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A Handbook to the
LOCAL GOYERNMENT Ml,
BY
PORTLAND B. AKERMAN
(Solicitor of the Supreme Court)
AND
PERCY H. FORD
LONDON
PEORGE ROUTLEDGE'& SONS, Limited
BROADWAY, LUDGATE Hii,L
MANCHESTER AND NEW YORK
L^
5
)
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
:\^
OE DEPAf?7^
T H e
'30 NOV. 94
THE
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT
1894
»■» I
MR. HOLDSWORPH'S LEGAL HANDBOOKS.
In Crown Svo, 640 j>j>.,Ss-
THE PRACTICAL FAMILY LAWYER.
In Crown A'c, 2s. 6d. each.
THE HANDY BOOK OF PARISH LAW.
THE NEW COUNTY COURT GUIDE.
In Fcap. Svo, Js. each.
LANDLORD AND TENANT.
WILLS AND EXECUTORS.
THE BALLOT ACT.
MASTER AND SERVANT.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
THE MARRIED WOMEN'S PROPERTY ACT.
THE BANKRUPTCY ACT, 1883.
THE AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS ACT. 1883, Etc.
THE CORRUPr AND ILLEGAL PRACTICES PRE-
VENTION ACT, 1883.
THE ALLOTMENTS ACTS, 1887.
THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1888.
PARISH COUNCILS
A HANDBOOK
TO THE
Local Government Act
PORTLAND B. AKERMAN
(Solicitor of t/ic Supreme Court)
AND
PERCY H. FORD
SECOND EDITION.
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, Limited
Broadway, Ludgate Hill
MANCHESTER AND NEW YORK
1894
LONDON :
PRINTED BY WOODFALL AND KINDER,
70 TO 76, LONG ACRK, W.C.
T5
4-
P E E F A C E.
c/3 The Local Government Act, 1894, commonly
galled the "Parish Councils Act," introduces
>-changes in the local government of the country
<so little short of revolutionary, that to attempt
-anything like an exhaustive treatment of the
c^ubject in a ^York of this character would only
Sresult in failure. Our aim has been to place
--before our readers, in a clear and intelligible form,
c^a general statement of the effect of the Act, and,
oif possible, to induce that fuller interest in local
o administration which it is the object of the measure
rito create.
- With this view we have abstained as much as
possible from merely technical details, to which
full justice could be done only in a work of much
greater size. But we trust that our Introduction,
coupled with the notes appended to the various
clauses of the Act, will be found to elucidate some
of its complexities, and to furnish the very
numerous class who are desirous of information as
to its provisions with a sufficient aid to an
b PREFACE.
intelligent a^ipreciationof their scope and character.
A more truly democratic measure, one more
national in the belief which underlies it, that
Englishmen are endowed with the faculty of self-
government, it would be difticult to conceive, and
there can be no doubt that it will take rank with
what is known as the " County Councils Act of
1888," as one of the most important extensions of
local government of modern times.
We desire to take this opportunity of acknow-
ledging that for the concise statement of the
qualification of parochial electors, which will be
found at page 20, we are indebted to the kindness
of Mr. J. Eenwick Seager, the author of several
well-known works on election law, and that for
some valuable suggestions we owe our sincere
thanks to Sir Charles W. Dilke, Bart., M.P., who
has with great courtesy obliged us by perusing the
major portion of our proof sheets and expressed
his warm a^^proval of the work.
Portland B. Akerman.
Percy H. Ford.
Temple Chambers,
Temple Avenue, E.C.
March, 1894.
CONTENTS.
THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
(56 & 57 Vict. c. 73.)
INTRODUCTION
Parish ]\Ieetiugs
Qualification of Parochial Electors
Parish Councils .....
The "Adoptive Acts"
Acquisition of land for Allotments, etc.
Public property and Charities
Special provisions as to small rural Parishes
Guardians ....
District Councils ,
Application of Act to Boroughs
Application of Act to London
Conduct of Elections, etc.
Simplification of Areas .
Powers of County Council
Audit of Accounts . , .
Existing Officers .
Commencement of Act ; the " Appointed Day "
THE ACT with Notes
PAGE
, 13
, 20
, 20
, 28
. 42
. 45
. 48
. 56
. 62
. 68
. 84
. 85
. 90
. 94
. 97
. 99
. 100
. 102
105
PART I.
Parish Meetings and Paeish Councils.
Constitution of Parish Meetings and Parish Councils.
ON
onstitutiou of Parish Meetings and establishment of
Parish Councils ...!•••• 105
8
CONTENTS.
SECTION'
2. Parish greetings .
3. Constitution of Parish Council
4. Use of schoolroom
PAQE
107
108
110
Powers and Duties of Parish CotiTicils and Parish Meetings.
5. Parish Council to appoint Overseers .... 112
G. Transfer of certain powers of Vestry and other Autho-
rities to Parish Council 113
7. Transfer of powers under Adoptive Acts . . . 117
8. Additional powers of Parish Council .... 119
9. Powers for acquisition of land 122
10. Hiring of land for allotments 128
11. Restrictions on expenditure 132
12. Borrowing by Parish Council 133
13. Footpaths and roads 135
14. Public property and charities 136
15. Delegated powers of Parish Councils .... 139
16. Complaint by Parish Council of default of District
Council 139
17. Parish officers and parish documents .... 140
18. Parish wards 143
19. Provisions as to small parishes 144
PART II.
Guardians and District Councils,
20. Election and qualification of Guardians . . . 147
21. Names of County Districts and District Council . 149
22. Chairman of Council to be Justice .... 150
23. Constitution of District Council in urban districts not
being boroughs 150
24. Rural District Councils 152
25. Powers of District Council with respect to Sanitary
and Highway matters 154
26. Duties and powers of District Council as to rights of
way, rights of common, and roadside wastes , , 156
CONTENTS. 9
SECTION _ ''*°''
27. Transfer of powers of Justices to District Councils . 158
28. Expenses of urban District Council .... 159
29. Expenses of rural District Council .... 159
30. Guardians in London and county boroughs . . . 161
31. Provisions as to London vestries and District Boards . 161
32. Application to county boroughs of provisions as to
transfer of Justices' powers 162
33. Power to apply certain provisions of Act to urban dis-
tricts and London .....•• 162
34. Supplemental provisions as to control of Overseers in
urban districts ........ 164
35. Restrictions on application of Act to London, &c. . 164
PART III.
Areas and Boundaries.
36. Duties and powers of County Council with respect to
area and boundaries 165
37. Provision as to parishes having parts with defined
boundaries 170
38. Orders for grouping parishes and dissolving groups . 170
39. Provisions for increase and decrease of population . 171
40. Certain orders of County Council not to require con-
firmation • 172
41. Reduction of time for appealing against County Council
orders 173
42. Validity of County Council orders .... 173
PART IV.
Supplemental.
Parish Meetings and Elections.
43. Removal of disqualification of married women . . 174
44. Register of parochial electors ..... 174
45. Supplemental provisions as to Parish Meetings . . 177
10 CONTENTS.
SECTION PAOE
46. Disqualifications for Parish or District Council . . 178
47. Supplemental provisions as to Parisli Councils . . 181
48. Supplemental provisions as to elections, polls, and
tenure of office 182
49. Provision as to Parish Sleeting for part of parish . 186
50. Supplemental provisions as to Overseers , , . 187
Parish mid Distri t Councils.
51. Public notices 187
52. Supplemental provisions as to transfer of powers . 188
53. Supplemental provisions as to Adoptive Acts . . 190
54. Effect on Parish Council of constitution of urban
district 191
55. Power to change name of district or parish . . 193
56. Committees of Parish or District Councils . . . 193
57. Joint Committees 195
58. Audit of Accounts of District and Parish Councils
and Inspection 195
59. Suijplemental provisions as to District Councils . . 197
Miscellaneous,
GO. Supplemental provisions as to Guardians . . . 198
61. Place of meeting of Parish or District Council or
Board of Guardians ....... 200
62. Permissive transfer to urban District Council of powers
of other authorities 201
63. Provisions as to County Council acquiring powers of
District Council 201
6i. County Council may act through District Council . 203
G5. Saving for harbour powers 203
66. Saving for elementary schools 203
67. Transfer of property and debts and liabilities . . 204
68. Adjustment of property and liabilities .... 204
09. Power to deal with matters arising out of alteration
of boundaries 206
70. Summary proceeding for determination of questions
as to transfer of powers ...... 207
71. Supplemental provisions as to County Council orders . 208
CONTENTS. 11
SECTION PACE
72. Provisions as to local inquiries 208
73. Provision as to Sundays and bank holidays . . 209
74. Provisions as to Scilly Islands 209
75. Construction of Act . 210
76. Extent of Act 213
77. Short Title 213
PART V.
Teansitoey Provisions.
78. First elections to Parish Councils .... 213
79. First elections of Guardians and District Councils . 214
80. Power of County Council to remove difficulties . . 217
81. Existing officers 218
82. Provision as to highways 220
83. Duty of County Council to bring Act into operation . 221
84. Appointed day 221
85. Current rates, &c 224
86. Saving for existing securities and discharge of debts , 225
87. Saving for existing by claws 226
88. Saving for pending contracts, &c. . . . . 226
89. Repeal of Acts 226
First Schedule 229
APPENDIX (The Local Government Act, 1888 (ss. 54,
57, 58, 59, 120) 235
THE
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT,
1894.
INTRODUCTION.
When the third reading of the Local Govern-
ment Bill of 1888 was agreed to in the House of
Commons, Mr. H. H. Fowler described it as the
first volume of a great work. The measure which
he has himself with so much ability and success
now piloted through Parliament, is the second
volume of that work. It does, in fact, but com-
plete the scheme commenced by the Bill of 1888,
the object of which, as originally introduced, was
not merely to confer on the counties a form of
municipal government analogous to that possessed
by boroughs, but to simplify the complicated areas
of rating, and consolidate to some extent the
numerous local authorities exercising powers
within those areas. There was, it is true, no
immediate intention on the part of the govern-
ment then in power of extending local government
14 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
to the villcif^es, although, in introducing the Bill,
Mr. C. T. Eitchie stated that they would have
been glad to propose a reconstruction of parochial
organization, and that if they had not dealt with
the question it was not because they did not recog-
nise its importance, but l)ecause the}^ felt the neces-
sity of keeping their Bill within reasonable limits.
County councils, however, having become part of
our institutions, Parliament, in the Act which we
are about to consider, has not only provided for
the establishment of district cou7icils (which
formed part of the scheme of 1888, although that
part of it was not proceeded with), but, with the
view of revivifying the parish and giving to the
rural electors a share in the administration of
local affairs, it has made i)arisli councils virtually
an accomplished fact. Nor have the framers of
the Act stopped here ; but, wisely considering that
a parochial council would be useless without a
parochial opinion behind it, they give us the
jHirish meetimj, — an assembly in which all the
electors of the parish (including women, married
and single) have a right to take part, and which
seems well-fitted to be the means of exciting such
an interest in local affairs as it is the object of the
Act to create.*
* The provisions of the Act as to boards of guardians and
tlio London sanitary authorities are connected with those as
to district councils, and will bo dealt with in their proper
place.
INTRODUCTION. 15
It would be Interesting, before passing to the
provisions of the Act, to trace the history of local
government in England, and to show how our
existing institutions have been arrived at ; but
this our space will not permit. As affecting the
parish, however, it should be borne in mind that,
great as are the changes now introduced, the Act
does, in principle, but revive, with modifications
suited to the present day, conditions such as
existed at a very early period of our history, when
in every township the freemen assembled in the
township moot, under the presidency of the reeve,
for the transaction of business and the discussion
of their local affairs.
Those portions of the Act which deal with
parish meetings and parish councils relate only
to " rural parishes," that is, with parishes form-
ing part of rural sanitary districts. A rural
sanitary district is that part of a poor-law union
which is not comprised in any urban sanitary
district. The distinction is purely technical, for
an " urban " district may contain a good deal of
agricultural land, and a "rural" district may
comprise areas of an urban or semi-urban
character. If a parish is only partly in a rural
sanitary district, tl;e part which is within the
IG THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
district will be a rural parish for the purposes of
the Act (s. 1).
In these " rural parishes," the parish meeting
and parish council will between them, in Novem-
ber next, take over practically all the powers of
the vestry meeting, except in so far as they have
to do with the affairs of the Church or of ecclesi-
astical charities ; and it will be convenient in the
first place to indicate briefly the constitution of
the vestry, and what its powers are at the present
time. In this way the great changes to which we
have alluded will best be made apparent.
The Yestry Meeting.*
Originally a meeting for ecclesiastical purposes
of all the free inhabitants of the parish, the
vestry afterwards became recognised as a meeting
* It will be understood that the remarks which follow apply
to the general or open vestry. For the purposes of the Act no
distinction is made between open and select vestries. {See
s. 75.) The latter are not numerous, and it will be sufficient to
observe with regard to them that they consist in each case of a
limited number of vestrymen elected in some instances by
custom, and elsewhere under Acts of Parliament, and that,
subject to the provisions of any such Acts, a select vestry
stands in the place of the general or open vestry, and possesses
similar powers. It may be added tliat, for certain purposes,
meetings of the inhabitants are held which are not strictly
speaking vestry meetings ; but as in the new Act the term
•' vestry" is used to include these (s. 75), it seems unnecessary
to distinguish between such meetings and true vestries, for the
purpose of the present work.
INTRODUCTION. 17
for the transaction of the general business of the
parish, and this character it still retains. But its
powers are somewhat shadowy, and as a gathering
it distinctly lacks popularity. Speaking generally,
every ratepayer of the parish, irrespective of sex,
is entitled to be present and vote at a vestry
meeting ; but the number of the votes which may
be given by any person depends upon the rateable
value of the property for which he pays rates, the
maximum number being six. The incumbent of
the parish is ex officio chairman of the vestry. Its
place of meeting is, of course, primarily the
vestry of the parish church, or, where there is no
vestry room attached to the church, the church
itself. But in parishes with more than 2,000
inhabitants another meeting-place may be pro-
vided.
In addition to a general right of meeting for the
discussion of matters affecting the parish, the
powers and duties of the vestry include the
following : —
(1.) It elects some of the parish officers.
It does not appoint the overseers, although it is very usual
for it to nominate persons from among whom the
justices may select those whom they will appoint.
The churchivardcns, who are, in most cases, ex-officio
overseers of the poor, are elected (in the absence of any
special custom to tlie contrary) by the minister and
parishioners in vestry, but if they cannot agree
upon the choice of wardens, the minister chooses one
and the parishioners another. The vestry may elect
an assistant overseer, but he is appointed by warrant of
C
18 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
two justices. Surveyors of highivai/s and waywardais
aro appointed by the vestry. In a parish of over 2,000
inlmbitants, the Local Government Board may
autliorisc the vestry to elect a vestry clerk.
(2.) The vestry have powers under the Lighting
and "Watching Act, 1833, the Baths and Wash-
houses Acts, the Burial Acts, the Puhlic Improve-
ment Act, 1860, and the PubHc Libraries Act, 1892.
These Acts are in future to be known in relation to a parish
as the "Adoptive Acts." They are not in force in any
parish in wliich they have not been adopted, and in
each case, except that of the Public Libraries Act (for
which a different pi-ocednre is prescribed), the vestry at
present have the power of adopting the Acts, although,
as a matter of fact, the Acts (except the Lighting and
Watching and Burial Acts), have to all intents and
jiurposcs remained thus far a dead letter as regards
rural parishes. The Lighting aud Watcliing Act has
hitherto been carried into execution in a parish by
insiJcctors appointed b}' the vestry, and the Baths and
Washhouses Acts, the Public Improvement Act, and
the Public Libraries Act would, after adoption, be
executed by commissioners appointed b}' the vestry.
For the purposes of the Burial Acts, a burial board is
elected. Other matters connected with the Adoptive
Acts are under the control of the vestry,
(3.) The vestry exercises some supervision in the
matter of parish charities.
For instance, the Charitable Trusts Act, 1855 (18 & 19
Vict. c. 124, s. 44), requires the trustees of parochial
charities to make up their accounts annually, aud to
deliver a copy to the cliurchwardens, to be by them
presented to the vestry and entered on its minutes.
Under local schemes, tiie vestry may appoint trustees
or beneficiaries of charities.
(4.) The vestry has some miscellaneous powers
INTRODUCTION. l9
as to highways, the management of allotments,
the compounding (voluntary or compulsory) of
owners for rates, the expenses of making valuation
lists, the county rate basis, the provision of vestry
rooms and parish offices, and the safe keeping of
parish books and documents.
Other matters in which the vestry is more or
less concerned might be mentioned, but enough
has been said to indicate the character of the
business at present transacted at vestry meetings,
and to enable us, as we proceed, to bring into
contrast the much fuller powers entrusted to the
parochial bodies established by the new Act.
"What has been wanted is some means of popu-
larising parish business — of interesting the parish
in its own concerns ; and the Act seeks to do this
by constituting these new bodies — the one popu-
lar and the other popularly elected — to take over
nearly all the civil business hitherto transacted
by the vestry, with such added powers as should
create an adequate field for the energy and
intelligence of the parish, and conduce generally
to a better administration in matters affecting its
common life, prosperity and health.
We now propose to describe the constitution of
the parish meeting, and the powers which are con-
ferred upon it by the Act. We shall deal first
with the case of all parishes for which separate
parish councils will be elected, and afterwards with
those treated exceptionally in this respect.
c 2
20 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
Parish Meetings.
Every rural parish, as described at page 15,
will have its parish meeting, and in some cases
parish meetings can be held for parts of parishes
(ss. 1, 7, 18, 37, &:c.). The persons who are entitled
to attend and vote at the parish meeting are termed
in the Act "parochial electors," and the term is
explained in section 2 as meaning " the persons
registered in such portion either of the local
government register of electors, or of the parlia-
mentary register of electors as relates to the
parish." Where a parish meeting can be held for
part of a parish, the parochial electors in that part
only will have the right to attend (s. 49). The
parochial electors constitute the electorate for
all the elections under Mr. Fowler's Act, viz.,
elections of
(a) parish councillors ;
{!)) guardians ;
(c) district councillors ;
(d) metropolitan vestrymen and auditors, and
members of the Woolwich Local Board.
It will be convenient, therefore, to deal with the
whole question of the qualification of this new
electorate before proceeding further.
Qualification of Parocliial Electors.
The various qualifications may be thus stated : —
In counties the pM'liamentary register consists of
males who, being of full age, are either
INTRODUCTION.
21
(1) owners of freeholds of the clear annual
value of 40s. and upwards ;
(2) tenants of copyholds of £5 annual value
and upwards ;
(3) leaseholders for twenty years and upwards
of £50, or for sixty years of Jd5 annual
value ;
(4) occupiers of land or of tenements of the
clear annual value of st'lO ;
(5) lodgers who occupy lodgings which, if let
unfurnished, are of the clear annual
value of -£10 ;
(6) occupiers of dwelling-houses without re-
spect to value. (The occupiers of rooms
in a house without a resident landlord
are registered as occupiers.)
(7) occupiers of dwelling-houses belonging to
their employers, as part of their service
and without payment of rent.
In boroughs, with very few exceptions (the
exceptions being cities which are counties of them-
selves), the parliamentary register contains neither
freehold, copyhold, nor long leasehold voters.
Owners whose qualifications arise within a parlia-
mentary borough vote for the county at elections
of members of parliament. S. 44 (2) of the new
Act, however, provides for registered owners of
property in a parliamentary borough voting as
parochial electors for the parish in the borough
within which their qualification arises.
22 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
The local p;overnment register, in addition to
the qualitications above mentioned, numljered
(4) and (6), contains a list of persons, both male
and female, who occupy any house, warehouse,
counting-house, shop, or other building within the
county without respect to value, and who arc
resident within the county or within fifteen miles
of its boundary (or, in the case of a municipal
borough, in or within seven miles of the borough).
Married women otherwise qualified to be in-
cluded in the local government register will,
by virtue of section 43 of the new Act, be entitled
to be put on that register "for the purposes of
this Act." Husband and wife, however, cannot
both be qualified in respect of the same property,
i.e., they cannot claim to be registered as joint
occupiers. Either may be put on the register, but
not both. The practical effect as regards a married
w'oman seems to be that, supposing her to possess
a qualification which, if she were single, would
previously have entitled her to be put on the local
government register, she can now claim to be put
on a separate list of parochial electors which is to
be prepared under section 44, and she can vote as
parochial elector at a parish meeting, and in each
of the elections above mentioned. No women
owners, lodgers, or service franchise voters are
introduced, because these qualifications belong
only to the parliamentary register, which does not
include women at all. It is only the local govern-
INTRODUCTION. 23
ment register which is affected by section 43, and
that is made up exchisively of occupation voters.
A married woman will not apparently be able to
vote in the election of town or county councillors,
or members of a school board, as in neither of
these cases is the election one of " the purposes of
this Act." The Act in this respect has removed
some anomalies only to create others. It is but
right, however, to add that the forms of the House
of Commons were held to preclude the insertion in
this Bill of a clause conferring on married women
the right to vote in the election of all local bodies,
and we may expect that the municipal and school
board franchise will very shortly be extended to
married women by a separate measure.
A new electoral register, called the " register of
the parochial electors," is to be formed, comprising
all persons whose names are on either of the
registers above described (including the separate
list referred to), and every man and woman whose
name is on the parochial register, and no others,
will be entitled to attend a parish meeting and
vote as a parochial elector, unless otherwise dis-
qualified by law.*
The same person may be registered, if duly
qualified, in more than one register of parochial
electors, and may vote as a parochial elector in
each parish for which he is registered. He will
* Persons guilty of corrupt or illegal practices at electiona
would be disqualified.
24 TitR LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
not, however, in any case, have more than one
vote for the same parish.
Chainiuui, I'lace and Time of Mccthuj.
When present, the chairman of the parish
council will be entitled to take the chair at the
parish meeting, unless he is a candidate in an
election which is to take place at the meeting.
Should he be absent or be unable or unwilling to
take the chair, the meeting will elect a chairman.
In any case the occupant of the chair will have a
casting vote (ss. 2, 45 and Sched. I, Part I).
The Act requires that a parish meeting shall be
held every year on the 25th March, or within seven
days before or after that date. The proceedings
must in no case commence before six o'clock in the
evening. Subject to this, the parish council will
fix the times and places of meeting (ss. 2, 45 and
Sched. I, Parti).
If there is in the parish no suitable public room
vested in the parish council which can be used
free of charge for a parish meeting, section 4 gives
the parochial electors the right, subject to certain
conditions, to use for this purpose any suitable room
in a school receiving a parliamentary grant, or any
other suitable room maintaijied at the cost of the
rates. No charge is to be made for the use of the
room ; but any expense to which the managers
may be put througli such use, and the cost of
INTRODUCTION. 25
making good any damage that may be done to
the premises or to the fmuiiture of the room in
connection with the meeting, are to be defrayed, in
the manner stated below, as part of the expenses
of the meeting. The Act enables the parish comicil
to provide a room for parish meetings ; but among
other rooms which would come within the terms
of section 4, we might instance, besides board and
voluntary schoolrooms, the board room or offices
of the guardians, school board or other like
authority. The section would also apply to a room
used for the administration of justice or police.
No parish meeting is to be held at an inn if there
is any other suitable place available, either free of
charge or at a reasonable cost (s. 61).
Hoiv Parish Meetings may he convened.
Parish meetings are to be convened by posting,
not less than seven clear days before the date of
the meeting, notices specifying the business to be
transacted, at the doors of all the churches and
chapels, and elsewhere in some conspicuous place in
the parish, and, in addition, in any other manner
that may be desirable. If it is proposed to adopt
any of the Adoptive Acts, fourteen (instead of seven)
days' notice of the meeting is necessary (s. 51,
Sched. I, Part I). The first parish meeting will
probably be held about the end of November, 1894.
It will be convened by the overseers. Subsequent
26 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
meetings may be convened Ijy the chairman, or
any two members of the parish council, or any six
parochial electors (ss. 45, 49, 78).
Voting, dr. at Parkh Mcctin;/ ,- PolU.
