or with the consent of the Local Government Board. Corporate land cannot be alienated without the consent of the same board. The council may convert corporate land, with the approval of the Local Government Board, into sites for workmen’s dwellings.

Another duty imposed upon a borough council by the act of 1882 is the maintenance of bridges within the borough which are not repairable by the county in which the borough is Borough bridges. locally situate. It may here be mentioned that a city or borough which is a county of itself is liable at common law to repair all public bridges within its limits. In a borough which is not a county of itself the inhabitants are only liable to repair bridges within the borough by immemorial usage or custom.

Of the other powers possessed by the council of a borough under the act of 1882, one of the most important is the power to make by-laws for the good rule and government of the borough, and for the prevention and suppression of nuisances not By-laws. already punishable in summary manner by virtue of an act in force throughout the borough. It will be observed that these by-laws are of two classes. The former do not come into force until the expiration of forty days after a copy of them has been sent to the secretary of state, during which forty days the sovereign in council may disallow any by-law or part thereof. The latter require to be confirmed by the Local Government Board.

Under the act of 1882 every municipal borough might have its own separate police force. As has already been stated when dealing with county councils, boroughs having a population of less than 10,000 according to the census of 1881 can no longer have a separate police force. But for some time before that year it had become the rule not to grant to any new borough with a population Police. of less than 20,000 a separate police force. The subject of police is separately treated in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and it is not necessary to supplement what is there stated. Under an act of 1893 the borough police may, in addition to their ordinary duties, be employed to discharge the duties of a fire brigade.

The powers and duties of a borough council in the Municipal Corporations Act do not arise or exist to any great extent under that act. In a few cases, those namely of county boroughs, the councils have the powers of county The district and the district council. councils. In the quarter sessions boroughs other than county boroughs they have some only of these powers. But in every case the council of the borough have the powers and duties of an urban district council, and, except where they derive their authority from local acts, it may be said that their principal powers and duties consist of those which they exercise or perform as an urban council. These will now be considered.

Before the year 1848 there was not outside the municipal boroughs any system of district government in England. It is true that in some populous places which were not corporate boroughs local acts of parliament had been passed appointing improvement commissioners for the government of these places. In many boroughs similar acts had been obtained conferring various powers relating to sanitary matters, streets and highways and the like. But there was no general system, nor was there, save by special legislation, any means by which sanitary districts could be constituted. In the year 1848 the first Public Health Act was passed. It provided for the formation of local boards in boroughs and populous places, such places outside boroughs being termed local government districts. In boroughs the town council were generally appointed the local board for purposes of the act. It was not, however, until 1872 that a general system of sanitary districts was adopted. By the Public Health Act of that year the whole country was mapped out into urban and rural sanitary districts, and that system has been maintained until the present time, with some important changes introduced by the Public Health Acts 1875 to 1907, and the Local Government Act 1894.

