Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/63

 LOCAL GOVERNMENT 11

outside it. Aldermen are elected for six years, half of them retiring every third vear. A councillor is elected for three years. Women are eligible. The jurisdiction of the County Councils includes all the administrative work formerlv performed by the justices and many new powers con- ferred by recent Acts of Parliament, the principal items being the making of countv and police rates ; levying of duties on licences for carriages, armorial bearings, guns, dogs, killing and dealing in game ; borrow- ing of money ; licensing of houses for music and dancing, and of racecourses; maintenance and management of pauper lunatic asylums ; maintenance of re- formatory and industrial schools ; management of bridges and main roads : regulation of fees of inspectors, analysts, and other officers ; coroner's salary, fees, and district ; Parliamentary polling districts and registration ; contagious diseases of animals : allotments, weights and measures, sale of food and drugs. Under Acts of 1902, 1903,and 1915 the County Councils are also the local edu- cation authorities, and other recent acts have in minor matters extended their jurisdiction. The control of the county police is vested in a standing joint committee composed of an equal number of magistrates and members of the County Council. The London Metropolitan police are, however, under the control of the Home Secretary.

The administrative counties, with the exception of the County of London, are subdivided into ' County Districts ' which are either ' Urban ' or * Rural,' as the case may be. Generally speaking, an urban district comprises a town or a small area more or less densely populated, and a rural district takes in several countrv parishes. Women" may be elected to these District Councils. The District Councils administer the" Public Health and Highway Acts, and also exercise powers under the Housing Acts. Urban District Councils mav also take over main roads from the County Councils; provide burial grounds, allotments, baths and washhouses, libraries, open spaces, museums, isolation hospitals, ic. : exercise powers under Provisional Orders or Private Acts for gasworks, tramways, electric light and power works, &c. Any urban district with 20,000 inhabitants may also be a local education authority. The Rural District Councils may also pro- vide allotments, cemeteries, &c. ; make arrangements for an adequate water supply : and exercise any ' Urban powers ' conferred on them by the Local Government Board.

In every civil parish in a ' rural district ' there is a Parish Meeting, at which every parochial elector may attend and vote. In such parishes of over 300 inhabitants there is in addition a Parish Council. Women are eligible for election. Parishes of less than 800 inhabitants may have Parish Councils if authorised by the County Council. To these Parish Councils have been transferred all the civil powers of the old Vestries, including the election of overseers, and in addition very considerable powers over charities, allotments, and other public matters. Where there is no Parish Council some of these powers, including the appointment of the overseers, are exercised by the Parish Meeting. Urban District Councils can, by petitioning the Local Government Board — which is the supreme Local Government authority — obtain part or all of the powers of a Parish Council. Only Parish Meetings may have power to adopt the Public Libraries Acts, the Baths and Washhouses Acts, the Lighting and Watching Acts, the Burials Acts, and the Public Improvements Acts.

The main central authority in London, the capital of the Empire, is the County Council, created by the Local Government Act of 1888. It has considerable powers in regard to public health, housing, bridges and ferries, asylums, street improvements, parks, main drainage, fire brigade, sanitary control, education, and numerous other matters. It is also the tramway