At any parish meeting, or at a poll consequent
thereon, no person may give more than one vote,
except in the case of an election, when one vote
may be given to each of any number of persons not
exceeding the number to be elected. Questions
before the meeting will be decided in the first
instance by show of hands. A poll may be
demanded at any time before the close of a meeting
on any question which has been brought before it
(including the election of parish councillors), and,
if this is done, the poll must be taken by ballot.
On certain specified subjects, any one i}arochial
elector can demand a poll ; but in other cases the
chairman can refuse a poll unless the demand is
made by at least five electors or by one-third of
those present, whichever number is least. The
parish council may make standing orders to regu-
late the proceedings and business at parish
meetings, and the Local Government Board will
issue rules for the conduct of polls (ss. 2, 48 ;
Sched. I, Parts I, III).
Powers of tlte Parish Meeting,
As regards the powers which the Act confers on
the parish meeting, it may be mentioned, first, that
INTRODUCTION. 27
the electors have a general power to discuss the
affah's of the parish and to pass resolutions thereon
(Sched. I, Part I). In addition, the parish meeting
will have the all-important power of electing the
parish council, and within certain limits of con-
trolling the expenditure of that body (ss, 11, 48 ) ;
it will adopt any of the Adoptive Acts which it may
be determined to put in force in the parish, and
where, in any matters connected with those Acts, it
has hitherto been necessary to obtain the consent
or approval of the vestry, the consent or approval of
the parish meeting will be required instead (s. 7).*
Its consent will be necessary to the sale Or exchange
of any land or buildings which the Act vests in the
parish council (s. 8). It can prevent the stopping
or diversion of any public right of way, or the
discontinuance of any highway which it is proposed
to declare unnecessary (s. 13) ; it may consent to
the letting, sale or exchange of w^orkhouses, &c., or
the application of the proceeds of the sale of such
property ; it can also give consent to the grant of
parish land under the School Sites Acts as a site
for a school, or under the Literary and Scientific
Institutions Act, 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. 112), as a
site for an institution for the promotion of science,
literature, the fine arts, &c., and it is empowered to
apply to the Education Department for the forma-
tion or dissolution of a school board (s. 52).
* A summary of the provisioua of the Adox^tive Acts will be
found at page 42 post.
28 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894
Expenses of Parish Meetings.
The expenses of parish meetings (including the
expenses of polls) [are to be joaid l)y the parish
council, who will obtain the sums required for the
puri)ose !)}• precepts on the overseers. The precepts
will be met out of the poor rate (s. 11).
ParisJi Mct'tintjs trealcd cxceptionaUij.
Where there is no separate parish council, the
Act treats the parish meeting in an exceptional
manner. In order to avoid repetition, we propose
to deal with these cases after we have shown what
powers are entrusted generally to parish councils.
But first we have to consider how these councils
are constituted.
Parish Councils.
A parish council will not, as a rule, be
established for a parish with less than 300
inhabitants, although the Act provides machinery
for the constitution of councils for smaller parishes,
to which reference will be made in due course.*
It should also be stated that in the case of a rural
parish which is co-extensive with a rural sanitary
district, the district council will act as a parish
council, and there will be no separate parish
council unless directions to the contrary are given
by the county council. But, with these exceptions,
* See page 56 yost.
INTRODUCTION. 29
unless the parish consents to being " grouped,"
as afterwards described,* with another parish or
parishes under a common parish council, there
will be a separate parish council for every rural
parish. The council will consist of a chairman
and from five to fifteen councillors, as may be
determined by the county council. It will be a
body corporate, but will not have a common seal
(ss. 1, 3, 36). Large parishes may be divided into
wards for the election of councillors (s. 18).
Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Parish Council.
The chairman may be any person qualified to
be a parish councillor, whether a member of the
council or otherwise. He will be elected each year
at the annual meeting of the council, which is to be
held in April. The council may elect a vice-
chairman, who must be a member of the council
(s. 3 ; Sched. I, Part II).
Who may be Parish Councillors.
The council is to be elected from among the
parochial electors of the parish, or persons who
have for the twelve months preceding the election
resided in the parish or within three miles of it.
Women, whether married or single, may be elected
if they possess either of these qualifications (s. 3).
* See page 57 i^ost.
30 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1891.
Election and Term of Office of Parish Councillors.
For the purpose of the election of parish
councillors, a parish meeting must he convened.
At this meeting, opportunit}^ must he given for
putting questions to any of the candidates who
may he present, and for receiving explanations
from them. Any candidate, wliether a parochial
elector, or not, is entitled to attend and speak at
the meeting, although, of course, if he is not an
elector he cannot vote. Rules for the conduct of
the election (including the poll, if any) are to he
framed hy the Local Government Board (ss. 3, 48 ;
Sched. I, Part I).* The first election of parish
councillors will prohahly take place ahout the end
of Novemher, 18U4.f At the first meeting after
election, unless the council permit him to defer
doing so to a later meeting, every councillor must
sign, in the presence of some memher of the
council, a declaration that he accepts the office,
hut somewhat curiously the same requirement does
not seem to apply in the case of the chairman, if
he is elected from outside, t
Any casual vacancy occurring on the council
will he filled hy them at a meeting convened for
* See page 90 post.
t S.'c page 102 2Josi.
X Cf. rule (1) of Sched. T, Part II, which applies only to
" parish councillors."
INTKODUCTION. 31
the purpose (s. 47 ; Sched. I, Part II). The term of
office of parish councillors will usually be one year
from the 15th April, but the first councillors will
be in office from November, 1894, till April 189G
(ss. 3, 78).
Officers of the Parish Council.
The parish council may appoint a clerk and
treasurer. The former officer, if unpaid, may be
one of the parish councillors. If a councillor is
not appointed, the assistant overseer, or one of the
assistant overseers, will be the clerk. Where there
is no assistant overseer the Act provides for the
appointment of a collector of poor rates, or some
other fit person, as clerk. The parish council are
not to make any appointment to the office of vestry
clerk, bat if the parish has already a vestry clerk,
he is to be the first clerk of the council. The
treasurer may be any person selected by the parish
council, whether a member of the council or not.
He cannot be paid for his services. If the council
act as a parochial committee under a provision
referred to below, they will have the assistance of
the clerk of the district council (ss. 17, 81).
Meetings of Parish Council.
A parish council are required to hold at least
four meetings a year. One of these is the annual
meeting. Unless the council expressly direct
32 TIfK LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
othel'^Yise, all their meetings will be open to the
puhlic, but they are not bound, like the parish
meeting, to assemble at any particular time in the
day. In order to convene a meeting three clear
days' notice must be given in writing to every
member of the council stating the time and place
of meeting and the business to be transacted. In the
case of the annual meeting, notice specifying these
particulars must be given to every member of the
council immediately after his election. The person
to convene a meeting is primarily the chairman of
the council. If, however, two councillors present a
requisition, and the chairman thereupon refuses or
neglects to convene a meeting, any two members
of the council may convene it (Sched. I, Part II).
The first meeting of the parish council should be
convened by the chairman of the parish meeting
at which the first councillors are nominated (s. 78).
As to the place of meeting, it will be seen, when
we come to deal with the powers of the council,
that they can provide suitable rooms for meetings,
offices, &Co But, like the parish meeting and on
like conditions, they will be empowered (see s. 4) to
use the schoolroom or any suitable room which is
maintained at the cost of the rates. Mention has
been made at page 25 of some of the rooms to
which this remark applies. It may be added that
in a civil parish which is co-extensive with an
ecclesiastical parish, and in which the Vestries Act,
1850, has not been put in force, there would seem
INTRODUCTION. 88
to be no legal obstacle to the parish council holding
their meetings in the vestry of the parish church,
or, if there is no vestry, in the church itself;* but
there are obvious reasons why another place should
be selected if possible. Meetings at an inn are
only permitted by the Act in cases where no
suitable room elsewhere is available free of charge
or at a reasonable cost (s. 61).
Voting, d-c, at Meetings of Parish Council.
Every question before the council is to be
decided by the votes of the majority of those
present and voting on the question, and. to
constitute a quorum at least one-third, and in any
case not less than three of the members must be
present. The chairman has a casting vote. The
council may make standing orders as to their
proceedings. Minutes must be kept, and the
names of the members present at any meeting are
to be recorded, and also, in the case of a division,
the names of those voting and how they voted
(Sched. I, Parts II, III).
Poivers of the Parish Council.
Sections 5 to 16 deal with some of the principal
powers which are given to parish councils. The
space at command prevents our attempting more
* Sec. 6 transfers to the parish council nearly all the
" powers " of the vestry. " Powers " includes " rights " (Loca
Government Act, 1888, sec. 100, and sec. 75 of the present Act).
D
31 Tlir, l.OOAL GOVEUNMENT ACT, 1894.
than a suuimary of these provisions; and for fiiUei'
details ^Ye must refer our readers to the Act itself.
Under section 5 the council ^vill appoint — not
merely nominate for appointment by justices — the
overseers, and also assistant overseers. The
churchwardens Aviil cease to l)e overseers, but an
additional number of overseers may be appointed
to^ fill their place. Overseers should be " sub-
stantial householders " (43 Eliz. c. 2), and
should be appointed at the annual meeting of
the parish council immediately after the election
of the chairman (s. 5 ; Sched. I, Part II).
Women may be appointed as overseers. " Any
discreet person" (including a woman) may be
assistant overseer (59 Geo. Ill, c. 12, s. 7).
When the parish council have appointed the over-
seers for the year they must give notice of the
appointment to the guardians. The possible
failui'e to make the appointment at the proper
time is provided for by section 50.
Section 5 also vests in the parish council the legal
interest in lands or other property (unconnected
with the church or with ecclesiastical charities*)
now vested either in the overseers, or in the
churchwardens and overseers. This provision w-ill
be referred to again under the heading of pu])lic
property and charities. t
Section G transfers to the parish council all the
* Sec the dofmition of " ccclcbiastical charity " iu section 75.
t Sec page 48 2'"*'^
INTRODUCTION. 35
powers, duties, and liabilities of the vestry,*
except those relating to the affairs of the church
or ecclesiastical charities, those which the Act
transfers from the vestry to the parish meeting,
and those relating to highways, which are
transferred to the district council.! The vestry,
therefore, in a rural parish, will revert practically
to its original status as a meeting for ecclesiastical
purposes only.
The powers of the churchwardens are similarly
dealt with. They are relieved of all civil functions,
and will retain only their jurisdiction in affairs of
the church and ecclesiastical charities. They will,
however, no longer be responsible for maintaining
closed churchyards where the expenses fall upon
the poor rate under the Burial Act, 1855 (18 & 19
Yict. c. 128).
Section 18 of the Act referred to provides that
where a churchyard is closed for burials by an
Order in Council, the churchwardens shall main-
tain the churchyard in decent order, and do the
necessary repair of the walls and other fences.
The churchwardens' expenses in the matter are to
be repaid by the overseers " upon the certificate of
the churchwardens," out of the poor rate, '* unless
* As to the powers of the voett'y, see pages 17 to 19 ante,
+ See, however, s. 25. If the operation of that section ia
postponed, as therein mentionedj the parish council will in the
meanwliilo exorcise the powers of the vestry undei' the Highway
Acts.
D 2
6 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
there shall be some other fuiul legally chargeable"
"with the expenses. "Where, under this enactment,
tlie expenses fall on any fund other than the poor
rate, the churchwardens will retain control of the
churchyard, and even where the cost has hitherto
fallen on the poor rate, the churchwardens will nut
lose the control of the churchyard if no further
demand is made by them for the repayment of any
expenses out of that rate.
Section G of the Local Government Act, 1894,
also transfers to the parish council the powers
and duties possessed by the overseers, either alone
or in conjunction with the churchwardens, in
relation to the following matters, viz. :
(i.) appeals or oLjectious by them in respect of the
valuation list, or appeals in respect of the poor rate, or
county rate, or the basis of the county rate ; and
(ii.) the provision of parish books and of a vestry room or
parochial office, parish chest, fire-engine, fire escape,
or matters relating thereto ; and
(iii.) the holding or management of parish property, not
being property relating to affairs of the church or held
for an ecclesiastical charity, and the holding or
management of village greens, or of allotments,
whether for recreation grounds or for gardens or other-
wise for the benefit of the inhabitants or any of them.
Paragraph (i.) will enable the council to defend
the interests of the parish in matters relating
to the assessment of property. A vestry room or
parochial oflice can be provided under paragraph
(ii.) if the population of the parish justifies such
INTRODUCTION. 37
provision, and a parish fire-engine if there is no
other authority competent to provide one.
Under paragraph (iii.), read in connection -with
subsection (4), ^Yhich transfers to the parish
council the powers and duties of allotment wardens
and others, the council will be empowered to
prevent encroachments on village greens, and will
take under their control any fuel allotments or
allotments for field gardens, and recreation grounds
under the Inclosure Acts. The mention of these
matters suggests topics of considerable interest in
connection with the growth of the allotment
system ; but at the present time far greater
practical importance attaches to the arrangements
for the acquisition of land under the Allotments
Acts, 1887 and 1890, as amended by Mr. Fowler's
Act. This branch of the subject will be dealt with
under a separate heading.*
The principal matters left in the hands of the
overseers after the transfer of the powers above
mentioned will be, —
(a) the making, and the responsibility for the
collection of the poor rate and other rates ;
(h) the discharge of orders for contributions
to the union, &c., that have to be met
out of those rates ;
(c) the making out of jury lists ; and
(d) the preparation of lists of voters,
* See page 45 pos^
fs98u56
38 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 189i.
Such powers as they now possess in regard to
the relief of the poor (these being confined to eases
of sudden and urgent necessity), the bringing
before justices and conveyance to asyhims of
hniatics, the burial of drowned persons cast up by
the sea or navigable rivers, the making out of new
valuation lists, and some other powers are also
reserved to them.
Section 6 further transfers to the parish council
certain powers with regard to the letting, sale, or
exchange of parish property, which are now exer-
cised by the guardians under the control of the
Local Government Board.
The same section enables the parish council to
make complaints or representations under sections
31 and 38 of the Housing of the Working Classes
Act, 1890, with a view to the closing or demolition
of buildings which are either themselves unfit for
habitation, or by their situation or otherwise tend
to make other buildings unhealthy, or to prevent
proper measures being taken with regard to un-
healthy dwellings. How necessary such powers as
these may be in some rural places can hardly be
appreciated by dwellers in towns.
It has been shown that the parish meeting has
the power of adopthig the "Adoptive Acts."
Sections 7 and 53 make the parish council the
authority for putting these Acts into execution in
all cases where the Acts are adopted in a rural
parish after the present Act comes into force.
INTRODUCTION. 39
Tliey also transfer to the council the execution of
any of the Adoptive Acts that may already have
been adopted in a rural parish, except where they
are at present in force in part only of the parish ;
and in that case the powers of the inspectors, com-
missioners, or board now administering the Act
mail be transferred to the council.*
Section 8 gives the parish council the following
additional powers. They may provide buildings
for offices, meetings and other public purposes.
They may acquire and lay out recreation grounds
and public walks, and may regulate by means of
byelaws any recreation ground, village green, or
other open space under their control, or may close
any of these to the public for a limited number of
days in the year, and grant the use of it on those
days for certain objects, either gratuitously or for
payment. Provided they do not interfere with any
pul)lic or private rights, the council may utilise
wells and springs in the parish, and give facilities
to the inhabitants for obtaining water therefrom.
They may drain or cleanse foul ditches and stag-
nant pools, and deal with accumulations of refuse
which are likely to be prejudicial to health.
The giving of these powers to the parish council
makes it none the less the duty of the district
council to provide a water supply and undertake
sanitary works ; but cases will frequently arise in
* A summary of the provisions of Uie Adoptive Acts will be
found at page 42.
40 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
which very useful work of the kind referred to
can be undertaken by the parish council, with-
out interferinf,' with the general powers of the
district council. The parish council may acquire
(but not compulsorily) rights of way, if this would be
beneficial to the parish ; and gifts of property may
be accepted and held by them for the benefit of the
parish. Lands or buildings vested in the council
may be let, sold, or exchanged by them, subject
to proper conditions. The Board of Agriculture
may be called upon by them to issue information
and direction as to the mode in which applica-
tions are to be made for provisional orders for the
regulation or inclosure of commons.* Notice of
any such application must be served upon the
council.
Section 13 provides that, for the future, a public
right of way shall not be stopped or diverted, or a
highway be discontinued as unnecessaryt without
the consent of the parish council. The consent,
however, if given, may be vetoed by the parish
meeting. The council may, under the same section,
undertake the repair of public footpaths in the
parish.
Under section 202 of the Public Health Act,
1875, a " parochial committee," consisting wholly
* For powers as to commons conferred on district councils,
sec page 79 j^ost.
t Sec 5 and G Will. IV, c. 50, ss. 84 to 91 ; 41 & 42 Yict.
0. 77, s. 24.
INTRODUCTION. 41
or partly of members of a rural sanitarj' authority,
may be appointed by that authority, to exercise
within a parish such powers as the authority could
exercise therein. Under section 15 of the present
Act, if a parochial committee, consisting only in
part of members of the district council are ap-
pointed, the other members must be members of
the parish council ; but powers may be delegated to
the parish council by the district council as though
the former were a parochial committee.
Under section 16, if the district council adopt
any scheme of sewerage or water supply affecting
the parish, the parish council must have notice
before the contract is given out. This section also
enables the parish council to complain to the
county council of any failure on the part of the
district council to perform their duties in respect
of the parish, especially in the matter of sewerage
or water supply or the maintenance of highways.
The effect of such a complaint, if justified, would
be to enable the county council to take upon them-
selves the powers of the district council in the
matter and execute the necessary works ; or, if they
preferred, the county council would be empowered
to make an order for the performance of the neg-
lected duty by the district council within a specified
time, and if it was not performed within that time,
they could appoint a person to carry out the
works. In either case their expenses would be
recoverable from the district council.
42 TIIK LOCAL GOVEBNMENT ACT, 1894.
TJic Adopt! re Arts.
The principal provisions of the Adoptive Acts
affecting rural parishes are as follows : —
The Lighting and Watching Act, 1833 (3 & 4
Will. IV, c. 90), provides for the lighting of streets
in parishes, and parts of parishes, the provision of
fire-engines, &c. It may he adopted either in whole
or in part. It requires a two-thirds majority of
those voting to adopt the Act. If it is adopted,
the parish meeting must fix the amount to be
levied for the purposes of the Act. The sum fixed
is raised by means of a separate rate, to which
occupiers of land are assessed in the proportion of
one-third only of the rate in the pound paid by the
occupiers of houses, buildings and property, oth'^r
than land.
The Baths and Washhouses Acts, 184G to
1882,* may also be adopted by a two-thirds
majority of those voting, subject, however, to the
approval of the Local Government Board. The
Acts authorise the appropriation of parish lands,
or the purchase or taking on lease of land, and the
erection thereon of baths and washhouses, or the
purchase or taking on lease of existing baths and
washhouses. They also authorise the provision of
swimming baths and open bathing places. During
winter any swimming bath established under the
* 9 & 10 Vict. c. 71 ; 10 i^- 11 Vict. c. Gl ; 41 & 42 Vict. c. 11 ;
45 & 4G Vict. c. 30.
INTRODUCTION. 43
Acts may be used as a gymnasium, &c. At any
time, when not required for the purposes of the
Acts, any public baths may be used for vestry meet-
ings, or other parochial purposes. Neighbouring
parishes may concur in providing baths and wash-
houses. The expenses of carrying the Acts into
execution, to such amount as the parish meeting
may sanction, are payable out of the poor rate.
The Acts confer borrowing powers, which will be
exerciseable by the parish council.
The Burial Acts, 1852 to 1885, relate to the
provision of burial grounds and mortuaries. A
parish meeting may be convened to determine
whether a burial ground shall be provided for the
parish, and the question must be taken into con-
sideration if it is proposed to close the churchyard
on the ground that it is crowded or insanitary. A
resolution in favour of providing a burial ground
will constitute an adoption of the Burial Acts for
the purposes of the new Local Government Act (s. 7).
The Acts authorise the appropriation of parish
or charity land, or the purchase of land for a
cemeter}', or a contract may be entered into with
another body or authority having a cemetery for
the interment of parishioners therein. Two or
more parishes may also " concur " in providing a
common cemetery. The expenses of carrying the
Acts into execution are paid out of the poor rate.
The cost of providing and laying out the burial
ground and building the necessary chapels may be
44 TTIF, LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
met b}' a loan on the security of tlie poor rate. It
must not, however, exceed a sum fixed by the
parish meeting.
The Pubhc Improvements Act, 18G0 (23 & 24
Yict. c. 30), only applies to parishes with a
population exceeding 500 persons. This, too,
may bo adopted ))y a two-thirds majority of
the persons voting. It enables the parish to
acquire land, and accept gifts of land for the
purpose of forming or improving public walks, and
exercise or play-grounds. When one-half the
estimated cost of the improvement has been raised
by private subscription or donation, a separate
rate of not more than Gd. in the pound may be
imposed by a two-thirds majority of the parish
meeting.*
The Public Libraries Act, 1892 (55 & 56 Vict,
c. 53), may be adopted by means of a poll of the
parochial electors. It cannot be adopted without
a poll.! The rate for library purposes must not
exceed one penny in the pound in any one year,
but it may bo limited to one halfpenny or
threefarthings in the pound, as the case may
be. The Act enables the parish to provide for
itself not only public libraries, but also public
museums, schools for science, art galleries, and
* The provision that it shall ho a two-thirds majority " in
value " is repealed by the present Act.
t Sec section 3 of the Act of 1892, and section 7 of the Local
Government Act, 1894.
INTRODUCTION. 46
schools for art. Two or more parishes may com-
bine for library purposes, or a parish may be
annexed for those purposes to an adjoining district.
The expenses of executing the Act, to such amount
as is sanctioned by the parish meeting, will be paid
out of a rate levied with and as part of the poor
rate, with an allowance of two-thirds of the amount
to occupiers of certain lands. The Act confers
borrowing powers.
Acquisition of Land for Allotments, etc.
Clauses 9 and 10, which relate to tlie acquisition
of land for allotments and other purposes, may
very well be described as an Act in themselves.
They comprise no fewer than thirty subsections,
and apply by reference the Lands Clauses Acts, and
numerous provisions in the Public Health Act,
1875, the Allotments Acts, 1887 and 1890, and
other Acts. Under the Act of 1887 the sanitary
authority are empowered by purchase, or hire, to
acquire land for allotments, either on their own
initiative or on the representation of six parliamen-
tary electors or ratepayers. If compulsory powers
are needed, a provisional order has to be obtained
from the county council, which requires confirma-
tion by Parliament. Under the Act of 1890, if a
representation is made to a sanitary authority, but
no action is taken by them, there is an appeal to
the county council. There is no appeal under
4G THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
either of these Acts from the decision of the
county council. The present Act, by doing away
with the provisional order system, greatly cheapens
and facilitates the acquisition of land for allot-
ments. Under s. 9, if allotments are required, the
parish council {sec s. G), or six parliamentary
electors, may apply to the district council, who may
provide the allotments. If the district council
do not move in the matter, or if they require com-
pulsory powers, the county council may make an
order, which now only requires confirmation by
the Local Government Board. There is an appeal
to that Department if the county council refuse to
make an order. Where the order is made and is
found to be in accordance with the Act and regula-
tions which the Local Government Board will
prescribe, it will, as a matter of course, be confirmed,
unless a memorial is presented to the Board praying
for further inquiry. Where such a memorial is pre-
sented the Local Government Board will hold an
inquiry in the locality, after which they may confirm
or disallow the order as the}' think proper. The
Lands Clauses Acts are to be incorporated in any
order for the compulsory purchase of land under
this section, but questions of disputed compen-
sation are to be referred to a single arbitrator.
At any inquiry or arbitration under this clause
neither counsel nor expert witnesses are to be
heard, except in cases prescribed by the Local
Government Board ; and in awarding compensa-
INTRODUCTION. 47
tion the arbitrator is not to make any additional
allowance in respect of the purchase being com-
pulsory.