The whole of England and Wales is divided into districts, which are either urban or rural. Urban districts include boroughs and places which were formerly under the jurisdiction of local boards or improvement commissioners. The power to Constitution of district councils. constitute new urban districts is now conferred upon county councils, as already stated. There is a concurrent power in the Local Government Board under the Public Health Act 1875, but that power is now rarely exercised, and new urban districts are in practice created only by orders of county councils made under the Local Government Act 1888, section 57. Rural districts were first created in 1872. Before that time there was practically no sanitary authority outside the urban district, for although the vestry of a parish had in some cases power to make sewers and had also some other sanitary powers, there was no authority for such a district as now corresponds to a rural district. There were, indeed, highway boards and burial boards which had powers for special purposes, but district authority in the sense in which it is now understood there was none. Before the year 1894 the rural district consisted of the area of the poor-law union, exclusive of any urban district which might be within it, and the guardians of the poor were the rural sanitary authority. Since 1894 this has been changed. By the Local Government Act of that year the guardians ceased to be the rural sanitary authority. The union was preserved as the rural sanitary district, with this qualification, that if it extended into more than one county it was divided so that no rural district should extend into more than one county. Rural district councillors are elected for each parish in the rural district, and they become by virtue of their office guardians of the poor for the union comprising the district, so that there is now no election of guardians in a rural district. Guardians are still elected as such for urban districts, but the rural district council have ceased to be the same body as the guardians and are now wholly distinct. A district councillor, whether urban or rural, holds office for a term of three years. One-third of the whole council retire in each year, the annual elections being held in March, but there may be a simultaneous retirement of the whole council in every third year if the county council at the instance of the district council so order. The qualification and disqualification of district councillors, whether urban or rural, now depend upon the Local Government Act 1894. Property qualification is abolished. Any person may be elected who is either a parochial elector of some parish within the district or has during the whole of the twelve months preceding his election resided in the district, and no person is disqualified by sex or marriage. The electors both in urban and rural districts are the body called the parochial electors. These are practically the persons whose names appear in the parliamentary register or in the local government register as being entitled to vote at elections for members of parliament or county or parish councillors as the case may be. The election takes place subject to rules made by the Local Government Board, these rules being largely founded upon adaptations of the Municipal Corporations Act 1882. The election is by ballot on the same lines as those prescribed for a municipal election, and the Corrupt Practices Act, the provisions of which have been referred to when dealing with county councils, applies to the elections of district councils. The provisions with reference to election petitions, the grounds upon which they may be presented and the procedure upon them, are the same in every respect as have already been mentioned when dealing with county councils. It may be convenient here to state that the Local United districts. Government Board has power to unite any number of districts or parts of districts into what is called a united district for certain special purposes such as water-supply, sewerage or the like. This is done by means of a provisional order made by the board and confirmed by parliament. In such a united district the governing body is a joint board constituted in manner provided by the order, and it has under the order such of the powers of a district council as are necessary for the purposes for which the united district is created. Thus a joint sewerage board would generally be invested by the order with all the powers of a district council relating to the provision and control of sewers and the disposal of sewage. It may also be convenient here to mention Port sanitary authority. another special kind of district authority, that is, a port sanitary authority. It is also constituted by order of the Local Government Board, and it may include one or more sanitary districts or parts of districts abutting upon a port. In this case also the authority consists of such members and is elected in such manner as the order determines, and it has such of the powers of an ordinary district council as the order may confer upon it. These relate for the most part to nuisances and infectious disease, having special reference to ships. It has been thought convenient to deal here with district councils, whether urban or rural, together, but the powers of the former Powers of urban and rural councils compared. are much more extensive than those of the latter, and as the consideration of the subject proceeds it will be necessary to indicate what powers and duties are conferred or imposed upon urban district councils only. It must be pointed out, however, that when the necessity arises for conferring upon a rural district council any of the powers exercisable only by an urban district council, that can be done by means of an order of the Local Government Board. The necessity for this provision arises because it sometimes happens that in a district otherwise rural there are some centres of population, hardly large enough to be constituted urban districts, which nevertheless require the same control as an urban district.

A district council may from time to time make regulations with respect to summoning, notice, place, management and adjournment of their meetings, and generally with respect to the transaction and management of their business. Three Business and offices. members must be present to constitute a quorum. At the annual meeting, which is held as soon as convenient after the 15th April in each year, a chairman for the succeeding year has to be appointed. He presides at all meetings, and in his absence another member appointed by the meeting takes his place. Questions are determined by the majority present and voting, the chairman having the casting vote. Minutes are taken and, if signed at the meeting or the next ensuing meeting, are made evidence. The officers of the council consist of a clerk, a medical officer, a surveyor, one or more inspectors of nuisances and a treasurer. Of these all but the medical officer of health and inspectors of nuisances hold office at pleasure and receive such remuneration as the council may determine. If the urban district is a borough, the town clerk and borough treasurer fulfil the same office for purposes of the Public Health Acts. The salaries of the medical officer of health and inspectors of nuisances are, as to one moiety thereof, paid out of “the exchequer contribution account” by the county council, if they are appointed in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government Board as to qualification, appointment, duties, salary and tenure of office. The orders of the Local Government Board as to these matters are set out in the Statutory Rules and Orders. District councils may also employ such other officers and servants as may be necessary and proper for the fulfilment of their duties. Officers and servants are prohibited from being concerned or interested in any bargain or contract made with their council, and from receiving under cover of their office or employment any fee or reward whatsoever other than their proper salaries, wages and allowances, under penalty of being rendered incapable of holding office under any district council, and of a pecuniary penalty of £50. There are some exceptions to this provision somewhat similar to those already mentioned with respect to the disqualification of members of the council. It may be mentioned here that by an act, called the Public Bodies’ Corrupt Practices Act 1889, severe penalties are imposed alike upon members and officers of public bodies for corruption in office.