Under the Acts of 1887 and 1890 there is no power
for the compulsory kirinri of land for allotments.
Section 10 of the Act of this year gives power to
the parish council to hire land for this purpose, and
if they cannot do so by agreement they can appeal to
the county council, who can make an order applying
the Lands Clauses Acts, and authorising compulsory
hiring for not less than fourteen nor more than
thirty-five years. This order is subject to the
Same provisions as to confirmation by the Local
Government Board as an order under section 9.
The procedure therefore is both cheap and expedi-
tious. No parliamentary costs are incurred, and, it
may be added, no additional rent is to be paid for
the land in respect of the hiring being com-
pulsory. Disputed points can be referred to a
single arbitrator. Where the council hire land
for allotments, they may let to one person more
than one acre (which is the limit under the Act
of 1887) ; but if the hiring is compulsory, not
more than one acre of arable land, and not
more in the whole than four acres, can be let
to the same person. No permanent pasture may
be broken up without the written assent of the
landlord.
The same easy method of compulsory purchase
as is applicable for the provision of allotments, i.e.,
48 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
by an order of the county council confirmed by the
Local Government Board, can l)e applied for the
purposes of baths, libraries, or any other matter in
connection with which the parish council are
authorised to acquire land, if they are unable to
obtain suitable land by agreement on reasonable
terms (s. 9).
Public Property and Charities.
With the exception of the clauses relating to the
acquisition of land for allotments, no portions of
the measure were more strongly contested in both
Houses of Parliament than those which deal with
public property and charities. It would be wholly
out of place in this volume to discuss the merits
of a question which must of necessity be approached
by different parties from entirely opposite stand-
points. We are now only concerned with the effect
of the Act. And the first point to be noted is that,
as Mr. Fowler has more than once contended, the
Act draws " a broad dividing line between civil and
ecclesiastical matters." Unfortunately, this at
once suggests the question — "What are matters
ecclesiastical ? And speaking broadly, this has
been the real question at issue. The Act it-
self, however, must be taken as settling the
matter, especially in relation to charities. By
section 75 it defines what are " ecclesiastical
charities," and if the definition is not such as to
satisfy all parties, it certainly removes some of the
INTRODUCTION. 49
original objections raised to the Bill. Thus, while
" dole charities" are treated as non-ecclesiastical,
except where they are for the benefit of members
of any particular church or denomination, no
" mission room " will be within the purview of the
Act, and " parish rooms " also will be exempt if
" in the opinion of the Charity Commissioners"
they have been erected within the last forty years
mainly by or at the cost of members of a particular
church or denomination. Nothing in the Act {see
s. G6) is to affect the trusteeship or management of
elementary schools.
The only other provisions to which it seems
necessary to call attention are those contained in
sections 5, 6, and 14. The first of these sections,
as previously observed,* will vest in the parish
council the legal interest in property now vested in
the overseers or the churchwardens and overseers
of any rural parish ; but this is intendedf to
deal " simply and exclusively with the legal
ownership of property, — what lawyers would call
bare trusteeship." It expressly provides that
the property shall vest in the council subject
to all trusts and liabilities affecting the same,
and it does not apply to property connected
with the affairs of the church or an ecclesiastical
charity, nor to any property held by the church-
* Sec page 34 ante.
t See Mr. Fowler's speech in the House of CommorK, ia
moviug the second reading of the Bill (2nd Nov., 1893).
E
50 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
Avardcns or overseers jointly with any other person,
as, for example, the minister. Section 6, trans-
ferring to the council the powers and duties of
churchwardens, excepts all matters pertaining to
the cliurcli or charities, and does not affect them
in their capacity of trustees, which is dealt with
in section 14.* It is in the latter section naturally
that the greatest interest centres. It enacts, in
the first place, that the trustees of puhlic recrea-
tion grounds, rooms for puhlic meetings, allotments
for the henefit of the inhahitants and the like
(ecclesiastical charities heing once more expressly
■excepted) man, ^^'i^^i the approval of the Charity
Commissioners, transfer the property to the parish
council, or to persons appointed by the latter.
The transfer is clearly not obligatory on the
trustees, and the section provides that if the
council accept the transfer, they or their appointees
must hold the property subject to all the existing
trusts. The one matter in which ecclesiastical, as
well as other parochial charities, may be touched
by this clause is the substitution under subsection
(2) of trustees appointed by the parish council for
the overseers, where the latter are trustees of a
charity either alone or jointly with other persons.
Tlie subsection would dispossess neither the
minister nor the churchwardens in the case of an
ecclesiastical charity ; but if the churchwardens,
* We again cite the v^ry excellent speech of i\Ir. Fowler on
this subject.
INTRODUCTION. 51
as clmrcliwardens, were trustees of a non-ecclesias-
tical charity, the substitution would apply to
them also. The next subsection applies to every
parochial charity* other than an ecclesiastical
charity, and provides that where the governing
body does not include what is usually termed a
"representative element," the parish council may
appoint additional members of that body not ex-
ceeding the number allowed by the Charity Com-
missioners. In the case of a sole trustee the
number of trustees may be increased to three, one
of whom may be nominated by the sole trustee
and one by the parish council. The trusts, how-
ever, will be unaffected. The clause provides for
the appointment in certain cases of trustees or
beneficiaries by the parish council, or their
appointees, in lieu of the vestry. Trustees ap-
pointed by the parish council will hold office
for four years, one half retiring every second
year. But the power of the council to appoint
trustees (except where it is merely a power
transferred to them f]-om the vestry) cannot in
the case of a charity founded before the passing
of the Act, wholly or partly by a now hving
donor, be exercised without his consent until the
year 1934, and, in the case of any other charity,
until the expiration of forty years from its founda-
tion.
It may be added that section 70 provides for the
* As defined by section. 75,
E 2
52 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
settlement of questions that may arise as to the
nppointment of trustees or l)eneficiaries of charities,
or as to the persons in \Yhom charity property is
vested.
Comniittccfi <</ Parish CoiinrU.
The parish council may delegate almost any of
their powers to committees consisting either solely
of members of the council, or partly of members
and partly of other persons. If the parish coun-
cil have any powers or duties which are to be
exercised in a part only of a parish, or in relation
to property held by them for the l)enefit of a part
of a parish, they can, if the part in question has a
defined boundary-, be required to exercise such
powers and duties by a committee consisting partly
of persons representing that part. A committee
appointed by a parish council may meet either
■within or outside the parish as is most convenient,
but both its proceedings and the place of meeting
may be regulated by the council, and its acts will
not be valid without their approval (s. 56 ; Sched.
I, Part IV). The parish council may concur
in appointing joint committees for any purposes in
wdiich they and other councils are jointly interested
(s. 57).
INTEODUCTION. 53
Expenditiire of the Parish Council.
The expenses of the parish council (inchiding
the expenses of the parish meeting, which will be
defrayed by the council) will be paid out of the poor
rate, on precepts addressed by the council to the
overseers.* The Act enables the parish council to
levy for their expenses not more than sixpence in
the pound in any one year. This amount must
cover all their expenses, except expenses under any
of the Adoptive Acts. They cannot incur an expen-
diture representing more than three pence in the
pound for the year without the consent of the
parish meeting, and no expenditure involving a
loan can be incurred by them without the consent
of the parish meeting and the approval of the
county council. They will keep accounts in a form
prescribed by the Local Government Board (ss.
11, 58).t
Borrowing Powers of Parish Council,
The consent and approval referred to in the last
paragraph are required to enable the parish council
to incur any expense to defray which a loan is
contemplated. The actual borrowing (which may
be postponed until the full amount of the contem-
* The overseers' demand notes for rates must show the
amount required for the expenses of the parish council and the
proportion, if any, levied for the purpose of any of the Adoptive
Acts (s. 11).
f As to the audit of accounts, see page 99 iMst>
54 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
plated expenditure is ascertained) is subject in every
case to the consent of the county council and the
Local Government Board. The parish council are
authorised to borrow money for purchasing land
or erecting buildings ; for any purpose for which
they are empowered to borrow under the Adoptive
Acts ; and for any permanent work or other matter,
the cost of which the county council and the Local
Government Board assent to being spread over a
term of years. They may borrow the amount
required from the county council. Certain pro-
visions of the Public Health Act, 1875, are, with
some modification, made applicable where the
parish council borrow money. The provisions in
question, and the effect of them as applied to the
parish council, are briefly as follows : —
Section 233. The parish council may borrow or rc-borrow
money necessary for any of the purposes for whicli they are
authorised to borrow, or for discharging loans contracted for
any such purpose, and, as security, may mortgage the poor rate
and the revenues of tlie parisli council.
Section 231. The exercise of the power of borrowing is sub-
ject to the following (among other) regulations : —
(1.) The sum borrowed must not at any time exceed,
with the balances of outstanding loans, one-half the
assessable value of the premises assessable w'ithiu the
parish.
(2.) The money may be borrowed for such time, not
exceeding GO years, as the Local Government Board
may sanction. • The loan may be repaid either by
♦ The full term of GO years is very seldom allowed. About
30 years is the time usually fixed.
INTRODUCTION. -SS
annual instalments, or by means of a sinking fund
properly invested.
(3.) Where money is borrowed to disoharge a previous
loan, the time for repayment is not to extend beyond
the date fixed for the repayment of the original loan,
except with the consent of the Local Government
Board.
Section 236. [This relates to the form of mortgage.]
Section 237. A register of mortgages is to be kept and is to
be open to inspection.
Section 238. A mortgage may be transferred, and a register
of transfers is to be kept.
Section 2.39. A receiver may, in certain cases, be appointed
by a court of summary jurisdiction, on the application of a
mortgagee.
Where the parish coiincil raise a loan for any
purpose connected ^\'ith the Adoptive Acts, the
charges for repayment of principal and interest
must fall ultimately on the rate which is applicable
to the purpose of the particular Act or Acts in
connection with which the loan is raised (s. 12).
Parish Books and Documents.
The custody of the registers of baptisms,
marriages, and burials, and, speaking generally,
all other books and documents containing entries
relating to the affairs of the church or ecclesiastical
charities, is not interfered with by the Act ; but,
under section 17, the parish council will be em-
powered to give directions as to the persons with
whom, or the place in which, other books and
papers belonging to the parish shall be deposited.
50 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
The county council are to make periodical inquiry
as to the manner in wliieli l)Oolvs and documents
under the control of the parish council are kept,
with a view to their proper preservation. Any
documents now required hy statute or the standing
orders of Parliament to he deposited with the
parish clerk, such as maps, plans, &c., of proposed
railways and like undertakings, are, for the future,
to he deposited with the clerk, or, where there is
no clerk, the chairman of the parish council. The
last of the civil functions of the parish clerk seems
to he thus taken away in rural parishes.
Hitherto we have heen considering the case of
parishes with more than 300 inhabitants in which
parish councils will he established compulsorily by
the Act. We have now to deal with the smaller
parishes, in which, if parish councils are estalj-
lished, it will be by means of the special machinery
to which reference was made above.
Special Provisions as to Small Rural Parishes.
Although a rural parish with less than 300
inhabitants will not, as a matter of course, have
any parish council, it will have a parish meeting
constituted in the same way as in any larger
parish. A parish council can, however, be estab-
lished in any such parish by an order of the
county council, with the consent or on the applica-
tion of the parish meeting, and it is competent to
INTRODUCTION. 57
the parish meeting, if the parish has not less than
100 inhabitants, to demand to have a parish
comicil, and the county comicil must comply with
such a demand (ss. 1, 38). It is understood that
6,356 rural parishes out of a total number of
13,235 have a population of less than 300 ; but the
object is to avoid forcing a parish council on a
parish which has very few electors, and while
providing for the establishment of a council in any
case where there may be a desire for one, to make
the grant dependent in great measure on the
circumstances of the parish.
If a parish council is established for any of
these " small parishes," the Act will apply to the
parish in the same way as if a parish council
were created for it by the Act. It is unnecessary,
therefore, to say more about a case of this descrip-
tion. But one of the original proposals of the Bill
was that small parishes should be grouped together,
and a parish council be established for the group.
The Act goes further in this respect, and provides
that, if the parish meeting consent, the county
council may group any rural parish (whatever its
population) with a neighbouring parish or parishes
under a common parish council, but with a separate
parish meeting (s. 1). As a rule all the grouped
parishes must be within the same county and
county district.* The " grouping order " must
* The term "county district" is defined by s. 21. It is
equivalent to the more familiar expression " sanitary district."
58 Tltl5 LOCAL GOVtiRNMfiNi; ACT, 1804.
provide (s. 38) for the holding of parish meetings
in each of the grouped parishes, and for the
election of separate representatives of each parish
on the parish council, and it mmj make necessary
the consent of the parish meeting to certain acts
of the parish council, and in other ways adapt the
provisions of the Act to the circumstances of the
case. If there are any charities attached to either
of the grouped parishes, the order must make such
provision as regards the appointment of trustees
and beneficiaries as will preserve the rights of the
parish. The custody of parish documents must
also be provided for. The parish meeting of any
parish may themselves apply to the county council
to have a grouping order made respecting it. A
group of parishes, or the parish council for a
separate parish, may, under certain circumstances,
be dissolved, or a particular parish may be separated
from a group, and if the county council think
proper a parish council may be established for that
parish (ss. 38, 39).
Parishes tcllJiont Parish Cuuncils.
In the case of every parish which has not a
separate parish council, the effect of the Act will
depend to a great extent on whether the parish is
*' grouped " or not. If it is grouped, many of the
powers that would otherwise be vested in the parish
meeting will be transferred to the parish council
INTRODUCTION. 59
of the group. In the absence, however, of any
grouping order affectmg the parish, section 19 re-
quires that the parish meeting shall assemble at
least twice a year. The place of meeting may
be the schoolroom, or any other room such as
we have mentioned in connection with the parish
meetings of parishes having councils.* In addition,
where there is no parish council and the parish is
co-extensive with the ecclesiastical parish, the parish
meeting would seem to be entitled to meet at the
parish church or in the vestry room attached
thereto.
At the " annual assembly " of the parish
meeting, which, as in other cases, is to take place
on the 25th March, or within seven days before or
after that date, the meeting is to choose a chairman
for the year. Subject to the requirement that
there shall be two meetings a year, and also to the
provision in section 2 requiring all meetings to be
held in the evening, the chairman thus chosen is
to fix the dates and places of meeting during his
term of office, and the meetings are as a rule to be
convened by him, although any six parochial
electors may convene a meeting (s. 45).
If the business to be transacted relates to a
proposal to " group " the parish, or establish a
parish council, or to adopt any of the Adoptive
Acts, fourteen days' notice must be given. In
other cases, only seven days' notice is requisite.
* See page 25 ante.
(50 TIIK LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
The provisions as to voting at parish meetin<^B
and the right to demand a poll are substantially
the same in the cases now under consideration as
in those where there are parish councils ; but, as
will be seen, much more important powers are
given to the parish meeting if the parish has not
a council, and consequently the matters in regard
to which it is within the power of a single
parochial elector to demand a poll are more
numerous. A list of these matters is given in
Part I of the First Schedule to the Act.
The powers of the parish meeting in these cases
will include nearly all those now exerciseable by the
vestry which do not relate to the affairs of the
church or to ecclesiastical charities. Besides this,
the parish meeting will appoint the overseers and
the assistant overseer (if any). The chairman and
the overseers will be a body corporate, with power
to hold land, but are to act under the direction of
the parish meeting. The legal interest in property
which, if there were a parish council, would be
vested in the latter by section 5, will in these
parishes vest in the chairman and overseers.
Where {see p. 50) the parish council (if any) would
appoint trustees of a charity in the place of
overseers or churchw;i.rdens, the parish meeting
will make the appointments. The provisions of
the Act as to stopping or diverting public rights of
way, and discontinuing unnecessary highways, and
with respect to complaints of default on the part
INTRODUCTION. 61
of district councils (see pp. 40, 41, 79), are to apply
to the parish meeting in these parishes ; and the
county council may confer on the parish meeting,
on the application of the latter, any of the powers
conferred on a parish council by the Act.
The parish meeting may appoint a committee
for any purposes which, in the opinion of the
meeting, would be better regulated and managed
by means of such a committee. It is obvious that,
in many cases where the parish is too small, or
perhaps too poor, to make it desirable that it
should have a parish council, the parochial electors
will yet be too numerous for the convenient
exercise of their powers on all occasions " in
parish meeting assembled." The appointment of
a committee, however, will constitute virtually a
small executive body, whose acts, it is true, will
require to be submitted to the parish meeting for
approval, but whose existence may render it
unnecessary to convene a parish meeting more
frequently than, say, twice a year, i.e., on the two
occasions in each year on which a meeting has to
be held to comply with the Act. The result will
be very much the same as if the parish had a
parish council, but with less expense.
The Act fixes sixpence in the pound as the
maximum amount of rate leviable in any year for
defraying the expenses of the parish meeting where
there is no parish council; and it should be noticed
that this sum is to include all expenses under the
62 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
Adoptive Acts. The chairman will oljtain the
amount required for the expenses of the meeting
from the overseers out of the poor rate (s. 11).
If the population of a parish without a parish
council increases so as to justify the election of one,
the county council may issue an order makin.tj; the
necessary arrangements (s. 39).
The next branch of our subject relates to
guardians of the poor.
Guardians.
The provisions affecting guardians are chietiy
contained in section 20 of the Act. They
apply to the whole of England and Wales,
including the metropolis ; and although they do
not touch the general policy of the poor laws, they
involve some sweeping changes in connection
with —
(a) the constitution of boards of guardians ;
(h) the qualification for election as guardian ;
{(■) the electors ;
((I) the conduct of the election ;
(e) the term of office of guardians,
and several other matters.
At present there are three classes of guardians —
cx-ojicio, nominated, and elective. The cx-qlficio
guardians are justices residing in the union and
acting for the county in which any part of the
INTRODUCTION. 63
union is situated. The nominated guardians are
found only in London. They are nominees of the
Local Government Board. The qualification for
an elective guardian consists, under the general
law, in bsing rated to the poor rate at not less
than £5. The electors are the ratepayers and
such owners of property in the union as have made a
claim to vote. Non-resident owners may vote by
proxy. There is plural voting by means of voting
papers delivered and collected from door to door.
The term of office of elective guardians is usually
one 3^ear. Li the case, however, of about one-
gixth of the boards of guardians, it is three years.
In them cases either one-third of the guardians
retire every year or all retire together every third
year, the latter arrangement being far the more
common.
The general effect of the new Act w^ith reference
to guardians is as follows : — There will no longer
be any ex-officw or nominated guardians, but the
board of guardians may elect from outside their
own body a chairman or vice-chairman, or both,
and not more than two other persons qualified to
be guardians, who, in the language of the Act, will
be " additional guardians and members of the
board." If they do so elect — it is not obliga-
tory upon them to do so — and if on the first
election there is ^ sufficient number of persons
who have served ^§ ex-officio or nominated
guardians, those persons ai'e to have preference in
Oi THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
the matter. As to the qualification of guardians,
the Act repeals all enactments on the subject,
including those in local Acts, and requires that the
guardians shall either be parochial electors, or
have resided in the union for the twelve months
preceding the election. Women, therefore, are
qualified, whether married or single, and whether
on the register or not. In the case of a borough
there is an alternative qualification. Any person
who is qualified to 1)0 a councillor for the
borough will bo qualified to be a guardian for
any parish wholly or partly in the borough,
although he may not be a parochial elector of, or
resident in the parish. It is difficult to state the
qualification for the office of town councillor very
briefly ; but generally any man is qualified who,
for the twelve months preceding the 15th July in
any year, has occupied and l)een rated for any
house, shop, or other building in the borough, and
has resided for that time in the borough or within
seven miles of it. In certain cases, however,
persons resident within 15 miles of the borough
are qualified to be councillors, and therefore
guardians of any parish in the borough (45 & 46
Yict. c. 50, ss. 9, 11).
It can scarcely be said under these circum-
stances that the choice of guardians for a parish
ill a borough is not wide, although it is to be
noticed that this alternative qualification is not
one which is applicable \q -^omon.
Introduction. Go
The electors of the guardians will be the
parochial electors, each of whom will have one
Vote, and no more, for each of the number of
guardians to be elected. Married women can vote,
if duly qualified. There will be no proxy vote.
Thd election is to be conducted, on the lines of a
municipal election, in accordance with rules to be
framed by the Local Government Board.* Every
newly-elected guardian will be required to make a
declaration accepting office, or pay a fine. The
term of office of guardians wdll everywhere be
three years, but the system of retirement will not
be uniform, as in this particular a kind of local
option is to be allowed as between the simultaneous
retirement of all the guardians triennially, and
the retirement of one-third every year. Appeals
against elections of guardians will no longer be
made to the Local Government Board, section 8 of
the Poor Law Amendment Act, 1842 (5 & 6 Vict.
c. 57) being repealed by the Act. If it is desired
to question the election, this will have to be done
by an election petition, in the same way as in the
case of a municipal election (s. 48).
Section 59 of the Act applies to the meetings
and proceedings of boards of guardians certain
provisions of the Public Health Act, 1875. Nothing
in the section, however^ is to affect any powers of
the Local Government Board with respect to the
proceedings of guardians. The orders of that Board
* See page 90 post>
GG THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1804.
\\\\\, therefore, still govern in the matter, so far as
they go. The appUed provisions (which are too
lengthy to refer to in detail) will only operate
so far as they are not inconsistent with those
orders.
The reason for dealing with the matters above
referred to in tlu; present Act becomes apparent
when we consider that the administration of the
poor-law union, and of the rm'al sanitary district
forming part of the union, has hitherto been vested
practically in the same body, i.e., the board of
guardians. Primarily, of course, the guardians
are a poor-law authority ; but under the Public
Health Act, 1875, the same board, excepting only
the guardians elected for, and cx-officio guardians
resident in the urban parishes, constitute the
sanitary authority for the rural portion of the
union. At present, therefore, there is no separate
election of members of a rural sanitary authority.
Guardians are elected, and the guardians, with
the exceptions mentioned, form the sanitary
authority. The Local Government Act, 1894,
reverses this arrangement so far as the rural area
is concerned, but at the same time it maintains
the connection between the union and the rural
sanitary district, by providing that persons shall
be elected to form a " rural district council "
(instead of the rural sanitary authority), and
that these persons shall be the representatives
of the rural parishes on the board of guardians.
INTEODUCTION. 67
Guardians, as such, will only be elected for urban
parishes. It is obvious that it is a necessary
feature of the scheme that guardians and rural
district councillors should have the same qualifica-
tion, that they should be elected in the same way
and by the same class of electors, and that their
term of office should be the same. Apart from
this, the effect of setting up within the union
bodies elected on a wide popular basis like the new
district councils, miglit, if the qualification and
election of the guardians were not dealt with, be
to place the latter in a position in which their
influence would be impaired by reason of the less
popular principle of their constitution.
It remains to be added that the election and
retirement of the first guardians elected under the
Act are provided for by sections 79 and 84. The
election will probably take place about the end of
November, 1894.* The date, however, is not yet
definitively settled. The present guardians will
in all cases continue in office, without re-election,
until the guardians and rural district coun-
cillors elected under the new arrangement come
into office. It should be noted that, even where
the guardians are at present elected triennially,
and the triennial period has not expired, there
will be an election in November next, either
of guardians or of rural district councillors, for
every parish in the union. An entirely new board,
* See page 102 2Mst.
F 2
68 llIE I.OCAL GOVliRKMUNT ACT, 1894.
therefore, will l>e returned. The first subsequent
retirements will take place either in April, 189(),
or in April, 1898, according as the mode of re-
tirement is hy thirds or all together every third
year.
The powers of the guardians are practically
unaltered, except that (a) the Act takes away
the power of the guardians to appoint assistant
overseers (s. 81) ; and (/>) transfers to the parish
council the powers hitherto exercised by the guar-
dians with the approval of the Local Government
Board with regard to the letting, sale, or exchange
of parish property (s> 6) ; but (r), on the other
hand, if the parish council or parish meeting, as
the case may be, fail to appoint the overseers at
the proper time, the Act confers on the guardians
the power to make the appointment (s. 50).
Further powers may, moreover, be conferred on
the board of guardians with respect to the whole
or any part of an urban district by an order of
the Local Government Board, under a provision
in section 33, which will be referred to hereafter.*
The provisions as to district councils now
demand attention.
District Councils.
In order to understand the scheme of the Act as
regards district councils, it is necessary to bear in
* &Vcpp. 81, 88 post.
INTRODUCTION. 69
mind that at present the whole of England and
Wales, exclusive of the metropolis, is divided into
sanitary districts, urban and rural. Urban sanitary
districts are of three kinds, — ^boroughs, local board
districts, and Improvement Act districts. The
rural sanitary districts, as previously observed, are
resj^ectively so much of a poor-law union as is
not included in any urban sanitary district. The
sanitary authority in the case of a borough is the
corporation acting by the town council, in a local
board district the local board, and in an Improve-
ment Act district the improvement commissioners.
The constitution of the rural sanitary authorities
has already been adverted to.* Under the new
Act, very small rural sanitary districts will, for the
most part, be amalgamated with neighbouring
districts ; and if a rural sanitary district is in
two or more counties,! the part in each county
will usually be formed into a separate district
(ss. 24, 36). But, except in these cases, the Act
does not, as a rule, interfere with the area of
sanitary districts. It does, however, make ex-
tremely important changes in the constitution of
sanitary authorities other than those of boroughs,
and in lieu of their existing designations, it calls
all sanitary authorities " district councils." In an
urban sanitary district, the district council takes
* See page 66 ante.
t Here and throughout this Introduction we use the term
" county " as meaning " administrative county,"
70 THE LOCAL GOYERNJIENT ACT, 1894.
the name of the " urban district council," and a
rural sanitary district will, for the future, be
governed by a " rural district council." The
expression " county district " is used to include
both urban and rural districts. The Act also
confers new powers upon the sanitary authorities.
Urban District Councils.
As regards every urban district which is not a
borough, the following matters are dealt with in
the Act, viz. : —
(a) the constitution of the local authority ;
(h) the qualification for election as a member
of the authority ;
(r) the electorate ;
(d) the conduct of the election ; and
(«") the term of office of the members.
The existing qualification for election as a member
of a local board consists in being resident within
the district or within seven miles of it, and being
possessed of property to the value of not less than
£500 or X'1,000, according to the population of
the district ; or being rated to the poor rate in
the district at £'15, or in the more populous
districts at £80. The electors are the ratepayers
and such of the owners as have claimed to vote, the
latter having the power to vote by proxy. The poll
is taken by means of voting papers delivered and
collected from house to house. There is plural
INTRODUCTION. 71
voting. The term of office of members is three
years, one-third retiring each year. There are no
ex-officio, and, as a rule, no nominated members.
The quaHllcation, mode of election, and term of
office of improvement commissioners depend on
the provisions of the special Acts under which the
several commissions are constituted. In some
cases these bodies may include ex-offijcio or nomi-
nated members.
The provisions in the Local Government Act,
1894, as regards both local board and Improvement
Act districts are as follows : —
There are, in future, to be neither ex-officio nor
nominated members of the sanitary authority.
The existing qualifications for members of the
sanitary authority are abolished, and every person,
male or female, who is a parochial elector in the
district, or has, during the twelve months pre-
ceding the election, resided in the district, will be
qualified to be elected a district councillor, unless
otherwise disqualified.* The parochial electors
are to be the electors of the district councillors.
All plural and proxy voting is done away with, and
each elector may give one vote, and no more, for
each of any number of candidates not exceeding
the number of councillors to be elected. The
election is to be conducted in accordance with
rules which will be framed by the Local Govern-
ment Board.! The councillors are to be in office
* )Sce, as to disqualifications, s. 4G. f 5Vc page 90 2'osi
72 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
three 3'ears, and, as a rule, one-third of the coun-
cil will retire each year ; but the county council
may provide for the retirement of all the coun-
cillors together every third year, if the district
council prefer that arrangement (s. 28).
The election and retirement of the lh"st coun-
cillors, and the first meeting of the district council,
are provided for by sections 79 and 84. It seems
probable that the election will take place about the
end of November, 1894 ; * but the precise date is not
yet lixed. An entirely new body of councillors will
be elected on this occasion, and the existing mem-
bers of the urban sanitary autliority will continue
to act until the new councillors take up their
duties. They will then retire together. The first
sul)sequent retirements will take place in April
1896.
The chairman of any urban district council, other
than a town council, may be elected from outside
their own body. If a male, and not personally
disqualified,! the chairman of every urban district
council (including the town council of a non-county
borough), will be ex officio a justice of the peace for
the county. The council may also appoint a vice-
chairman (ss. 22, 59).
* Sea page 102 post.
t A bankrupt or a solicitor practising in the county would bo
disfiualificd (31 & 35 Vict. c. 18 ; 40 & 47 Vict, c 52).
INTRODUCTION. 73
Biiral District Councils.
Instead of being only the guardians under
another name, as is the case with the existing rural
sanitary authority, the district council of each
rural district ^Yill be a separate and distinct body.
The Act incorporates it, and gives it a common
seal. At present, a rural sanitary authority have
to use the guardians' seal. The council will con-
sist of a chairman and councillors. The chairman
must be a person qualified to be a councillor, but
he may be elected from outside, and, if a male and
not personally disqualified,* will be ex-ojficio a
justice of the peace for the county. The council
may also appoint a vice-chairman (ss. 22, 24, 59).
The councillors will be elected by the parochial
electors, but, if the number of elective councillors
is less than five, the Local Government Board may
nominate a sufficient number of persons to make
up that number. Each parish in the district will
(3lect the same number of councillors as it now
elects guardians. The provisions of the Act as to
the qualification of guardians, their election in
accordance with rules to be made by the Local
Government Board, and their term of office and
mode of retirement, api^ly to rural district coun-
cillors also, and any person qualified to be a
guardian for the union comprising the district, will
be qualified to be a district councillor for the
* See note (*) on previous page,
7i THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
district. In one respect the result, as regards tlie
qualilication for election as rural district coun-
cillor, is very curious. As stated above, under
s. 20 ("2), a person qualified to be elected a
town councillor for a borough is qualified to
be a guardian for a parish wholly or partly
in that borough. Any such person therefore
is qualified to be a rural district councillor. A
reference to s. 11 of the ISIunicipal Corporations
Act, 1882, will show that persons not rated for
property within the rural district, or having any
other direct interest in it, will thus be qualified to
be elected as district councillors of that district.
It will indeed be possible for a person, who is rated
iov i)roperty in a part of the borough outside the
union altogether, and who resides more than 15
miles from any part of the union, to be qualified to
be a district councillor for the rural part of the
union.
As previously mentioned, the persons elected
as rural district councillors will represent their
several parishes on the board of guardians.
Guardians, as such, will not be elected for rural
parishes.
As to the election and retirement of the first
councillors, and the first meeting of the rural
district council, sections 79 and 84 should be
referred to. The arrangements are precisely the
same as in the case of guardians.*
* See page G7 arite.
INTEODUCTION. 75
Poircrs of District Councils.
The powers of urban and rural sanitary authori-
ties, as at present constituted, differ considerably.
Very many of the enactments in the Public Health
and other Acts apply only to urban authorities.
But the Local Government Board have, in many
cases, power to confer on a rural authority, by
order, the powers of an urban authority. The
following are some of the matters in relation to
which sanitary authorities have jurisdiction* : — '
(a) powers possessed by both urban and rural
authorities : —
sewerage, drainage and water supply ;
scavenging, cleansing, and the pre-
vention and suppression of
nuisances ;
prevention and notification of infectious
disease ;
provision of hospitals,! mortuaries and
cemeteries ;
• Some of the Acts administered by sanitary authorities are
adoptive only, i.e., they are in force only in districts where they
are adopted. Such are the Infectious Disease (Notification)
Act, 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 72), the Infectious Disease
(Prevention) Act, 1890 (53 & 54 Vict. c. 34), the Public Health
Acts Amendment Act, 1890 (53 & 54 Vict. c. 59), Part III
(Working-Class Lodging Houses) of the Housing of the Working
Classes Act, 1890 (53 & 54 Vict. c. 70), and the Private Street
Works Act, 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c. 57).
t As regards the provision of hospitals, see the Isolation
Hospitals Act, 1803 (56 & 57 Vict, c 68).
76 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894,
regulation of lodging-houses ;
housing of the working classes (un-
healthy dwelling-houses, working
class lodging-houses, i.e. Parts II
and III of the Act of 1890) ;
unsound food ;
adulteration of food and drugs ;
provision of allotments ;
sanitary regulation of factories and
workshops ;
prevention of the pollution of streams ;
registration and regulation of canal
boats :
(b) powers possessed by urban authorities
only :—
regulation of offensive trades ;
maintenance of highways ;
housing of the working classes (un-
healthy areas, i.e. Part I of the
Act of 1890) ;
regulation of streets and buildings ;
lighting ;
prevention of fires ;
provision of parks, markets, baths and
washhouses, libraries, museums,
&c. ;
technical education ;
regulation of tramways, omnibuses and
hackney carriages,
INTRODUCTION. 77
The same powers will be possessed by Urban and
rural district councils respectively under the new
Act.
This Act not only does not take away the power
of the Local Government Board to issue orders
conferring urban powers on rural authorities, but it
enables them (s. 25) to issue such orders on the
application of a parish or county council, whereas
formerly an urban powers order could only be
applied for by the rural sanitary authority, or by
a number of persons representing one-tenth of the
net rateable value of the district, or of any con-
tributory place therein.*
The Local Government Board may also make
(jeneral orders giving to every rural district council
any powers of an urban sanitary authority under
the Public Health or other Acts. The regulation
of streets and buildings is one matter, the impor-
tance of which increases every year wdth the
increase of population, and which might, as it
seems to us, very well be dealt with by a general
order in this way. Orders on this subject are
continually being applied for by rural sanitary
authorities, as is shown by the reports of the Local
Government Board ; and there are other matters,
also, in regard to which it is difficult to understand
why rural authorities should not have the same
powers as urban authorities.
Under the Highways and Locomotives (Amend-
• 38 & 39 Vict. c. 55, s. 276.
78 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, IS'Ji.
ment) Act, 1878 (41 & 42 Vict. c. 77), about forty
rural sanitary authorities have been invested with
the powers of highway boards with regard to the
control and maintenance of the highways within
their districts. Under the new Act (s, 25) every
rural district council will be the highway authority
for the district for which it is elected ; and for
this purpose sections 144 to 148 of the Public
Health Act, 1875, are made to apply. The effect
of these sections is as follows : —
Section 144 vests in the rural district council all the powers,
duties, and liabilities of surveyors of highways, and of the
inhabitants in vestry assembled under the Highway Acts.
Rcction 145 provides for the recovery of higliway rates
outstanding at the date when the district council take over the
powers of the survej'ors.
Section 14G enables the district council to agree as to the
making of new roads, to be repaired after completion at the
public expense.
Section 147. The district council may construct or adopt
public bridges, &c., over or under canals, railways, or
tramways.
Section 148. They may enter into agreements as to the
repair, cleansing, &c., of certain streets and roads.
The operation of section 25 as regards highway
matters may, however, bo postponed in the case
of any particular county or part of a county for
three years, or more, from the " appointed day."*
This clause does not apply to main roads, the
management of which by the county coi ncil, sub-
ject to the provisions of the Local Government
* As to the " appointed day," see page 102 2)ost.
INTIIODUCTION. 79
Act, 1888, \Yill not be interfered with by the present
Act.
Other new powers which are given by the Act of
this year to all district councils, urban and rural
alike, are set out in sections 26 and 27. The
former section makes it their duty to protect public
rights of way, and prevent as far as possible the
stopping or obstruction of rights of way where this
would be prejudicial to the district. It is also their
duty to prevent encroachments on roadside wastes.
There will be an appeal to the county council if a
public right of way is stopped or obstructed, or an
encroachment on the roadside wastes takes place,
and the district council fail to perform their duty,
notwithstanding the representations of the parish
council in the matter.
The effect of such an appeal will be to enable the
county council to transfer to themselves the powers
of the district council in the matter, and take any
proceedings to enforce the rights of the public
which the district council might have taken. The
expenses will be recoverable from the district
council under s. 63.
Section 26 also contains provisions with regard
to commons. These enable any district council,
with the consent of the county council, to aid
persons in maintaining rights of common, where
the extinction of those rights would be prejudicial
to the inhabitants of the district. They are like-
Nvise empowered, with the consent of the county
80 Tlie LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1804.
council, to appear on any application to the Board
of Agriculture under the Commons Act, 187G, for
the regulation or inclosure of a common within
their district, and to make representations as to
the expediency or otherwise of the application,
regard being had to the health, comfort, and con-
venience of the inhabitants of the district. They
may contribute towards the cost of the improve-
ment of the common, and purchase common rights,
and in certain cases they may be invested with
powers of management of commons. This is a very
useful extension of the provisions of section 8 of
the Commons Act, which hitherto has onlv been
applicable to commons in or near towns with not
less than 5,000 inhabitants.*
Following the precedent set in the Bill of 1888,
Section 27 transfers to district councils certain
administrative powers of the justices. These powers
relate to^
(a) the licensing of agricultural gang-masters ;
(6) the grant of pawnbrokers' certificates j
(c) the licensing of game-dealers ;
{(1) the grant of licences for passage brokers
and emigrant runners ;
(c) the abolition of fairs and alteration of
fair days ;
{/) the execution as local authority of the
* See also some powers of parish councils iu oolinectiou with
Commons, referred to at page iO ante.
INTRODUCTION. 81
Acts relating to petroleum and infant life
protection ; and
(</) the licensing of knackers' yards.
In connection with this section the following references
may not be out of place : —
Licences to gang-masters are granted in petty sessions-
There is an appeal to quarter sessions if a licence is
refused. {Sec 30 & 31 Vict. c. 1.30, which makes regula-
tions with respect to the employment of children and young
persons and women in agricultural gangs.) Pawnbrokers'
licences can only be granted on certificates, as to charac-
ter, &c., given by stipendiary magistrates or justices in petty
sessions. If a certificate is refused there is an appeal to
quarter sessions (35 & 36 Vict. c. 93). Licences to game-dealers
are granted annually at special sessions (1 & 2 Will. IV, c. 32,
s. 18) . As to the grant of licences for passage brokers and emigrant
runners, see 18 & 19 Vict. c. 119, ss. 67, 76. On the represen-
tation of the justices of any petty sessional division within which
a fair is held, or of the owner of the fair, the Home Secretary
may abolish the fair, or alter the date for holding it (31 & 35
Vict. c. 12 ; 36& 37 Vict. c. 37). Where the justices are the local
authority for executing the Petroleum Act, 1871 (34 & 35
Vict. c. 105, s. 8), and the Infant Life Protection Act, 1872
(35 & 36 Vict. c. 38), they have power to license the storing
of petroleum, and they see to the keeping of a register of persons
receiving infants for hire for purposes of nursing. With respect
to the licensing of knackers' yards, see 26 Geo. Ill, c, 71 ; 7 & 8
Vict. c. 87.
Under section 33, the Local Government Board
may, as regards the whole or any specified part of
any urban district, transfer to the district council,
or some other representative body in the district
(such as a board of guardians), all or any of
the following matters, viz. : the appointment
of overseers and assistant overseers ; the powers,
8'2 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
duties and liabilities of overseers ; and the
poNvers, duties and liabilities of a parish council.
Among other powers wliirh may thus be con-
ferred on an urban district council, or on some
other representative body within their district, are
those of making and collecting the poor rate, of
hiring land compulsorily for allotments, and of
appointing trustees of charities. Where the power
of appointing overseers and assistant overseers, or
the powers and duties of overseers are thus
transferred, the powers of the vestry under the
Poor Eate Assessment and Collection Act, 1869
(32 & 33 Vict. c. 41), as regards the payment of
rates by owners instead of occupiers, may bo
similarly dealt with (s. 34).
It appears strange that most of these powers
should, as regards a rural parish, be conferred
on a representative body (the parish council) as a
matter of course, but that in the case of an urban
parish a special order of the Local Government
Board should be necessary to confer the powers.
It will, however, provide for cases where more than
one representative body within the same district
might fairly be considered to be entitled to the
powers in question, and also for exceptional cases,
such as that of Liverpool, where there is a select
vestry whose powers include those of overseers.
Under section 64 the county council may employ
any district council as their agents in the
transaction of any administrative business arising
INTRODUCTION. 83
in or affecting the interests of the district.
They have ah^eady power to " delegate " powers
to a district council, under section 28 of the Act
of 1888.
Power to appoint committees and to " concur "
in appointing joint committees, is given to district
councils by sections 56, 57.
Meetings and Proceedings of f)istrict Councils. .
Section 59 of the Act applies to all district
councils except borough councils the provisions of
section 199 and the first part of Schedule I of the
Public Health Act, 1875.
Every district council for a district other than a borough will
therefore be required to hold an annual meeting as soon as may
be convenient after the 15th of April in each year, and other
meetings at least once a month ; they will be empowered to
make regulations as to their meetings and business, and so on.
A rural district council will be entitled to the
use, at all reasonable hours, of the board-room
and offices of the board of guardians.
Expenses of District Councils.
The expenses of district councils are, as a rule,
to be defrayed in the same way as expenses of
sanitary authorities under the Public Health Acts.
In a borough, however, the expenses incurred by
the council in the exercise of the additional powers
conferred by this Act are to be defrayed out of the
borough fund or borough rate. An important
G 2
84 THE LOC.VL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
modification, too, is made as regards expenses
under the Act, determined by tlie Local Government
Board to be " special expenses "of a rural district
council, the effect of -which is that any such
expense which, if not determined to be special,
would 1)0 raised as general expenses {i.e. by an
equal assessment as poor rate of all the occupiers
in the contributory place), may, if so directed by
the Local Government Board, be raised as general
expenses instead of by a separate rate, to which the
occupiers of land would be assessable at one-fourth
only. Highway expenses in a rural district are to
be a charge on the whole district, unless there are
local circumstances of an exceptional character
(ss. 28, 29).
Application of Act to Boroughs.
The Act only applies to boroughs to a limited
extent. Thus, it does not in any way interfere
with the constitution, mode of election. Sec, of a
town council, nor does it alter the style or title of
the corporation or of the council of the borough.
The following provisions, however, are applicable
to boroughs as well as to other urban districts,
viz. :
Section 9, as to the acquisition of land for
allotments ;
section 20, as to the qualification and election
of guardians ;
INTRODUCTION. 85
section 26, as to rights of way and roadside
wastes, and the maintenance of rights of
common ;
section 27, as regards certain powers of
justices transferred to district councils ;
section 33, empowering the Local Government
Board to confer on the council, or some
other representative body within the
borough, the power of appointing over-
seers and assistant overseers, and any
powers, duties, or liabilities of overseers,
or of a parish council.
In the case of a borough which is not a county
borough, section 22 also applies so as to make the
mayor, unless personally disqualified, a justice
of the peace for the county as well as for the
borough .
Application of Act to London.
We have now to indicate the extent to which the
Act applies to London, by which we mean the
administrative county of London (including the
City) as constituted for the election of the county
council.
With respect to the qualification, election, &c.,
of guardians, we have stated at page 62 that the
metropolis is included in the provisions of the Act.
But there are other matters in regard to which, as
affecting London, its effect is no less important
than in relation to boards of guardians. Before
86 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
statiiif,^ what these are we may remind the reader
that within that part of the county wliich is out-
side the City of London the following bodies act as
" sanitary authorities " : —
(a) in 26 separate the vestries constituted
parishes, under the Metropolis
Management Acts ;
{b) in 1:3 " districts " the district boards Con-
or combina- stituted under those
tions of par- Acts ;
ishes,
(c) for the parish the "Woolwich Local
of Woolwich, Board.
Except in the case of "Woolwich, a vestry is
elected under the Metropolis IManagement Acts for
each of the parishes outside the City, whether in-
cluded in any district under a district board or not.
The electors are the ratepayers without distinction
of sex, and the qualification for election consists
in occupying and being rated to the poor rate in
respect of premises within the parish of a mini-
mum rateable value of, usually, ,£'40. Women,
however, are not eligible for election as vestry-
men. The term of office of vestrymen is three
years, one-third retiring each year. The in-
cumbent and churchwardens are cx-ojficio mem-
bers, and the former is ex-officio chairman of
the vestry. A number of auditors are elected
ill each parish at the same time as the vestry-
INTRODUCTION. 87
men. The auditors require the same qualifi-
cation as vestrymen, but their term of office is
one year. The members of each district board
are elected by the vestries of the parishes in the
district. They, too, must be persons qualified to
be vestrymen, and their term of office is three
years, one-third retiring annually. Members of
the Woolwich Local Board are elected in the same
way and have the same qualification as members
of local boards elsewhere. — This is the existing
order of things.
The new Act alters it in the following
particulars :—
{a) the qualification and mode of election of
vestrymen and auditors and members of
the Woolwich Local Board ;
{h) the qualification of the electors of all
these ;
(c) the qualification of members of district
boards ; and
{d) it amends the law respecting the office
of chairman of vestries and district
boards and of the Woolwich Local
Board.
The effect of the provisions on these subjects
may be thus stated :— The Act does away with all
the existing qualifications, and for the future every
person not otherwise disqualified* will be eligible
* As to disqualifications, sec s. 46.
88 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
for election as vestninaii, or auditor, or nieniber of
a district l)oard or the Woolwich Local Board, if
he is a parochial elector or has for the twelve
months preceding the election resided in the
parish or district, as the case may be. Women,
whetlier married or single, can now elect and be
elected.
The electors in the cases of vestrymen and
auditors and members of the Woolwich Local
Board will be the parochial electors, and the
election in these cases will be conducted in
accordance with rules to be framed by the Local
Government Board.* Members of district boards
^Yill be elected as heretofore. There wdll be no
ex-officio chairman of any of the vestries, although,
as the vestry is concerned to some extent with
affairs of the Church, the incumbent and church-
wardens will continue cx-ojjicio members of the
vestry. Each of the vestries (except those electing
district boards), each district board and the Wool-
wich Local Board, will annually elect a chairman
for the year, who, if not a woman or personally dis-
qualified, t will cx-ojiciohe a justice of the peace for
the county. The term of office is not altered in
any of the above cases.
,The Act further provides that any metropoli-
tan sanitary authority, or any representative
body within their district — such, for instance,
as a board of guardians, or in a district under
* See page 90 2^otit. f Sec note page 72 afite.
INTRODUCTION. 89
a district board, a vestry — may apply to the
Local Government Board for an^ order conferring
on the sanitary authority, or some representative
body within their district, all or any of the follo\Ying
matters, viz. : —
(a) the power of appointing overseers and
assistant overseers ;
(h) any powers or duties of overseers ; and
{(■) any powers or duties of a parish council.
This applies not only to the parishes and districts
above mentioned but to the whole of the admin-
istrative county, including the City, for which
the Commissioners of Sewers are the sanitary
authority.
These provisions place London on a practical
equality as regards this Act with urban districts
elsewhere. They do not profess to deal with the
general question of the reform of London
Government, but they will, we believe, be accepted
as an important step in that direction.
It only remains to be stated that the first
elections under the Act of vestrymen and auditors
and of members of the Woolwich Local Board, will,
so far as can be seen at present, take place about
the end of November, 1894.* Those now in office
will then, and not till then, retire. The first
retirements after next November will take place
* See page 102 post
90 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
at tlie date of the annual elections in 1896,
i.e., in the case of vestrymen and auditors, in
the month of May, and as regards the memhera
of the "Woolwich Local Board in April 1896
(ss. 79, 84).
Conduct of Elections, &c.
"We have seen that under the new Act the
election of —
parish councillors (s. 3) ;
guardians (s. 20) ;
urhan district councillors other than coun-
cillors of a borough (s. 23) ;
rural district councillors (s. 24) ; and
metropolitan vestrymen and auditors and
members of the Woolwich Local Board
(s. 31),
is to be conducted according to rules framed under
the Act by the Local Government Board. Section
48 enacts that these rules shall provide, amongst
other things —
'D"-
(i.) for every caudidate being nominated in \vTitingby two
parochial electors as proposer and seconder, and no
more ;
(ii.) for preventing an elector at an election for a union or
for a district not a borougli from subscribing a nomi-
nation paper or voting in more than one parish or
other area in the union or district ;
(iii.) for preventing an elector at an election for a parish
INTRODUCTION. 91
divided into parish wards from subscribing a nomi-
nation paper or voting for more than one ward ;
(iv.) for fixing or enabling the county council to fix the day
of the poll and the hours during which the poll is to be
kept open, so, however, that the poll shall always be
open between the hours of six and eight in the
evening ;*
(v.) for the jjolls at elections held at the same date and in
the same area being taken together, except where this
is impracticable ;
(vi.) for the appointment of returning officers for the
elections.
The rules have yet to be issued, but it is clear
from section 48 that the election will in each case
be conducted so far as possible on the lines of a
municipal election. This section applies, subject
to any adaj)tations and alterations that may be
made by the rules, the Ballot Act, 1872 (35 & 36
Yict. c. 33), the Municipal Elections (Corrupt and
Illegal Practices) Act, 1884 (47 & 48 Yict. c. 70),
and sections 74 and 75 and Part IVf of the
Municipal Corporations Act, 1882 (45 & 46 Yict.
c. 50), as amended by the Act of 1884, including
the penal provisions of those Acts. The modifica-
tions which the Local Government Board will make
in order to adapt these enactments to the
circumstances of the different elections above
referred to will no doubt be considerable, but, as
As regards Loudon, see s. 31 (1), and note thereon,
t Sections 74 and 75 of the Act of 1882 relate to " offences
in relation to nomination papers " and " offences in relation
to lists and elections," and Part IV to " corrupt practices
aid election petitions."
92 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
indicative of the general cliaracter of the elections,
we may observe that in no case Avill the voters
have voting-papers brought to their houses as is
done now in the case of an election of guardians
or of members of a local board : they will proceed
to an appointed polling-place, and will there be
furnished with ballot-papers. These they will
mark in an appointed manner, and place them in
the ballot-box. Any infringement of the secrecy
of tlie ballot, or any bribery, personation of voters,
treating, undue influence, or any other thing which
the Acts referred to, as adapted and applied by the
rules, constitute an offence against the law, will, if
committed in connection with an election under
the present Act, render the offender liable to
penalties.
In the case of guardians, district councillors
(other than borough councillors), metropolitan
vestrymen and members of the Woolwich Local
Board, the rules are also to adapt the provisions of
the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, with respect
to the following matters, viz., the expenses of
elections of town councillors (s. 140 and Sched, Y
of the Act of 1882), and to the acceptance of office
(s. 34), re-eligibility of holders of office (s. 37), and
the filling of casual vacancies (s. 40). Section 5G
of the same Act is likewise to apply. It prescribes
what is to be done when the number of valid
nominations is respectively greater than, the same
as, and less than the number of persons to be
INTRODUCTION. 93
elected. The provisions as to resignation, which
are contained in s. 36 of the Act of 1882, are to be
appHed to urban councillors, metropolitan vestry-
men, and members of the Woolwich Local Board,
but not to guardians. If a guardian wishes to
resign he must, as now, obtain leave from the
Local Government Board.* No election to fill a
casual vacancy is to be held within six months
before the ordinary day of retirement from the
office in which the vacancy occurs. The rules may
provide for the incidence of the charge for the
expenses of elections of guardians being the same
as heretofore, i.e., the general expenses of the
election may be made a charge on the common
fund, while the expenses of a contest fall on the
particular parish in which the contest arises. The
expenses of any election under the Act are to be
limited by a scale fixed by the county council,
or in their default by the Local Government Board.
Li the case of an election of parish councillors the
expenses will be defrayed, under sections 2 and 11,
as expenses of the parish meeting.
The rules are to adapt the provisions of section
48 to polls consequent upon parish meetings which
are taken on any matter other than the election of
parish councillors.
For the candidature of any person for the district
council, or the parish council, the use of school and
* 5 & G Vict. c. 57, s. 11. Eural district councillors are to be
in the same position as regards resignation.
94 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
other rooms can l)e obtained free of charge for
anything beyond the actual expense (inchiding any
damage to the premises, Sec.) entailed upon the
managers (s. 4). Under similar conditions such
rooms will also be available for use by the returning
officer for hearing objections to nomination papers,
for taking the poll, and for counting the votes in
any of the elections above mentioned (s. 48). As
mentioned elsewhere, the first elections under the
Act will in all probal)ility take place about the end
of November, 1894.*
Simplification of Areas.
The question now arises, how far will the Act
have the effect of simplifying the areas of local
government and of reducing the numl)er of
governing bodies within any given area ? On the
importance of this question it is impossible to lay
too much stress. The unnecessary multiplication
of authorities and the chaotic intersection of
boundaries which at present are found everywhere
throughout the country, are matters which strike
both at economy and efficiency, and it is satisfactory
to observe that, although the Act may not go so
far in the direction of simplilic-ation as could
perhaps have been wished, yet it constitutes a
great advance in that direction, and provides
a basis for further consolidation in the future.
The principal enactments bearing on this question
* See page 102 2wst.
INTRODUCTION. 95
are contained in sections 1 and 24, and Part III of
the Act, which deal with new areas formed under
the Act, as well as with existing areas. The
intention is that, so far as possible, every parish,
everj group of parishes, and every sanitary
district shall be wholly within the same adminis-
trative county. Every urban sanitary district was
brought wholly into one administrative county by
section 50 of the Act of 1888, and although there
is no express provision to that effect in either Act,
it would be contrary to the general scheme to so alter
an urban district as to cause it to overlap a county
boundary. Each parish, and each group of parishes,
is also to be, as a rule, within one county district.
This we say is the intention, but there will be
exceptions. The county council, " for special
reasons," may permit a rural district to remain in
two or more counties, or a group of parishes to be
formed of parishes not all within the same county.
They may also for special reasons allow a parish
or group of parishes to be in more than one county
district. The symmetry of the scheme will be lost
if these special reasons are found to exist in very
many instances ; but it is characteristic of this
country that, in matters affecting local government,
no general plan should be uniformly' applied. We
may all be conscious of a desire, as Lord Salisbury
has phrased it, " to have everything at right angles
and on the square," but our legislators invariably
save us from ourselves in this matter by making
96 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1804.
numerous exceptions possible. The ol)ject aimed
at in tlie present ease is, however, to have every
area under a parish council wholly contained within
the area under one district council, and every area
under a district council wholly contained within
one county. A sufficiently give-and-take spirit on
the part of the various local authorities and others
concerned, will, it may be hoped, enable this ideal
arrangement to be attained in the great majority of
instances.
As regards the consolidation of powers, the
most noteworthy feature of the Act is the transfer
of highway jurisdiction to rural district councils.
Leaving out of consideration the county councils,
whose jurisdiction affects main roads only, there
are at present, outside London, five different
classes of highway authorities. The Act reduces
the number to two, viz., urban and rural district
councils. Upwards of G,SOO separate highway
authorities will thus ultimately be got rid of.
Other provisions of the Act, such as those respecting
the Adoptive Acts, have the same general object in
view, and it may be assumed that the tendency of
future legislation will be rather to increase the
powers of one or other of the three orders of local
councils now practically called into existence than
to set up a new local authority for every new
purpose of local government that may arise.
inthoduction, 07
Powers of County Council.
It may well be questioned where, if county
councils bad not previously been called into exist-
ence, the framers of this Act would have found the
necessary machinery for the proper working of the
measure. In the establishment of parish meetings
and parish councils, the grouping of parishes, and
the adjustment of interlocking areas and boun-
daries ; in making arrangements in regard to the
retirement of guardians and district councillors ;
in dispensing additional powers to parish meetings,
district councils and metropolitan sanitary autho-
rities, and stepping into the breach where district
councils fail to perform their duties ; in the
acquisition of land for allotments, and in almost
countless other ways, the county council is made
to play the part of providence in this new scheme
of local government. It would be useless to attempt
to enumerate all the functions, many of them
involving nice discrimination and a careful feelino-
of the local pulse, which are thus thrust upon the
elect of the county ; but the provisions which will
be found in sections 36 to 40, 80 and 83, are
especially important. Sections 36 to 40 relate to
the vital question of readjusting areas and boun-
daries for the due working of the scheme, and to
the making of grouping orders and the establish-
ment of parish councils where not estabhshed by
the Act. Section 36 requires them to make such
H
OS THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
orders under that section as they deem neces-
sary for the purjoose of hringing the Act into
operation, and section 83 enjoins them " to exer-
cise all such of their powers as may be requisite
for ])ringing this Act into full operation within
their county as soon, as mat/ he." At the end of
two years, if any furtlier orders as to areas and
boundaries are necessary, the Local Government
Board will complete the business, unless they think
well to extend the time to enable the council to do
so (s. 36). Section 80 enables the council to
remove any difiiculties that may arise in connection
with the holding of the first parish meeting of a
rural parish ; tlie first election of parish or district
councillors, guardians, metropolitan vestrymen and
auditors, or members of the Woolwich Local Board ;
or the first meeting under the Act of a parish or
district council, board of guardians or metropolitan
vestry, or of the Woolwich Local Board. It is to
l)e inferred from the reports of the Local Govern-
ment Board that they, under a corresponding
provision in the Act of 1888, found a large amount
of work thrown upon them ; and it can hardly be
different with the county council in the present
case. It may be safely said that by the time the
scheme is fairly launched, and all obstructions to
its smooth working removed, the county councils
will have deserved well of the State.*
* A lengthy Circular has been issued by the Local Goverumcut
Board to county councils. Copies of it can be obtained from
Messrs. Eyre & Spottiswoode, East Harding Street, London, E.G.
\
INTRODUCTION. 99
Audit of Accounts.
The accounts of
(a) parish councils ;
(/>) parish meetings in parishes which have not
parisli councils ; and
(c) district councils other than the town
councils of boroughs,
will, like the accounts of county councils, guardians
and other local authorities at the present time, be
audited {see section 58) by the district auditors
appointed by the Local Government Board. The
audits are to be held yearly, except in the case
of rural district councils, where the audit is to be
half-yearly. The Local Government Board audits
are extremely efficient. The auditor has power to
allow or disallow any item in the accounts which
come before him. He can surcharge members of
local authorities with illegal expenditure which they
have authorised, and any officer with sums not
accounted for, or lost to the rates through careless-
ness or neglect ; but there is an appeal from his
decision in all cases to the Queen's Bench Division
of the High Court, or to the Local Government
Board. The Court can only decide as to the legality
of his decision ; the Local Government Board have,
in addition, the power to deal with a case on its
merits, and to allow expenditure incurred bond fide,
although it may not be strictly legal. The cost of
H 2
100 Till-: LOCAL OOVliUKMliNi: ACT, 1891.
the audit is defrayed, in part, by means of a stamp-
duty on a statutory financial statement which, at
each audit, every local authority has to submit to
the auditor for veriiication. All these provisions
will apply to the parish and district councils and
parish meetings above referred to.
Borough accounts (except those of Tunbridge
Wells and ]kurnemouth, which are audited by the
district auditors) will, as heretofore, be audited
luilf-yearly under the Municipal Corporations Act,
1882 (45 & 40 Vict. c. 50), by the borough auditors,
two of whom are elected by the burgesses and one
appointed by the mayor.
The accounts of metropolitan vestries will be
audited annually by auditors elected in the manner
described at page 88. The auditors of accounts
of district boards in London will continue to be
elected by those boards from among the auditors
for the parishes in their respective districts. In
this case also the audit will be annual.
Existing Officers.
Section 75 enacts that the existing officers of
local authorities, whose powers are transferred to
parish or district councils, shall become the officers
of the new councils. In the case of a separate
highway parish electing a paid surveyor, that
officer appears to be within the section. Vestry
clerks and assistant overseers in office, when the
INTRODUCTION. 101
Act comes into force (except assistant overseers
appointed by the guardians), will become officers
of the parish council. In no case is the transfer
to affect an officer's tenure of office, and while he
performs the same duties, he is not to suffer in
pocket.
Officers of a parish or rural sanitary district
divided by the Act are to hold office for each
parish or district formed by the division, their
salaries being borne by the respective parishes or
districts in proportion to rateable value.
Orders under section 33, transferring the powers
of overseers, &c., to urban district councils, metro-
politan sanitary authorities and other representa-
tive bodies, are to make proper provisions as to
officers.
Any existing officer affected by the Act will, if
he suffers any direct pecuniary loss by abolition of
office, or by diminution or loss of emoluments, be
entitled to compensation in accordance with section
120 of the Local Government Act, 1888, which,
with necessary modifications, is made applicable
for the purposes of the present Act, and will be
found in the Appendix to this volume.
102 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
Commencement of Act ; the " Appointed Day."
FolloAving the precedent establislied by the Act
of 1888, tlie new Local Government Act names an
" appointed day " for the Act to come into opera-
tion. Til is (see s. 84) will not be the same for all
purposes. For the purposes of elections, and of
parish meetinp;s in parishes not having a parish
council, it will be " the day or respective days
fixed for the first elections " under the Act, " or
such prior day as may be necessary for the purpose
of giving notices or doing other acts preliminary
to such elections " ; and for the purpose of the
jjowers, duties and liabilities of councils, or other
bodies elected under the Act, ''or other matters
not specifically mentioned," it will be the day on
which the members of such councils, or other
bodies first elected under the Act, come into office.
Section 84 provides that the first elections shall be
held on the 8th November, 1894, or on such later
date or dates in 1894 as the Local Government
Board may fix, and that the persons elected shall
come into office on the second Thursday after their
election, or such other day, not more than seven
days earlier or later, as may be fixed by or in pur-
suance of the rules framed by the Local Govern-
ment Board. No date other than the 8th November
has yet been fixed by the Department for the elec-
tions, but it seems that the new parochial register
INTRODUCTION. 103
will not come into force before the 22ncl November.
It is stated, however, that if the Eegistration
Acceleration Bill (introduced on the 19th April) is
agreed to, it will be possible to hold the first elec-
tions within a few days after November 22. The-
appointed day for the purpose of the transfer of
the powers and duties of justices to town councils,
under sections 27 and 32, will be the 1st of
November, 1894 (s. 84). In connection with this
clause, Mr. Fowler stated in the House of
Commons* that — ■
He proposed to continue in office all existing local authorities,
whether boards of guardians, London vestries, rural sanitary
authorities, or whatever the local authorities might be, until
the first election under this Bill liad taken place. He proposed
that the people should not be put to the expense of an election
in the course of the spring of this year, but the Government
would ask them to have an election in the autumn of this year.
» * « * rpj^g difficulty would be to complete the register
* * * * so as to allow the election to take place in the month
of November. * ♦ * * The Government would ask Parlia-
ment to pass a short Act accelerating the registration, and, of
course, providing any additional revising barristers who might
be necessary. * * * * Any attempt to have the election
upon the existing register would be most unsatisfactory, if not
impossible.
Mr. Shaw Lefevre's Bill is to give effect to this
arrangement.
In bringing this Introduction to a conclusion,
we are conscious that many points have been
omitted to which, had space allowed, it would
* " Tiroes," 6th January, 1894.
104 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1804.
have been proper to refer. Among these the pro-
visions relating to the adjustment of property and
habihties, the determination of questions as to the
transfer of powers, and otlier matters will readily
occur to those familiar with statutes affecting
local government. "We trust, however, that no
salient feature has been lost sight of. Though of
less bulk, the Act is much wider in scope than that
of 1888, and the difficulties attending a concise
statement of its effect will be appreciated on a
closer study of the measure itself. The possibili-
ties of so great a reform in its influence upon
public life are incalculable, and whatever its im-
perfections, no Act more far-reaching in this
direction could have been placed upon the
Statute Book than that which establishes "Parish
Councils."
THE
LOCAL GOVEKNMENT ACT, 1894.
An Act to make further provision for Local
Government in England and Wales.
(56 & 57 Vict. c. 73.)
[5th March, 1894.]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent
Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in
this present ParHament assembled, and by the
authority of the same, as follows : —
PAET L
Parish Meetings and Parish Councils.
Constitution of Parish Meetings and Parish Councils.
1. — Constitution of jMrish meetings and estahlish-
ment ofimrish councils. — (1.) There shall be a parish
meeting for every rural parish, and there shall be
a parish council for every rural parish which has a
population of three hundred or upwards : Provided
106 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
that an order of the county council in pursuance
of Part III of this Act—
(a) shall, if the parish meeting; of a rural
parish having a population of one hundred
or up\vards so resolve, provide for estah-
lishing a parish council in the parish,
and may, with the consent of the parish
meeting of any rural parish having a
population of less than one hundred,
provide for establishing a parish council
in the parish ; and
{!)) may provide for grouping a parish with
some neighbouring parish or parishes
under a common parish council, but with
a separate parish meeting for every parish
so grouped, so, however, that no parish
shall be grouped without the consent of
the parish meeting for that parish.*
(2.) For the purposes of this Act every parish in
a rural sanitary district shall be a rural parish.
(3.) Where a parish is at the passing of this Act
situate partly within and partly without a rural
sanitary district, the part of the parish which is
within the district, and the part which is without,
shall as from the appointed day,t but subject to
any alteration of area made by or in pursuance of
this or any other Act, J be separate parishes, in
like manner as if they had been constituted
* The principal provisions as to grouping orders and oi-dcrs
establishing parish councils with less than 300 inhabitants aro
contained in ss. 38-40.
t As to " the appointed day," sec s. 84.
+ See particularly s. 3G of the present Act, and s. 57 of the
Local Government Act, 1888, a copy of which will be found in
the Appendix to this volume,
PARISH MEETINGS. 107
separate parishes under the Divided Parishes and
Poor Law Amendment Act, 1876, and the Acts
amending the same.*
2. — Parish meetings. — (1.) The parish meeting
for a rm-al parish shall consist of the following
persons, in this Act referred to as parochial
electors, t and no others, namely, the persons
registered in such portion either of the local
government register of electors or of the parlia-
mentary register of electors as relates to the
parish.
(2.) Each parochial elector may, at any parish
meeting, or at any poll consequent thereon, give
one vote and no more on any question, or, in the
case of an election, for each of any number of
persons not exceeding the number to be elected.
(3.) The parish meeting shall assemble at least
once in every year, J and the proceedings of every
parish meeting shall begin not earlier than six
o'clock in the evening.
(4.) Subject to the provisions of this Act as to
any particular person being the chairman of a
* (39 & 40 Vict. c. 61 ; 42 & 43 Vict. c. 54 ; 45 & 46 Vict. c. 58.)
The effect of sub-section (3) is that the part of the parish within
the rural sanitary district and the part without will be separate
parishes for practically all civil purposes, including the appoint-
ment of overseers. As to charities and the custody of documents
in parishes divided by the Act, see s. 36 (3), and as to overseers
and " existing officers " of such parishes, ss. 79 (11), 81.
t See p. 20 of the Introduction. The same persons will
constitute the electorate in the case of parish and district
councillors, guardians of the poor, metropolitan vestrymen and
auditors, and members of the Woolwich Local Board. See
ss. 3, 20, 23, 24, 31.
% The date for the meeting is fixed by Sched. I, Part I.
108 THE LOCAL GOVEnNMENT ACT, 1804.
parish meeting, the meeting may choose their own
chairman.*
(5.) A \w\\ consequent on a parish meeting shall
be taken In- l)allot.t
(().) The reasonable expenses of and incidental
to the holding of a parish meeting or the taking of
a poll consequent thereon shall be defrayed as
hereinafter provided. t
(7.) With respect to parish meetings the pro-
visions in the First Schedule to this Act shall have
effect.
3. — Coiiatititiion of parish connril. — (1.) The
parish council for a rural parish shall be elected
from among the parochial electors of that parish
or persons who have during the whole of the
twelve months preceding the election resided in
the parish, or within three miles thereof, and shall
consist of a chairman and councillors, and the
number of councillors shall be such as may be
fixed from time to time by the county council, not
being less tlian five nor more than lifteen.
(2.) No person shall be disqualified by sex or
marriage for being elected or being a member of a
parish council. §
* Wlicn present, the chairman of the parish council will
usually l)c the chairman of the parish meeting (s. 45).
t The poll will be conducted in accordance with rules
framed hy tlie Local Government Board. It must always be
open between 6 and 8 p.m. (ss. 3, 48).
J The expenses are to be paid by the parish council (if any)
under s. 11, and are to include any expense or damage to which
s. 4 (2) applies.
§ See, as to disqualifications, s. 46 of this Act. In certain
cases the disqualification of a parish councillor, or of a candidate
for election as such, may be removed by the county council.
{See s. 46 (3).)
t>AllISll COUNCILS. 109
(B.) The term of office of a parish councillor
shall be one j'ear,
(4.) On the fifteenth day of April in each year
(in this Act referred to as the ordinary day of
coming into office of councillors) the parish coun-
cillors shall go out of office, and their places shall
be filled by the newly-elected councillors.
(5.) The parish councillors shall be elected by
the parochial electors of the parish.*
(6.) The election of parish councillors shall,
subject to the provisions of this Act, be conducted
according to rules framed under this Act for that
purpose by the Local Government Board.
(7.) The parish councils hall in every year, on or
within seven days after the ordinary day of coming
into office of councillorst hold an annual meeting.
(8.) At the annual meeting, the parish council
shall elect, from their own body or from other
persons qualified to be councillors of the parish, a
chairman, who shall, unless he resigns, or ceases
to be qualified, or becomes disqualified, continue in
office until his successor is elected, t
(9.) Every parish council shall be a body
corporate by the name of the parish council, with
the addition of the name of the parish, or if there
is any doubt as to the latter name,'^ of such name
as the county council after consultation with the
* The election ^Yill take place at a parish meeting or at a poll
consequent thereon. With regard to the rules referred to in the
next sub-section, see s. 48.
t i.e., the 15tli April. {See sub-section (4).)
X He may resign under s. 47. For the disqualifications under
the Act, see s. 46. Under Rule (11) of Schedule I, Part II,
the council may elect (from their own body) a vice-chairman.
§ There would be a doubt in any case where a parish was
divided under s. 1.
110 THE LOCAL GOVfillNMENT ACT, 1891.
parish meeting of the parish direct, and shall have
perpetual succession, and may hold land for the
purposes of their powers and duties without licence
in niortniain ; and any act of the council may he
si;4nilied l)y an instrument executed at a meeting
of the council, and under the hands or, if an
instrument under seal is required, under the hands
and seals, of the chairnuui presiding at the meeting
and two other memhers of the council.
(10.) With respect to meetings of parish councils
the provisions in the First Schedule to this Act
shall have effect.
4,— Use of schoolroom.— (1.) In any rural parish*
in which there is no suitahle puhlic room vested in
the parish council or in the chairman of a parish
meeting and the overseers which can be used free
of charge for the purposes in this section meii-
tioned, the parochial electors and the parish council
shall be entitled to use, free of charge, at all
reasonable times, and after reasonable notice, for
the purpose of —
(rt) the parish meeting or any meeting of the
parish council ; or
{!)) any inquiry for parochial purposes by the
Local Government Board or any other
Government department or local authority ;
or
(r) holding meetings convened by the chair-
man of the parish meeting or by the
parish council, or if as to allotments in
the manner prescribed by the Allotments
Act, 1890, or otherwise as the Local
* Note that this section does not apply to parishes in urban
districts.
USE OP SCHOOLS. Ill
CTOvernment Board may by rule prescribe,
to discuss any question relating to allot-
ments, under the Allotments Acts, 1887
and 1890, or under this Act ; or
[d) the candidature of any person for the
district council or the parish council ; or
{e) any committee or officer appointed, either
by the parish meeting or council or by a
county or district council, to administer
public funds within or for the purposes of
the parish
any suitable room in the schoolhouse of any public
elementary school receiving a grant out of moneys
provided by Parliament, and any suitable room the
expense of maintaining which is payable out of any
local rate :*
Provided that this enactment shall not authorise
the use of any room used as part of a private
dwelling-house, nor authorise any interference with
the school hours of an elementary day or evening
school, nor, in the case of a room used for the
administration of justice or police, with the hours
during which it is used for these purposes.
(2.) If, by reason of the use of the room for any
of the said purposes, any expense is incurred by
the persons having control over the room, or any
damage is done to the room or to the building of
which the room is part or its appurtenances, or the
furniture of the room or the apparatus for instruc-
tion, the expense or damage shall be defrayed as
* Precedents for the use of sclioolrooms and other rooms
which are maintained at tlie cost of the rates are to be found
in the Ballot Act, 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. 33, s. 6), and the Allot-
ments Acts, 1887 & 1890 (50 & 51 Vict. c. 48, s. 9 ; 53 & 54 Vict.
c. 65, s. 5).
112 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 18t)4.
part of the expenses of the parish meeting or
parish council* or inquiry as the case nia}' be :
l>at when the meeting is called for the purpose of
the candidature of any person, such expense or
damage sliall be reim1)ursod to the parish meeting
or the parish council In- the persons by whom or
on whose behalf the meeting is convened,
(3.) If any question arises under this section as
to what is reasonable or suitable, it may be
determined, in the case of a schoolhouse by the
Ivhu-ation Department, in the case of a room used
for the administration of justice or police by a
Secretary of State, and in any other case by the
Local Government Board.
Puucrs and Duties of Parish Councils and Pariah
Mcetim/.t.
5. — Paris!) couiidl to appoint overseers. — (1.) The
power and duty of appointing overseers of the
poor, and the power of appointing and revoking
the appointment of an assistant overseer, for every
rural parish having a parish council, shall be
transferred to and vested in the parish council,
and that council shall in each year, at their annual
meeting, appoint the overseers of the parish, and
shall as soon as may be fill any casual vacancy
occurring in the oitice of overseer of the parish, and
shall in either case forthwith give written notic3
thereof in the prescribed form to the board of
guardians. t
* i.e. as provided by s. 11.
t If the guardians do not receive notice within three weeks
after tlie 15th April, or after the occurrence of a vacancy, they
are to make the appointment or iiil the vacancy themselves
(s. 50).
POWERS OF PARISH COUNCIL. 113
(2.) As from the appointed day —
• (rt) the churchwardens of every rural parish
shall cease to be ovei seers,* and an
additional number of overseers may be
appointed to replace the churchwardens,
and
(h) references in any Act to the churchwardens
and overseers shall, as respects any rural
parish, except so far as those references
relate to the affairs of the church, be con-
strued as references to the overseers, and
((') the legal interest in all property vested
either in the overseers or in the church-
wardens and overseers of a rural parish,
other than property connected with the
affairs of the church, or held for an
ecclesiastical charity, shall, if there is a
parish council, vest in that council,
subject to all trusts and liabilities affecting
the same, and all persons concerned shall
make or concur in making such transfers,
if any, as are requisite for giving effect
to this enactment. t
6. — Transfer of certain powers of vestry and
other authorities to parish council. — (1.) Upon the
parish council of a rural parish coming into office,
there shall be transferred to that council : —
(a) The powers, duties, and liabilities of the
vestry of the parish except —
* Cliurcliwardens are at present ex -officio overseers by virtue
of 43 Eliz. c. 2.
t See 59 Geo. Ill, c. 12, s. 17, by which parish property is
vested in the churchwardens and overseers for the time being.
" Ecclesiastic^.1 charity " is defined by s. 75.
I
114 THE LOCAL (X)VERNMENT ACT, 1894.
(i.) so far as relates to the affairs of the
church or to ecclesiastical charities ;
and
(ii.) any power, duty, or lial)ility transferred
by tins Act from the vestry to any
other autliority :*
(h) The powers, duties, and liabilities of the
churclnvardens of the parish, except so
far as they relate to the affairs of the
church or to charities, or are powers and
duties of overseers, but inclusive of the
obligations of the churchwardens with
respect to maintaining and repairing
closed churchyards wherever the expenses
of such maintenance and repair are re-
payable out of the poor rate under the
Burial Act, 1855 :t Provided that such
obligations shall not in the case of any
particular parish be deemed to attach,
unless or until the churchwardens subse-
quently to the passing of this Act shall
give a certificate, as in the Burial Act,
1855, provided, in order to obtain the
repayment of such expenses out of the
poor rate.
((") The powers, duties, and liabilities of the
overseers or of the churchwardens and
overseers of the parish with respect to —
(i.) appeals or ol)jections l)y them in respect
of the valuation list, or appeals in
respect of the poor rate, or county
* i.e. to the parish meeting, or to the rural district council
under s. 25.
t (18 & 19 Vict. c. 128.) Sec page 35 of our Tutroduction,
POWERS or PARISH COUNCIL. 115
r.ate, or the basis of the county rate ;*
and
(ii.) the provision of parish books and of a
vestry room or parochial office, parish
chest, fire engine, fire escape, or matters
relating thereto ;f and
(iii.) the holding or management of parish
property, not being property relating to
affairs of the church or held for an
ecclesiastical charity, and the holding
or management of village greens, or
of allotments, whether for recreation
grounds or for gardens or otherwise for
the benefit of the inhabitants or any
of them,:j:
(d) The powers exerciseable with the approval
of the Local Government Board hy the
board of guardians for the poor law
union comprising the parish in respect of
the sale, exchange, or letting of any
parish property. §
* As to objections and appeals by overseers against valuation
lists, see 25 & 26 Vict. c. 103, ss. 18, 32. Notices of appeals
against poor rates are to be given to the churchwardens and
overseers (17 Geo. II, c. 38, s. 4 ; 41 Geo. Ill, c. 23, s. 4 ; 6 & 7
Will. IV, c. 96, s. 6). As to appeals against the county rate and
the basis of that rate, see 15 & 16 Vict. c. 81, ss. 17-19, 22.
t As to the several matters mentioned in this paragraph, see
58 Geo. II, c. 69, s. 2 ; 13 & 14 Vict. c. 57, ss. 1-5 ; 24 & 25
Vict. c. 125 ; 30 & 31 Vict. c. 106, s. 29.
t See8&9 Vict. c. 118, ss. 73-75, 92, 108-112 ; 2 & 3 Will.
IV, c. 42 ; 20 & 21 Vict. c. 31, s. 12 ; 36 & 37 Vict c. 19 ; 39 and
40 Vict. c. 56, and page 37 of the Introduction.
% See 5 & 6 Will. IV, c. 69, s. 3. For the consent of the
.owners and ratepayers now required under that Act, s. 52
substitutes the consent of the parish meeting.
110 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1804.
(2.) A parish council shall have the same power
of making any complaint or representation as to
unhealthy dwellings or ohstructive buildings as is
conferred on inhahitant householders by the
Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890,* hut
without prejudice to the powers of such liouse-
holders,
(3.) A parish council shall have the same power
of making a representation with respect to
allotments, and of applying for the election of
allotment managers, as is conferred on parliamen-
tary electors by the Allotments Act, 1887, or the
Allotments Act, 1890, but without prejudice to the
powers of those electors,
(4.) Where any Act constitutes any persons
wardens for allotments, or authorises or requires
the appointment or election of any wardens
committee or managers for the purpose of allot-
ments, then, after a parish council for the parish
interested in such allotments comes into office, the
powers and duties of the wardens, committee, or
managers shall be exercised and performed by the
parish council, and it shall not be necessary to
make the said appointment or to hold the said
election, and for the purpose of section sixteen
of the Small Holdings Act, 1892, two members of
the parish council shall be substituted for allot-
ment managers or persons appointed as allotment
managers. t
* (53 & 54 Vict. c. 70.) Sec p. 38 of the Introduction.
t S. 16 of the Small Holdings Act (55 & 56 Vict. c. 31)
provides for the delegation by tlie county council of the
management of small holdings to a committee consisting partly
of allotment managers under the Allotments Act, 1887, -or
persons appointed in like manner as allotment managers. The
incumbent, one churcliwardcn and two ratepayers arc constituted
Lowers op pahish council. 117
7. — Transfer of iioicers under Adoptive Acts. —
(1.) As from the appointed day, in every rural
parish the parish meeting shall, exclusively, have
the power of adopting any of the following Acts,
inclusive of any Acts amending the same (all which
Acts are in this Act referred to as " the Adoptive
Acts ") ; namely, —
(a) The Lighting and Watching Act, 1833 ;
{h) The Baths and Washhouses Acts, 1846 to
1882 *
(c) The Burial Acts, 1852 to 1885 ;
{d) The Puhlic Improvements Act, 1860 ;
{e) The Public Libraries Act, 1892.*
(2.) Where under any of the said Acts a par-
ticular majority is required for the adoption or
abandonment of the Act, or for any matter under
such Act, the like majority of the parish meeting
or, if a poll is taken, of the parochial electors, shall
be required, and where under any of the said Acts
the opinion of the voters is to be ascertained by
voting papers, the opinion of the parochial electors
shall be ascertained by a poll taken in manner
provided by this Act.
(3.) Where under any of the said Acts the con-
sent or approval of, or other act on the part of,
wardens for the management of allotments for the labouring
poor (8 & 9 Vict. c. 118, s. 108). The vestry appoint annually
a committee for the purposes of fuel allotments under 2 & 3
Will. IV, c. 42 (36 & 37 Vict. c. 19). Allotment managers are
either appointed by the sanitary authority under s. 6 or elected
by the parliamentary electors under s. 9 of the Act of 1887.
* (3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 90.— 9 & 10 Vict. c. 74 ; 45 & 46 Vict. c. 30.
—15 & 16 Vict. c. 85 ; 48 & 49 Vict. c. 21.— 23 & 24 Vict. c. 30.
—55 & 56 Vict. c. 53.) We have dealt somewhat in detail with
these Acts in our Introduction, pp. 42 to 45.
118 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
the vestry of a rural parish is required in relation
to any expense or rate, the parish meeting shall be
substituted for the vestry, and for this purpose the
expression "vestry" shall include any meeting of
ratepa^'ers or voters.
(4.) Where tliere is power to adopt any of the
Adoptive Acts, for a part only of a rural parish, the
Act may be adopted by a parish meeting held for
that part.*
(;■).) "Where the area under any existing authority
acting within a rural parish in the execution of any
of the Adoptive Acts is co-extensive with the parish,
all powers, duties, and liabilites of that authority
shall, on the parish council coming into office, be
transferred to that council.!
(().) This Act shall not alter the incidence of
charge of any rate levied to defray expenses in-
curred under any of the Adojitive Acts, and any
such rate shall be made and charged as heretofore,
and any property applicable to the payment of
such expenses shall continue to be so applicable.
(7.) When any of the Adoptive Acts is adopted
for the whole or part of a rural parish after the
appointed day, and the parish has a parish council,
the parish council shall be the authority for the
execution of the Act.
(8.) For the purposes of this Act the passing of
a resolution to provide a burial ground under the
Burial Acts, 1852 to 1885, shall be deemed an
adoption of those Acts.
* As to parisli meetings for parts of parishes see s. 49.
t Areas under any authority whicli are not co-cxteusive with
the parish are iirovided for hy s. 53. Tlie same section provides
for the alteration of the boundaries of areas under these
authorities.
Powehs of parish council. 119
8. — Additional powers of parish council.- — (1.) A
parish council shall have the following additional
powers, namely, power — ■
(a) to provide or acquire buildings for public
offices and for meetings and for any pur-
poses connected with parish business or
with the powers or duties of the parish
council or parish meeting; and
{h) to provide or acquire land for such build-
ings and for a recreation ground and for
public walks ;* and
((') to apply to the Board of Agriculture under
section nine of the Commons Act, 1876 ;t
and
(d) to exercise with respect to any recreation
ground, village green, open space, or pub-
lic walk, which is for the time being under
their control, or to the expense of which
they have contributed, such powers as
may be exercised by an urban authority
under section one hundred and sixty-four
of the Public Health Act, 1875, or section
forty-four of the Public Health Acts
Amendment Act, 1890, in relation to
recreation grounds or public walks, and
sections one hundred and eighty-three to
one hundred and eighty-six of the Public
Health Act, 1875, t shall apply accord-
ingly as if the parish council were a local
* As to the acquisitiou of land for the purposes of the parish
council, see s. 9.
t 39 & 40 Vict. c. 5G.
+ Ss. 183 to 18G of the Public Health Act, 1875, relate to the
making and confirmation of byelaws. The Local Government
Board have issued model byelaws vinder s. 164 of that Act.
1"20 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
authority within the meaning of those
Bections, and
(e) to utiUse any Avell, spring, or stream within
tlioir parish and provide facihties for
obtaining ^Yater therefrom, but so as not
to interfere with the rights of any cor-
poration or person ;* and
(j) to deal witli any pcnd, pool, open ditch,
drain, or place containing, or used for the
collection of, any drainage, filth, stagnant
water, or matter likely to be prejudicial to
health, by draining, cleansing, covering
it, or otherwise preventing it from being
prejudicial to health, but so as not to
interfere with any private right or the
sewage or drainage works of any local
authority ;* and
{(j) to acquire by agreement any right of way,
whether witliin their parish or an adjoin-
ing parish, the acquisition of which is
beneficial to the inhabitants of the parish
or any part thereof! ; and
(/() to accept and hold any gifts of property,
real or personal, for the benefit of the
inhabitants of the parish or any part
thereof; and
(/) to execute any works (including works of
maintenance or improvement) incidental
to or consequential on the exercise of any
of the foregoing powers, or in relation to
* These two paragraphs should be read with subsection (3)
and s. IG. The council cannot acquire laud for water supply
compulsorily (s. 9 (15) ).
t Other provisions as to rights of way are contained in ss. 13,
19, 2G. The council cannot i;se compulsory powers for acquir-
ing rights of way (s. 9 (15) ).
POWERS OF PARISH COUNCIL. 121
any parish property, not being property
relating to affairs of the church or hekl
for an ecclesiastical charity ; and
(k) to contribute towards the expense of doing
any of the things above mentioned, or to
agree or combine with any other parish
council to do or contribute towards the
expense of doing any of the things above
mentioned.
(2.) A parish council may let, or, with the con-
sent of the parish meeting, sell or exchange, any
land or buildings vested in the council, but the
power of letting for more than a year and the
power of sale or exchange shall not be exercised,
in the case of property which has been acquired at
the expense of any rate, or is at the passing of this
Act applied in aid of any rate, or would but for want
of income be so applied, without the consent of the
Local Government Board, or in any other case
without such consent or approval as is required
under the Charitable Trusts Acts, 1853 to 1891,*
for the sale of charity estates, provided that the
consent or approval required under those Acts
shall not be required for the letting for allotments
of land vested in the parish council.
(3.) Nothing in this section shall derogate from
any obligation of a district council with respect to the
supply of water or the execution of sanitary works.
(4.) Notice of any application to the Board of
Agriculture in relation to a common shall be
served upon the council of every parish in which
any part of the common to which the application
relates is situate. t
* 16 & 17 Vict. c. 137 ; 54 & 55 Vict. c. 17.
t See the Commons Act, 1876 (39 & 40 Vict. c. 56).
122 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
9. — Poircrsjur acquisition of land. — (1.) For the
purpose of the acquisition of land by a parish
council the Lands Clauses Acts shall be in-
corporated M-ith this Act, except tlie provisions of
those Acts with respect to the purchase and taking
of land otherwise than by agreement, and section
one hundred and seventy-eight of the Public
Health Act, 1875, shall apply as if the parish
council were referred to therein.*
(2.) If a parish council are unable to accpiire by
agreement and on reasonable terms suitable land
for any purpose for which they are authorised to
acquire it, they may represent the case to the
county council, and the county council shall
inquire into the representation.
(3.) If on any such representation, or on any
proceeding under the Allotments Acts, 1887 and
1890, ■• a county council are satisfied that suitable
land for the said purpose of the parish council or
for the purpose of allotments (as the case may be),
cannot be acquired on reasonable terms by
voluntary agreement, and that the circumstances
are such as to justify the county council in pro-
ceeding under this section, they shall cause such
public inquiry to be made in the parish, and such
notice to be given both in the parish and to the
owners, lessees, and occupiers of the land proposed
to be taken as may be prescribed, :J: and all persons
interested shall be permitted to attend at the
* This merely enables the Duchy of Lancaster to sell laud to
the parish council.
t 50 & 51 Vict. c. 48 ; 53 & 54 Vict. c. G5.
X "Proscribed" nicaus prescribed by order of the Local
Government Board (s. 75). Section 9 (7) contemplates the
issue by the Board of "regulations" for the purposes of this
section.
ACQUISITION OF LAND. 123
inquiry, and to support or oppose the taking of the
land.
(4.) After the completion of the inquiry, and
considering all objections made by any persons
interested, the county council may make an order,
for putting in force, as respects the said land or
any part thereof, the provisions of the Lands
Clauses Acts with respect to the purchase and
taking of land otherwise than by agreement.
(5.) If the county council refuse to make any
such order, the parish council, or, if the proceed-
ing is taken on the petition of the district council,
then the district council, may petition the Local
Government Board, and that Board after local
inquiry may, if they think proper, make the order,
and this section shall apply as if the order had
been made by the county council. Any order
made under this subsection overruling the decision
of the county council shall be laid before Parlia-
ment by the Local Government Board.
(6.) A copy of any order made under this section
shall be served in the prescribed manner, together
with a statement that the order will become final
and have the effect of an Act of Parliament, unless
within the prescribed period a memorial by some
person interested is presented to the Local Govern-
ment Board praying that the order shall not
become law without further inquiry.
(7.) The order shall be deposited with the Local
Government Board, who shall inquire whether the
provisions of this section and the prescribed
regulations have been in all respects complied
with ; and if the Board are satisfied that this has
been done, then, after the prescribed period—
(a) If no memorial has been presented, or if
124 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
every such memorial has been withdrawn,
the Board shah, Avithout further inquiry-,
confirm the order :*
{h) If a memorial has been presented, the
Local (lovernment Board shall proceed to
hold a local inquiry, and shall, after such
mquiry, either conhrm, with or without
amendment, or disallow the order :
{<■) Upon any such conlirnuition the order, and
if amended as so amended, shall become
Ihuil and have the eilcct of an Act of
Parliament, and the confirmation by the
Local Government Board shall be con-
clusive evidence that the requirements of
this Act have been complied with, and
that the order has been duly made, and
is within the powers of this Act.
(8.) Sections two hundred and ninety-three to
two hundred and ninety-six, and subsections (1)
and (2) of section two hundred and ninety-seven
of the Public Health Act, 1875, t shall apply to a
* Til a case where iio memorial is presented, or the memorial
is witiidraAvn, the Board, assuming that the order has been duly
made in accordance with the Act and regulations, will have no
altci-nativc hut to confirm the order ; they cannot amend it.
lint, under paragraph (6), if a memorial is presented the Board,
in confirming the order, may amend it, or they may disallow it.
t Section 293 gives tlie Board power to direct inquiries.
Section 294 enables them to make orders as to the costs of
inquiries, and tiic parties by whom the costs are to be borne.
Section 295. Orders of Board conclusive, and to be publislied.
Section 29G. Powers of Board's inspectors as to examina-
tion, &c. of witnesses, production of documents, &c.
Section 297. (1.) Order not to be made by Board without
previous advertisement in local ncjwspaper.
(2.) Before making order, inquiry to be held aud objections
considered.
ACQUISITION OF LAND. 125
local inquiry held by the Local Government Board
for the purposes of this section, as if those sections
and subsections were herein re-enacted, and in
terms made applicable to such inquiry.
(9.) The order shall be carried into effect, when
made on the petition of a district council, by that
council, and in any other case by the county
council.
(10.) Any order made under this section for the
purpose of the purchase of land otherwise than by
agreement shall incorporate the Lands Clauses
Acts and sections seventy-seven to eighty-five of
the Eailways Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845,*
with the necessary adaptations, but any question
of disputed compensation shall be dealt with in
the manner provided by section three of the Allot-
ments Act, 1887, and provisoes (a), (h), and (c) of
subsection (4) of that section are incorporated
with this section and shall apply accordingly :-|-
Provided that in determining the amount of dis-
puted compensation, the arbitrator shall not make
any additional allowance in respect of the purchase
being compulsory.
(11.) At any inquiry or arbitration held under
this section the person or persons holding the
inquiry or arbitration shall hear any authorities or
parties interested by themselves or their agents,
* (8 & 9 Vict. c. 20.) These sections prevent the working of
mines under or near a railway, in such a way as to cause
damage to the latter, while at the same time they provide for
compensation to the owner for any loss which he may sustain
through their provisions.
+ Any question of disputed compensation is under s. 3 of the
Act of 1887 to be referred to a single arbitrator appointed by
the parties, or, if they do not agree, by the Local Government
"Board.
12G THE LOC.VL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
and shall hear witnesses, but shall not, except in
such cases as may be prescribed, hear counsel or
expert witnesses.
(12.) The person or persons holding a publiiC
inquiry for the purposes of this section on behalf
of a county council shall have the same powers as
an inspector or inspectors of the Local Government
Board when holding a local inquiry ; and section
two hundred and ninety-four of the Public Health
Act, 1875,* shall apply to the costs of inquiries
held by the county council for the purpose of this
section as if the county council were substituted for
the Local Government Board.
(13.) Subsection (2) of section two, if the land
is taken for allotments, and, whether it is or is not
so taken, subsections (a), ((5), (7), and (8) of section
three of the Allotments Act, 1887, and section
eleven of tliat Act, and section three of the Allot-
ments Act, 1800, are incorporated with tliis section,
and shall, with the prescribed adaptations, apply
accordingly. t
* See note to subsection (8).
t These enactments ai-e to the following effect : —
Allotments Act, 1887.
Section 2 (2). Land not to be acquired except at such price
that the expenses may reasonably be expected to be recouped
out of the rents obtained for the allotments.
Section 3 (5). [Construction of enactments.]
(6). An order for compulsory purchase not to be
made as respects land required for the amenity
or convenience of a dwelling-house, or huid
belonging to and required by a railway or
canal company. As far as practicable, the
taking an undue or inconvenient quantity
of land from any one owner is to be avoided.
(7). Persons are authorised to lease land for not
■ more than tliirty-fivo years.
ACQUISITION OF LAND. 127
(14.) Where the land is acquired otherwise than
for allotments, it shall be assured to the parish
council ; and any land purchased by a county
council for allotments under the Allotments Acts,
1887 and 1890, and this Act, or any of them, shall
be assured to the parish council, and in that case
sections five to eight of the Allotments Act, 1887,*
shall apply as if the parish council "were the
sanitary authorit}'.
(15.) Nothing in this section shall authorise the
parish council to acquire otherwise than b}^ agree-
ment any land for the purpose of any supply of
■v\'ater, or of any right of way.f
(16.) In this section the expression " allotments "
includes common pasture where authorised to be
acquired under the Allotments Act, 1887.+
(17.) Where, under the Allotments Act, 1890,
the Allotments Act, 1887, applies to the purchase
of land by the county council, that Act shall apply
as amended by this section, and the parish council
shall have the like power of petitioning the county
council as is given to six parliamentary electors by
section two of the Allotments Act, 1890.§
(8). No order to be made for purchasing any right
to coal or metalliferous ore.
Section 11. [Sale of sujDerfluous or unsuitable land.]
Allotments Act, 1890.
Section 3. County council to appoint a standing committee
for the purposes of allotments.
* These sections relate to the improvement and adaptation
of the land for allotments, the management, letting and use of
allotments, and the recovery of rent and possession from
allottees.
t See s. 8, subsection (1). + See s. 12 of the Act of 1887.
§ i.e. they may petition if after a representation by the parish
pouncil or by six parliamcn tary electors or ratepayers, the district
128 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
(18.) This section shall apply to a county
borough with the necessary modifications, and in
particular with the modification that the order
shall be both made and confirmed by the Local
Government Board and shall be carried into effect
by the council of the count}^ borough.
(19.) The expenses of a county council incurred
under this section shall be defrayed in like manner
as in the case of a local inquiry by a county
council under this Act.*
10. — Hirinfi of land for allotments. — (1.) The
parish council shall have power to hire land
for allotments, and if they are satisfied that
allotments are required, and are unable to hire
by agreement on reasonable terms suitable land
for allotments, they shall represent the case
to the county council, and the county council
may make an order authorising the parish council
to hire compulsorily for allotments, for a period
not less than fourteen 3'ears nor more than
thirty-five years, such land in or near the parish
as is specified in the order, and the order shall, as
respects confirmation and otherwise, be subject to
the like provisions as if it were an order of the
county council made under the last preceding
section of this Act, and that section shall apply as
if it were herein re-enacted with the substitution
of " hiring" for "purchase" and with the other
necessary modifications.
(2.) A single arbitrator, who shall be appointed
in accordance with the provisions of section three
council fail to acquire sufficient laud of a suitable character for
allotments.
* i.e. as provided by section 72.
ALLOTMENTS : HlRfNGF OF LAND; 129
of the Allotments Act, 1887,* and to whom the
provisions of that section shall apply, shall have
power to determine any question —
(rt) as to the terms and conditions of the
hiring ; or
{h) as to the amount of compensation for
severance ; or
(r) as to the compensation to any tenant upon
the determination of his tenancy ; or
(r/) as to the apportionment of the rent be-*
tween the land taken by the parish
council and the land not taken from the
tenant ; or
{c) as to any other matter incidental to the
hiring of the land by the council, or the
surrender thereof at the end of their
tenancy ;
but the arbitrator in fixing the rent shall not make-
any addition in respect of compulsory hiring.
(3.) The arbitrator, in fixing rent or other com-
pensation, shall take into consideration all the
circumstances connected with the ■ land, and the
use to which it might otherwise be put by the
owner during the term of hiring, and any de-
preciation of the value to the tenant of the residue
of his holding caused by the withdrawal from the
holding of the land hired by the parish council.
(4.) Any compensation awarded to a tenant in
respect of any depreciation of the value to him of
the residue of his holding caused by the with-
drawal from the holding of the land hired by the
parish council shall as far as possible be provided
* i.e. by the parties, or, if tiie parties do not agree, by the
Local Government Board.
K
130 TIHC LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
for l)y tuking such compensation into account in
iixing, as the case may require, the rent to be paid
l)y the parish council for the land hired l)y them,
and the apportioned rent, if any, to ho paid l)y
tlic tenant for that portion of the holding which is
nut hired l)y the parish council.
(.5.) The award of the arbitrator or a copy
thereof, together with a report signed ])y hhii as
10 the condition of the land taken by the parish
council, shall bo deposited and preserved with the
public books, writings, and papers of the parish,*
and the owner for the time being of the land shall
at all reasonable times be at liberty to inspect the
same and to take copies thereof.
(G.) Save as hereinafter mentioned, sections
five to eight of the Allotments Act, 1887, f shall
apply to any allotment hired by a parish council in
like manner as if that council were the sanitary
authority and also the allotment managers :
Provided that the parish council —
(rt) may let to one person an allotment or
allotments exceeding one acre,+ but, if
the land is hired compulsorily, not ex-
ceeding in the whole four acres of pasture
or one acre of arable and three acres of
pasture ; and
(h) may permit to be erected on the allotment
any stable, cowhouse, or barn ;§ and
(r) shall not break up, or permit to be broken
up, any permanent pasture, without the
assent in writing of the landlord.
* The deposit of the public books, writiugs, &c., of the pai-ish
is provided for iu s. 17.
t See note to section 9 (14).
X One aero was the limit under the Act of 1887.
§ Such buildings were not pcnuittcd by tlic Act of 1887.
ALLOTMENTS '. HIRING OF LAND. 131
(7.) On the determination of any tenancy created
by compulsory hiring a single arbitrator who shall
be appointed in accordance with the provisions of
section three of the Allotments Act, 1887,* shall
have power to determine as to the amount due by
the landlord for compensation for improvements,
or by the parish council for depreciation, but such
compensation shall be assessed in accordance with
the provisions of the Agricultural Holdings
(England) Act, 188B.t
(8.) The order for compulsory hiring may apply,
with the prescribed adaptations, such of the pro-
visions of the Lands Clauses Acts (including those
relating to the acquisition of land otherwise than
by agreement) as appear to the county council or
Local Government Board sufficient for carrying
into effect the order, and for the protection of the
persons interested in the land and of the parish
council.
(9.) Nothing in this section shall authorise the
compulsory hiring of any mines or minerals, or
confer any right to take, sell, or carry away any
gravel, sand, or clay, or authorise the hiring of
any land which is already owned or occupied as a
small holding within the meaning of the Small
Holdings Act; 189'24
(10.) If the land hired under this section shall
at any time during the tenancy thereof by the
parish council be shown to the satisfaction of the
county council to be required by the landlord for
the purpose of working and getting the mines,
minerals, or surface minerals thereunder, or for any
road or work to be used in connexion with such
* See note to subsection (2). f 4G & 47 Vict. c. Gl,
X 55 & 56 Vict. c. 31.
K 2
132 TUE LOCAL GOVEHNMlilNT ACt, 1804.
Morkinp; or ^ettinp:, it shall be lawful for tlie land-
lord of such land to resume possession thereof
upon giving to the parish council twelve calendar
months' previous notice in writing of his intention
BO to do, and upon such resumption the landlord
shall pay to the parisli council and to the allot-
ment holders of the land for the time being such
sum by w^ay of compensation for the loss of such
land for the purposes of allotments as may be
agreed upon by the landlord and the parish council,
or in default of such agreement as may be
awarded by a single arbitrator to be appointed in
accordance with the provisions of section three of
the Allotments Act, 1887,* and the provisions of
that section shall apply to such arbitrator.
The word " landlord " in this subsection means
the person for the time being entitled to receive
the rent of the land hired by the parish council.
(11.) The Local Government Board shall annually
lay before Parliament the report of any proceed-
ings under this and the preceding section.
11. — Restrictions on expenditure. — (1.) A parish
council shall not, without the consent of a parisli
meeting, incur expenses or liabilities which will
involve a rate exceeding threepence in the pound
for any local financial year,t or which will involve
a loan.
('2.) A parish council shall not, without the
approval of the county council, incur any expense
or liability which w^ill involve a loan.
(3.) The sum raised in anv local financial vear
* Sec note to subsection (2).
+ i.e. the twelve months ending the 31st March. (Local
Government Act, 1888, s. 73, and s. 75 of the present Act.)
BORROWING POWERS. 133
by a parish council for their expenses (other than
expenses under the Adoptive Acts) shall not exceed
a sum equal to a rate of sixpence in the pound on
the rateable value of the parish at the commence-
ment of the year, and for the purpose of this
enactment the expression " expenses " includes any
annual charge, whether of principal or interest, in
respect of any loan.
(4.) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the
expenses of a parish council and of a parish meet-
ing, including the expenses of any poll, shall be
paid out of the poor rate ; and where there is a
parish council that council shall pay the said
expenses of the parish meeting of the parish ; and
the parish council, and where there is no parish
council the chairman of the parish meeting, shall,
for the purpose of obtaining payment of such
expenses, have the same powers as a board of
guardians have for the purpose of obtaining con-
tributions to their common fund.*
(5.) The demand note for any rate levied for
defraying the expenses of a parish council or a
parish meeting, together with other expenses, shall
state in the prescribed form the proportion of the
rate levied for the expenses of the council or meet-
ing, and the proportion (if any) levied for the pur-
pose of any of the Adoptive Acts.
12. — Borjvwinfi hij parish council. — (1.) A parish
council for any of the following purposes, that is
to say —
(a) for purchasing any land, or building any
* See s. 4 (2) as to the expenses connected with the use of
fjchool and otlier rooms for meetings.
13-1 THE LOCAL GOVEENMENT ACT, 1894.
1)uilclinjj;R, which the council are authorised
to purchase or build ; and
{J)) for any purpose for which the council are
authorised to borrow under any of the
Adoptive Acts ;* and
((■) for any permanent work or other thing
which the council are authorised to exe-
cute or do, and the cost of which ought,
in the opinion of the county council and
the Local Government Board, to be spread
over a term of years ;
ma}', with the consent of the county council and the
Local Government Board, borrow money in like
manner and subject to the like conditions as a
local authority may borrow for df^fraying expenses
incurred in the execution of the Public Health Acts,
and sections two hundred and thirty-three, two
hundred and thirty-four, and two hundred and
thirty-six to two hundred and tliirty-nine of the
Public Health Act, 187;"), sliall a})i)ly accordingly, f
except that the mone}^ shall be borrowed on the
security of the poor rate and of the whole or part
of the revenues of the parish council, and except
that as respects the limit of the sum to be borrowed,
one half of the assessa])le value shall be substituted
for the assessable value for two years.
* Borrowing powers for the purposes of tho Adoptive Acts aro
conferrod as follows : —
Baths aud Washhouses Acts,— 9 & 10 Vict. c. 74, s. 21 ; 41
& 42 Vict. c. 14, s. 9 ;
Burial Acts,— 15 & 16 Vict. c. 85, s. 20; 17 & 18 Vict, c.87,
ss. 4, 5 ; 18 & I'J Vict. c. 128, s. G; 20 & 21 Vict. c. 81,
s. 21 ;
Public Libraries Act,— 55 & 5G Vict. c. 53, s. 19.
t Tlie cfTect of these enactments is stated at page 54 of tho
Introduction,
FOOTPATHS AND ROADS. 135
(2.) A county council may lend to a parish
council any money which the parish council are
authorised to borrow, and may, if necessary,
without the sanction of the Local Government
Board, and irrespectively of any limit of borrowing,
raise the money by loan, subject to the like condi-
tions and in the like manner as any other loan for
the execution of their duties, and subject to any
further conditions which the Local Government
Board may by general or special order impose.*
(3.) A parish council shall not borrow for the
purposes of any of the Adoptive Acts otherwise
than in accordance with this Act, but the charge
for the purpose of any of the Adoptive Acts shall
ultimately be on the rate applicable to the purposes
of that Act.
13. — Footpaths and roads,— (1.) The consent of
the parish council and of the district council shall
be required for the stopping, in whole or in part,
or diversion, of a public right of way within a
rural parish, and the consent of the parish council
shall be required for a declaration that a highway
in a rural parish is unnecessary for public use and
not repairable at the public expense, and the
parish council shall give public noticef of a reso-
lution to give any such consent, and the resolution
shall not operate —
(a) unless it is confirmed by the parish council
at a meeting held not less than two months
after the public notice is given ; nor
* As to borrowing hy county councils, s. GO of the Local
Government Act, 1888, may be referred to.
t Public notices by a parish council for the purposes of this
Act are to be given as provided by s, 51.
13G THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
(J)) if a parish meeting; held before the confir-
mation resolve that the consent ought not
to be given.
(2.) A parish council may, subject to the pro-
visions of this Act with respect to restrictions on
expenditure,* undertake the repair and maintenance
of all or any of the public footpaths within their
parish, not being footpaths at the side of a public
road, but this power shall not nor shall the exer-
cise thereof relieve any other authority or person
from any lia))ility with respect to such repair or
maintenance.
14. — Pnhlir pmpnii/ and cJiarifirs. f — (1.) Where
trustees t hold any property for the purposes of a
public recreation ground or of public meetings, or
of allotments, whether under Inclosure Acts or
otherwise, for the benefit of the inhabitants of a
rural parish, or any of them, or for any public pur-
pose connected with a rural parish, except for an
ecclesiastical charity, I they may, with the approval
of the Charity Commissioners, transfer the property
to the parish council of the parish, or to persons
appointed by that council, and the parish council,
if they accept the transfer, or their appointees,
shall hold the property on the trusts and subject to
the conditions on which the trustees held the
same.
(2.) ^Yhere overseers of a rural parish as such
are, either alone or jointly with any other persons,
trustees of any parochial charity, t such number of
the councillors of the parish or other persons, not
* The reference is to s. 11.
t The remarks at page 48 of the Introduction should be read
in connection with this section.
:{: See the definitions in s. 75.
CHARITIES. 137
exceeding the number of the overseer trustees, as
the council may appoint, shall be trustees in their
place, and, when the charity is not an ecclesiastical
charity, this enactment shall apply as if the church-
wardens as such were specified therein as well as
the overseers.
(3.) Where the governing body of a parochial
charity other than an ecclesiastical charity does
not include any persons elected by the ratepayers
or parochial electors or inhabitants of the parish,
or appointed by the parish council or parish
meeting, the parish council may appoint additional
members of that governing body not exceeding the
number allowed by the Charity Commissioners in
each case ; and if the management of any such
charity is vested in a sole trustee, the number of
trustees may, with the approval of the Charity
Commissioners, be increased to three, one of whom
may be nominated by such sole trustee and one by
the parish council or j^arish meeting. Nothing in
this subsection shall prejudically affect the power
or authority of the Charity Commissioners, under
any of the Acts relating to charities, to settle or
alter schemes for the better administration of any
charity.
(4.) Where the vestry of a rural parish are
entitled, under the trusts of a charity other than
an ecclesiastical charity, to appoint any trustees
or beneficiaries of the charity, the appointment
shall be made by the parish council of the parish,
or in the case of beneficiaries, by persons appointed
by the parish council.
(5.) The draft of every scheme relating to a
charity, not being an ecclesiastical charity, which^
effects a rural parish, shall, oji ov lief ore the
138 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
publication of the notice of the proposal to make
an order for such scheme in accordance with
section six of the Charitable Trusts Act, 18G0,* be
communicated to the council of the parish, and
where there is no parish council to the chairman
of the parish meeting, and, in the case of a council,
the council may, subject to the provisions of this
Act with respect to restrictions on expenditure,f
and to the consent of the parish meetin;;, either
sui)port or oppose the scheme, and shall for that
purpose have the same right as any inhabitants of
a place directl}' affected by the scheme.
(G.) The accounts of all parochial charities, not
being ecclesiastical charities, shall annually be laid
before the parish meeting of any parish affected
thereb}', and the Charitable Trusts Amendment
Act, 1855,+ shall apply with the substitution in
section forty-four of the parish meeting for the
vestry, and of the chairman of the parish meeting
for the churchwardens, and tlie names of the
beneficiaries of dole charities shall be published
annually in such form as the parish council, or
where there is no parish council the parish meeting,
think fit.
(7.) The term of office of a trustee appointed
under this section shall be four years, but of the
trustees first appointed as aforesaid one half, as
nearly as may be, to be determined by lot, shall go
out of office at the end of two years from the date
of their appointment, but shall be eligible for re-
appointment.
(8.) Tlic provisions of this section with respeol
* 23 & 21 Vict. c. 136.
t Section 11 contains the provisions referred to,
; 18 & 19 A^ict. c, 12'1,
DEFAULT OF DISTRICT COUNCIL. 139
to the appointment of trustees, except so far as the
appointment is transferred from the vestry, shall
not apply to any charity until the expiration of
forty years from the date of the foundation thereof,
or, in the case of a charity founded before the
passing of this Act by a donor or by several donors
any one of whom is living at the passing of this
Act, until the expiration of forty years from the
passing of this Act, unless with the consent of the
surviving donor or donors.
(9.) Whilst a person is trustee of a parochial
charity he shall not, nor shall his wife or any of
his children, receive any benefit from the charit3\
15. — Delegated potcos of parish coiuieih. — A rural
district council may delegate to a parish council
any power which may be delegated to a parochial
committee under the Public Health Acts, and
thereupon those Acts shall apply as if the parish
council were a parochial committee, and where
such district council appoint a parochial committee
consisting partly of members of the district council
and partly of other persons, those other persons
shall, where there is a parish council, be or be
selected from the members of the parish council.
16. — Complaint by parish council of default of
district council. — (1.) Where a parish council resolve
that a rural district council ought to have provided
the parish with sufficient sewers, or to have main-
tained existing sewers, or to have provided the
parish with a supply of water in cases where danger
arises to the health of the inhabitants from the
insufficiency or unwholesomeness of the existing
supply of water, and a proper supply can be got at
a reasonable cost, or to have enforced with regard
140 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
to the parish any provisions of the Piibhc Health
Acts whicli it is their duty to enforce, and have
failed so to do, or that they have failed to maintain
and repair any highway in a good and substanti;il
manner, the parish council may complain to the
county council, and the county council, if satisfied
after due inquiry that the district council have
so failed as respects the subject matter of the
complaint, may resolve that the duties and powers
of the district council for the purpose of the matter
complained of shall he transferred to the county
council, and they shall be transferred accordingly.*
(2.) Upon any complaint under this section the
county council may, instead of resolving that the
duties and powers of the rural district council be
transferred to them, make such an order as is
mentioned in section two hundred and ninety-nine
of the Public Health Act, 1875, and may appoint
a person to perform the duty mentioned in the
order, and upon such appointment sections two
hundred and ninety-nine to three hundred and
two of the Public Health Act, 1875, shall apply
with the substitution of the county council for the
Local Government Board.
(3.) "Where a rural district council have
determined to adopt plans for the sewerage or
water supply of any contril)utory place within tlio
district, they shall give notice thereof to the parish
council of any parish for which the works are to be
provided before any contract is entered into by
them for the execution of the works.
17. — Parish officers and parish (Jociiinoits. — (1.)
A parish council may appoint one of their number
* In connection witli subsection (1) section 63 should be
read.
I^ARISH OtTtCEKS. 141
to act as clerk of the council without remunera-
tion .
(2.) If no member of the parish council is
appointed so to act, and there is an assistant over-
seer, he, or such one of the assistant overseers, if
more than one, as may be appointed by the
council, shall be the clerk of the parish council,
and the performance of his duties as such shall be
taken into account in determining his salary.*
(3.) If there is no assistant overseer, the parish
council may appoint a collector of poor rates, or
some other fit person, to be their clerk, with such
remuneration as they may think fit.
(4.) A parish council shall not appoint to the
office of vestry clerk.f
(5.) When a parish council act as a parochial
committee by delegation from the district council^
they shall have the services of the clerk of the
district council, unless the district council other-
wise direct.
(6.) The parish council may appoint one of their
own number or some other person to act as
treasurer without remuneration, and the treasurer
shall give such security as may be required by
regulations of the county council.
(7.) All documents required by statute or by
standing orders of Parliament to be deposited with the
parish clerk of a rural parish shall, after the election
of a parish council, be deposited with the clerk, or,
if there is none, with the chairman, of the parish
council, and the enactments with respect to the
inspection of, and taking copies of, and extracts
* But see 3. 81 (2).
t An existing vestry clerk is provided for by s. 81 (2).
J i.e. under s. 15.
1 1-i J 111-^ LOCAL GOVEIINMEN'T ACT, 1894.
fi-oni, any such Jocuinents shall ajiply as if the
clerk, or chairman, as tlie case may be, were
mentioned therein.*
(8.) The custody of the registers of l)aptisms,
marriapios, and ])urials, and of all other l)Ooks and
documents containing entries wholly or partly
relating to the affairs of the church or to ecclesi-
astical charities, except documents directed by law
to l)e kept with the public books, writings, and
jiapers of the parish, shall remain as provided by
the existing law unaffected by this Act.f All
other public books, writings, and papers of the
parish, and all documents directed by law to be
kept therewith, shall either remain in their existing
custody, or l)e deposited in such custody as the
parish council may direct. The incumbent and
churchwardens on the one part, and the parish
council on the other, shall have reasonable access
to all such books, documents, writings, and papers,
as are referred to in this subsection, and any
difference as to custody or access shall be deter-
mined by the comity council.
(i).) Every county council shall from time to time
inquire into the manner in which the public books,
writings, papers, and documents under the control
of the parish council or parisli meeting are kept
with a view to tlie proper preservation thereof, and
shall make such orders as they think necessary
* Tlie euactmcuts referred to impose penalties for not
permitting inspection, &c.
t Registers of baptisms and burials are, under 52 Geo. Ill,
c. 140, s. 5, to be kept by the officiating minister in the manner
provided by that Act, and, under G & 7 Will. IV, c. 8G, the
marriage registers are to be kept in duplicate, in books provided
by the registrar-general. One copy is to be kept, with the
registers of baptisms and burials, by the officiating minister.
Parish wards. 143
for such preservation, and those orders shall he
complied with by the parish council or parish
meeting.
18. — Parish wards. — (1.) A county council may,
on application by the parish council, or not less
than one-tenth of the parochial electors of a parish,
and on being satisfied that the area or population
of the parish is so large, or different parts of the '
population so situated, as to make a single
parish meeting for the election of councillors
impracticable or inconvenient, or that it is
desirable for any reason that certain parts of the
parish should be separately represented on the
council, order that the parish be divided for the
purpose of electing parish councillors into wards,
to.be called parish wards, with such boundaries
and such number of councillors for each ward as
may be provided by the order,*
(2.) In the division of a parish into wards
regard shall be had to the population according to
the last published census for the time being, and
to the evidence of any considerable change of
population since that census, and to area, and to
the distribution and pursuits of the population,
and to all the circumstances of the case.
(3.) Any such order may be revoked or varied by
the county council on application by either the
council or not less than one- tenth of the parochial
electors of the parish, but while in force shall have
effect as if enacted by this Act.
(4.) In a parish divided into parish wards there
* This section will enable parishes cousistiug of several
distinct communities to be fairly represented on the council. The
constitution of the parish meetings for the several wards is
provided for by s. 49.
144 THE LOCAL CtOVKRNMEKT ACT, IftOl.
shall be a separate election of parish councillors
for each ward.
\Q.-^rrovislons as to S)))((]l parishes. — In a rural
parish not having a separate parish council, tlie
following provisions shall, as from the appointed
day, but subject to provisions made by a grouping
order,* if the parish is grouped with some other
parish or parishes, have effect —
(1.) At the annual assembly the parish meet-
ing shall choose a chairman for the
year ;f
(2.) The parish meeting shall assemble not
less than twice in each year ;
(3.) The parish meeting may appoint a com-
mittee of theii' own number for any
purposes which, in the opinion of the
parish meeting, would be better regulated
and managed by means of such a com-
mittee, and all the acts of the committee
shall be sul)mitted to the parish meeting
for their approval ;
(1.) All powers, duties, and liabilities of the
vestry shall, except so far as they relate
to the affairs of the church or to ecclesi-
astical charities, or are transferred by
this Act to any other authority, + be
transferred to the parish meeting ;
(5.) The power and the duty of appointing
the overseers, and of notifying the ap-
pointment, and the power of appointing
* As to grouping orders, sec s. 38.
t The " annual assembly " will take place at the time fixed
by Schod. I, Part I (1).
i i.e. to the district council under s. 25.
SMALL PARISHES. 145
and revoking the appointment of an
assistant overseer, shall be transferred to
and vest in the parish meeting, and the
po^Yer given by this Act to a parish
council of appointing trustees of a charity
in the place of overseers or church-
wardens, shall vest in the parish meeting;*
(6.) The chairman of the parish meeting and
the overseers of the parish shall be a
body corporate by the name of the chair-
man and overseers of the parish, and
shall have perpetual succession, and may
hold land for the purposes of the parish
without licence in mortmain ; but shall
in all respects act in manner directed by
the parish meeting, and any act of such
body corporate shall be executed under
the hands, or if an instrument under seal
is required under the hands and seals, of
the said chairman and overseers ;
(7.) The legal interest in all property which
under this Act would, if there were a
j)arish council, be vested on the appointed
day in the parish council! shall vest in
the said body corporate of the chairman
and overseers of the parish, subject to
all trusts and liabilities affecting the same,
and all persons concerned shall make or
concur in making such transfers (if any)
as are requisite to give effect to this
enactment ;
(8.) The provisions of this Act with respect
to the stopping or diversion of a public
right of way, or the declaring of a high-
* See ss. 5, 14. t See s. 6.
L
IIG THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
way to be unnecessary and not repairable
at the public expense, and with respect
to a complaint to a county council of a
default by a district council,* shall apply,
with the substitution of the parish meet-
ing for the parish council ;
(9.) A rate levied for defraying the expenses
of the parish meeting (when added to
expenses under any of the Adoptive Acts)
shall not exceed sixpence in the pound in
any local financial year ;t
(10.) On the application of the parish meet-
ing the county council may confer on that
meeting any of the powers conferred on
a parish council by this Act ;
(11.) Any act of the parish meeting may be
signified b}' an instrument executed at
the meeting under the hands, or, if an
instrument under seal is required under
the hands and seals, of the chairman
presiding at the meeting and two other
parochial electors present at the meeting.
* The provisions referred to are ss. 13, 16. 2G.
t This differs from s. 11 (3', which applies to parishes under
parish councils. In those cases the sums required for the^
Adoptive Acts can be raised in addition to Gd. in the £.
GUARDIANS. 147
PART II.
Guardians and District Councils.
20. — Election and qiialifteation of c/itardiajis. —
As from the appointed cla}^ the following pro-
visions shall apply to boards of guardians : —
(1.) There shall be no ex-officio or nominated
guardians :
(2.) A person shall not be qualified to be
elected or to be a guardian for a poor law
union unless he is a parochial elector of
some parish within the union, or has
during the whole of the twelve months
preceding the election resided in the
union, or in the case of a guardian for
a parish wholly or partly situate within
the area of a borough, whether a county
borough or not, is qualified to be elected
a councillor for that borough, and no
person shall be disqualified by sex or
marriage for being elected or- being a
guardian.* So much of any enactment,
whether in a public general or local and
personal Act, as relates to the qualifica-
tion of a guardian shall be repealed :
(3.) The parochial electors of a parish shall
be the electors of the guardians for the
parish, and, if the parish is divided into
* As to the qualifications of parochial electors sec the Intro-
duction, p. 20. The qualification for a town councillor is stated
p,t p. 64. As to disqualifications, see s. 46.
' L 2
148 THE Loc.u:i government act, 1894.
Avards for the election of guardians, the
electors of the guardians for each M'ard
shall be such of the parochial electors as
are registered in respect of qualifications
within the ward :
(4.) Each elector may give one vote and no
more for each of any number of persons
not exceeding the number to be elected :
(5.) The election shall, subject to the provisions
of this Act, be conducted according to
rules framed under this Act by the Local
Government Board :*
(G.) The term of office of a guardian shall be
three years, and one-third, as nearly as
may be, of every board of guardians
shall go out of office on the fifteenth day
of April in each year, and their places
shall be filled by the newly elected
guardians.f Provided as follows : —
(d) "Where the county council on the
a})plication of the board of guardians
of any union in their county consider
that it would be exi:)edient to provide
for the simultaneous retirement of the
whole of the board' of guardians for
the union, they may direct that the
members of the board of guardians
for that union shall retire together on
the fifteenth day of Ajn-il in every
third year, and such order shall have
full effect, and where a union is in
more than one county, an order may be
* Sec s. 48.
t Where the mode of retirement is by one-third annually,
the county council will arrange the rotation \mdcr s. GO,
County DlsTfiicTg. 149
made by a joint committee of the
councils of those counties ;
(h) Where at the passing of this Act the
whole of the guardians of any union,
in pursuance of an order of the Local
Government Board, retire together at
the end of every third year, they shall
continue so to retire, unless the county
council, or a joint committee of the
county councils, on the application of
the board of guardians or of any
district council of a district wholly or
partially within the union, otherwise
direct :
(7.) A board of guardians may elect a chair-
man or vice-chairman, or both, and not
more than two other persons, from outside
their own body, but from persons qualified
to be guardians of the union, and any
person so elected shall be an additional
guardian and member of the board.
Provided that on the first election, if a
sufficient number of persons who have
been cx-ojficio or nominated guardians, of
the union, and have actually served as
such, are willing to serve, the additional
members shall be elected from among
those persons.*
21. — Names of county districts and district councils.
— As from the appointed day, —
(1.) Urban sanitary authorities shall be called
* Note that it is only on the first electiou tliat such persona
are entitled to preference.
150 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
urban district councils, and their districts
sliall be called urban districts ; but
nothing in this section shall alter the
style or title of the corporation or council
ol" a borough :
('1.) For every rural sanitary district there
shall be a rural district council whose
district shall be called a rural district :
(;-^.) In this and every other Act of Parliament,
unless the context otherwise re(iuires, the
expression " district council " shall in-
clude the council of every urban district,
wlicthcr a borough or not, and of every
rural district, and the expression " county
district" shall include every url)an and
rural district whether a borough or not.
'o*
22. — Chftirnum of council to he justice. — The
chairnian of a district council unless a woman or
personally disqualified by any Act shall be by
virtue of his office justice of the peace for the
county in which the district is situate, but before
acting as such justice he shall, if he has not
already done so, take the oaths required by law to
l)e taken by a justice of the peace other than the
oath respecting the qualification by estate.*
23. — Co/iHliltttiou of district councils in nrhau
districts not being boroughs. — As from the appointed
day, where an urban district is not a borough —
• The mayor of a borough is by virtue of his ofTicc a justice
for the borough, and this section places the chairman of a
district council in the corresponding position of a justice for
the county. It makes the mayor of a non-county borougli a
justice for the county as well as for the borough.
URBAN DiSTRIdT COUNCILS. 151
(1.) There shall be no ex-officio oY nommated
members of the urban sanitary authority :
(2.) A person shall not be qualified to be
elected or to be a councillor unless he is a
parochial elector of some parish within
the district, or has daring the whole of
the twelve months preceding the election
resided in the district, and no person
shall be disqualified by sex or marriage
for being elected or being a councillor.*
So much of any enactment whether in a
public general or local and personal Act
as relates to the qualification of a member
of an urban sanitary authority shall be
repealed :
(3.) The parochial electors of the parishes in
the district shall be the electors of the
councillors of the district, and, if the
district is divided into wards, the electors
of the councillors for each ward shall be
such of the parochial electors as are
registered in respect of qualifications
within the ward :
(4.) Each elector may give one vote and no
more for each of any number of persons
not exceeding the number to be elected :
(5.) The election shall, subject to the provisions
of this Act, be conducted according to
rules framed under this Act by the Local
Government Board rf
(6.) The term of oftice of a councillor shall be
three years, and one-third, as nearly as
* As to who are parochial electors and as to disqualifications,
Scg respectively the Introduction (p. 20) and s. 4G.
t See s. 48.
152 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
may l)e, of the council, and if the district
is divided into wards one-third, as nearly
as may be, of the councillors for each
ward, siiall ^'o out of olHcc on the fifteenth
day of April in each year, and their
places shall be tilled by the newly elected
councillors. Provided that a county
council may on request made by a resolu-
tion of an urban district council, passed
by two-thirds of the members voting on
the resolution, direct that the members
of such council shall retire together on
the fifteenth day of April in every third
year, and such order shall have full
efiect.
24. — Rural district councils. — (1.) The distiict
council of every rural district shall consist of a
chairman and councillors, and the councillors shall
be elected by the parishes or other areas for the
election of guardians in the district.
(2.) The number of councillors for each parisli
or other area in a rural district shall be the same
as the number of guardians for that parish or area.
(3.) The district councillors for any parish or
other area in a rural district shall be the represen-
tatives of that parish or area on the board of
guardians, and when acting in that capacity shall
1)0 deemed to be guardians of the poor, and guar-
dians as such shall not be elected for that parish
or area.
(4.) The provisions of this Act with respect to
the qualification, election, and term of office and
retirement of guardians, and to the qualification
of the chairman of the board of guardians,* shall
• See ss. 20, 59, GO.
RURAL DISTRICT COUNCILS. 153
apply to district councillors and to the chairman
of the district council of a rural district, and any
person qualified to be a guardian for a union com-
prising the district shall be qualified to be a
district councillor for the district.
(5.) Where a rural sanitary district is on the
appointed day situate in more than one adminis-
trative county, such portion thereof as is situate in
each administrative county shall, save as otherwise
provided by or in pursuance of this or any other
Act,* be as from the appointed day a rural
district ;
Provided that where the number of councillors
of any such district will be less than five, the
provisions, so far as unrepealed, t of section nine
of the Public Health Act, 1875, with respect to the
nomination of persons to make up the members of
a rural authority to five, shall apply, unless the
Local Government Board by order direct that the
aft'airs of the district shall be temporarily ad-
ministered by the district council of an adjoining
district in another county with which it was united
before the appointed day, and, if they so direct,
the councillors of the district shall be entitled, so
far as regards those affairs, to sit and act as
members of that district council, but a separate
account shall be kept of receipts and expenses in
respect of the district, and the same shall be
credited or charged separately to the district.
(6.) The said provisions of section nine of the
Public Health Act, 1875, shall apply to the district
* See s. 36 of this Act, and s. 57 of the Local Government
Act, 1888, which will be found in the Appendix.
t The part repealed required persons nominated to have a
certain qualification. These nominees will not be entitled to
act as guardians (38 & 39 Vict. c. 55, s. 9).
154 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
council of a niral district to which they apply at
tlu! passin;:^ of this Act.
(7.) Every district cuuiicil for a rural district
shall be a body corporate by the name of the
district council, with the -addition of the name of
the district, or if there is any doubt as to the latter
name,* of such name as the county council direct,
and shall have perpetual succession and a common
seal, and may hold land for the purposes of their
powers and duties witliout licence in mortmain.
25. — Pdiccrs oj' (lislrirt council irith respect to
sanitari/ and hi(j)uccii/ matters. — (1.) As from the
appointed da}', there shall be transferred to the
district council of every rural district all the
powers, duties, and liabilities of the rural sanitary
authority in the district, and of any highway
authority in the district, f and higliway boards
shall cease to exist, and rural district councils sliall
be the successors of the rural sanitary authority
and highway autliority, and shall also have as
respects highways all the powers, duties, and
lialjilities of an url)an sanitary authority under
sections one hundred and forty-four to one hundred
and forty-eight of tlie Public Health Act, 1875, t
and those sections shall apply in the case of a
rural district and of the council thereof in like
manner as in the case of an urban district and an
* There would be doubt where a rural sanitary district was
divided under subsection (5).
t " Highway authority " includes a highway board, or
authority having the powers of a highway board, and the
survej'ors of highways or other officers performing similar duties
(Local Government Act, 1888, s. 100; Local Government Act,
1894, a. 75).
5: For the effect of these sections, see p. 78 of the Introduction.
HIGHWAYS. 155
urban authority. Provided that the council of
any county may by order postpone ^Yithin their
county or any part thereof the operation of this
section, so far as it relates to high^Ya3's, for a term
not exceeding three years from the appointed day
or such further period as the Local Government
Board may on the application of such council
allow.*
(2.) "Where a highway repairable ratione tenurae
appears on the report of a competent surveyor not
to be in proper repair, and the person liable to
repair the same fails when requested so to do by
the district council to place it in proper repair, the
district council may place the highway in proper
repair, and recover from the person liable to repair
the highway the necessary expenses of so doing.
(3.) Where a highway authority receives any
contribution from the county council towards the
cost of any highway under section eleven, sub-
section (10), of the Local Government Act, 1888, t
such contribution may be made, subject to any
such conditions for the proper maintenance and
repair of such highways, as may be agreed on
between the county council and the highway
authority.
(4.) "Where the council of a rural district become
the highway authority for that district, any excluded
part of a parish under section two hundred and
sixteen of the Public Health Act, 1875, which is
situate in that district, shall cease to be part of any
* The order is to make provision for holding elections of
highway boards during the time for which the operation of the
section is postponed, s. 8i (4).
t The county council are empowered to contribute towards
the costs of the maintenance, repair, enlargement, and im-
provement of any highway in the county.
156 lUfi LOCAL GOVEllNllEN^t ACT, 1894.
iirl);in district for the purpose of highways, but
until the council become the hif^'hway authority
such excluded part of a parish shall continue
subject to the said section.*
(5.) Kural district councils shall also have such
powers, duties, and liabilities of urban sanitary
authorities under the Public Health Acts or any
other Act, and such provisions of any of those Acts
relating to urban districts shall apply to rural
districts, as the Local Government Board by general
order direct.
(G.) The power to make such general orders
shall be in addition to and not in substitution for
the powers conferred on the Board by section two
hundred and seventy-six of the Public Health Act,
1875, or by any enactment applying that section ;
and every order made by the Local Government
Board under this section shall be forthwith laid
before Parliament.
(7.) The powers conferred on the Local Govern-
ment Board by the said section two hundred and
seventy-six, or by any enactment applying that
section, may be exercised on the application of a
county council, or with respect to any parish or
part of a parish on the application of the parish
council of that parish.
26. — Duties and ^)o?t*crs of district council as
to rights of 2caij, rights of common, and roadside
icastes. — (1.) It shall be the duty of every district
* Under the section referred to, the whole of a parish only
partly within an urban district for sanitary purposes may he
wildly within that district for highway purposes. The part
outside the district will, under this clause, be placed for the
last-mentioned purposes under the rural district council, unless
the operation of the clause is postponed under subsection (1).
RIGHTS OF WAY, ETC. 157
council to protect all public rights of way, and to
prevent as far as possible the stopping or obstruc-
tion of any such right of way, whether within their
district or in an adjoining district in the county or
counties in which the district is situate, where the
stoppage or obstruction thereof would in their
opinion be prejudicial to the interests of their
district, and to prevent any unlawful encroachment
on any roadside waste within their district.
(2.) A district council may with the consent of
the county council for the county within which
any common land is situate aid persons in main-
taining rights of common where, in the opinion of
the council, the extinction of such rights would be
prejudicial to the inhabitants of the district ; and
may with the like consent exercise in relation to
any common within their district all such powers
as may, under section eight of the Commons Act,
1876, be exercised by an urban sanitary authority
in relation to any common referred to in that
section ; * and notice of any application to the
Board of Agriculture in relation to any common
within their district shall be served upon the
district council.
(3.) A district council may, for the purpose of
carrying into effect this section, institute or defend
any legal proceedings, and generally take such
steps as they deem expedient.
(4.) Where a parish council have represented to
the district council that any public right of way
within the district or an adjoining district in the
county or counties in which the district is situate
has been unlawfully stopped or obstructed, or that
an unlawful encroachment has taken place on any
• The eSect of this is briefly stated in the Introduction, p. 80.
158 TIIK LOCAL GOVERNMEXT ACT, 1894.
roadside waste within the district, it shall be the
duty of the district council, unless satisfied that
the allegations of such representation are incorrect,
to take proper proceedings accordingl}- ; and if the
district council refuse or fail to take any proceed-
ings in consequence of such representation, tlie
parish council may petition the county council for
tlie county within which the way or waste is
situate, and if tliat council so resolve the powers
and duties of the district council under this section
shall 1)0 transferred to the county council.*
(5.) Any proceedings or steps taken by a district
council or county council in relation to any alleged
right of wa}' shall not be deemed to be unauthorised
by reason only of such right of way not being
found to exist.
{().) Nothing in this section sliall alTect the
powers of the county council in relation to road-
side wastes. f
(7.) Nothing in this section shall prejudice any
powers exerciseable by an urban sanitary authority
at the passing of this Act, and the council of every
county borough shall have the additional powers
conferred on a district council by this section.
27. — Tran.y'cr of ccytalit j)otrcr>i oj' Jiisticrs to
district corntcih.'l — (1.) As from the appointed
day the powers, duties, and liabilities of justices
out of session in relation to any of the matters
following, that is to say, —
{(() the licensing of gang masters ;
* lu connection with this subsection sec s. 63.
t Sec s. 11 of the Local Government Act, 1888.
t See the reference to this clause at p. 80 of the Intro-
duction.
EXPENSES OF DISTRICT COUNCILS. 159
(h) the grant of pawnbrokers' certificates ;
(c) the Hcensing of dealers in game ;
(d) the grant of licences for passage brokers
and emigrant runners ;
((■) the abolition of fairs and alteration of days
for holding fairs ;
if) the execution as the local authorit}' of the
Acts relating to petroleum and infant life
protection ;
when arising within a county district, shall be
transferred to the district council of the district.
(2.) As from the appointed day, the powers,
duties, and liabilities of quarter sessions in relation
to the licensing of knackers' yards within a county
district shall be transferred to the district council
of the district.
(3.) All fees payable in respect of the powers,
duties, and liabilities transferred by this section
shall be payable to the district council.
28. — Expenses of whan district conncil. — The
expenses incurred by the council of an urban
district in the execution of the additional powers
conferred on the council by this Act shall, subject
to the provisions of this Act, be defrayed in a
borough out of the borough fund or rate, and in
any other case out of the district fund and general
district rate or other fund applicable towards
defraying the expenses of the execution of the
Public Health Act, 1875.*
29. — Expenses of rural district coioicil.— The
expenses incurred by the council of a rural district
shall, subject to the provisions of this Act,
* Tlie reference is to s. 207 of t)he Public Health Act, 1875.
inO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1891. .
bo defrayed in manner directed by the Public
Health Act, 1875, with respect to expenses in-
curred in the execution of that Act by a rural
sanitary authority, and the provisions of the
Public Health Acts with respect to those expenses
shall api)ly accordingly.
Provided as follows : —
(a) Any highway expenses shall be defrayed
as general expenses :
(/>) When the Local Government Jjoard deter-
mine any expenses under this Act to be
special expenses and a separate charge on
any contributory place, and such expenses
would if not separately chargeable on a
contributory place be raised as general
expenses, they may further direct that
such special expenses shall be raised in
like manner as general expenses, and not
by such separate rate for special expenses
as is mentioned in section two hundred and
thirty of the Public Health Act, 1875 :*
((') A district council shall have the same
power of charging highway expenses
under exceptional circumstances on a
contributory place as a highway board
has in respect of any area under section
seven of the Highways and Locomotives
(Amendment) Act, 1878 if
* " Special expenses " arc a separate charge on each parisli
or other contributory place in the district. They are defrayed
usually out of a separate rate to which occupiers of land are
assessed at one-fourth. The effect of proviso (b) will be that in
the cases mentioned, the special expenses will be leviable as
poor rate, by an equal assessment of all occupiers of property
in the contributory place.
t This will ouablo thq dis^triot council, with the approval of
LONDON AND OOUNiY BOI^OllGliS. 161
(d) Where highway expenses would, if this
Act had not passed, have been in whole
or in part defrayed in any parish or
other area out of any property or funds
other than rates, the district council
shall make such provision as will give to
that parish or area the benefit of such
property or funds by way of reduction of
the rates on the parish or area.
30. — Guardians in London and county horouglis.-^
The provisions of this Part of this Act respecting
guardians shall apply to the administrative county
of London and to every county borough.
31. — Provisions as to London vestries and district
boards. — (1.) The provisions of this Act with
respect to the qualification of the electors of urban
district councillors, and of the persons to be
elected, and with respect to the mode of conduct-
ing the election, shall apply as if members of the
local board of Woolwich and the vestries elected
under the Metropolis Management Acts, 1855 to
1890, or any Act amending those Acts, and the
auditors for parishes elected under those Acts, and
so far as respects the qualification of persons to be
elected as if members of the district boards under
the said Acts, were urban district councillors, and
no person shall, ex officio, be chairman of any of
the said vestries. Provided that the Elections
(Hours of Poll) Act, 1885, shall apply to elections
to the said vestries.*
the county council, to charge exclusively on one contributory
place the cost of the highways in that place, if there are natural
difierences of soil or other exceptional circumstances.
* 48 Vict. c. 10. This Act requires the poll (if any) to be
kept open from 8 o'clock in the morning till 8 o'clock at night.
M
IG'2 TII13 LOCAL GOVERKllEKT ACT, 1804.
('2.) Each of the said vestries, except those
electiiif^' district boards, and each of the said
district boards and the local board of Wouhvich,
shall at their lirst meeting after the annual
election of members elect a chairman for the year,
and section forty-one of the Metropolis ]\ranage-
ment Act, 1855,* shall apply only in case of the
absence of such chairman, and the provisions of
this Act with respect to chairmen of urban district
councils being justices shall apply as if the said
vestries and boards were urban district councils. f
(3.) Nothing in any local and personal Act shall
prevent any vestr}' in the county of London from
holding their meeting at such time as may be
directed l)y the vestry. :!:
32. — Application to county horoughs of })rovisions
as to transfer of justices' powers. — The provisions of
this Part of this Act respecting the jiowers, duties,
and liabilities of justices out of session, or of
quarter sessions, which are transferred to a district
council, shall apjdy to a county borough as if it
were an url)an district, and the county borough
council were a district council. §
33. — Power to apply certain provisions of Act to
vrhan districts and London. — (1.) The Local Govern-
ment Board may, on the application of the council
* (13 & 19 Vict. c. 120.) This section provides for the election
of a cliainnau at each meeting of a district board.
t Sec s. 22.
X This was inserted to meet the case of one or more parishes
in London where the vestry under the ]\Ictropolis Management
Acts are prevented by local Acts from holding their meetings in
the evening.
§ Sec 3. 27.
LONDON VESTRIES, ETC. 163
6f any municipal borough, including a county
borough, or of any other urban district, make an
order conferring on that council or some other
representative body within the borough or district
all or any of the following matters, namely, the
appointment of overseers and assistant overseers,
the revocation of appointment of assistant over-
seers, any powers, duties, or liabilities of overseers,
and any powers, duties, or liabilities of a parish
council, and applying with the necessary modifica-
tions the provisions of this Act with reference
thereto.*
(2.) Where it appears to the Local Government
Board that, by reason of the circumstances
connected with any parish in a municipal borough
(including a county borough) or other urban
district divided into wards, or v.ith the parochial
charities of that parish, the parish will not, if the
majorit}^ of the body of trustees administering the
charity are appointed b}' the council of the borough
Or district, be properly represented on that bod}',
they may, by their order, provide that such of
those trustees as are appointed by the council, or
some of them, shall be appointed on the nomina-
tion of the councillors elected for the ward or
wards comprising such parish or any part of the
parish.
(3.) Any order under this section may provide
for its operation extending either to the whole or to
specified parts of the area of the borough or urban
district, and may make such provisions as seem
necessary for carrying the order into effect.
(4.) The order shall not alter the incidence of
any rate, and shall make such provisions as may
* lu connection with this provision see section 34,
M 2
1G4 Tltli: LOCAL OOVRnNMK>?T ACT, 1894.
seem necessary and just for the preservation of the
existing interests of paid officers.
(5.) An order under this section may also be
made on the appUcation of any representative
body within a borougli or district.
(G.) The provisions of this section respecting
councils of url)an districts shall api)ly to the
administrative county of London in like manner
as if the district of each sanitary authority in that
county were an urban district, and the sanitary
authority were the council of that district,
(7.) The Local Government lioard shall consult
the Charity Counnissioners before making any
order under this section with respect to any
charity.
34. — Supplemental provisions as to control of
overseers in urban districts. — Where an order of the
Local Government Board under this Act confers
on the council of an urban district, or some other
representative body within the district, either the
appointment of overseers and assistant overseers,
or the pow'ers, duties, and liabilities of overseers,
that order or any subsequent order of the Board
may confer on such council or body the powers of
the vestry under the third and fourth sections of
the Poor Bate Assessment and Collection Act,
1869.*
35. — Restrictions on application of Act to London,
dc. — Save as specially provided l)y this Act, this
Part of this Act shall not apply to the administra-
tive county of London or to a county borough.
* (32 & 33 Vict. c. 41.) The powers iu question relate to
the compounding of owners for rates. S. 4 provides for the
compulsory rating of owners instetvd of occupiers.
AREAS AND BOUNDARIES. 165
PART III.
Areas and Boundaries.
'i
36. — Duties and -poiccrs of county council witl^
respect to areas and boundaries. — (1.) For the pur-
pose of carrying this Act into effect in the ease of —
(a) every parish and rural sanitary district
which at the passing of this Act is situate
partly within and partly without an
administrative county ;* and
(h) every parish which at the passing of this
Act is situate partly within and partly
without a sanitary district ; and
((•) every rural parish which has a population
of less than two hundred ;-f and
(d) every rural sanitary district which at the
passing of this Act has less than five
elective guardians capable of acting and
voting as members of the rural sanitary
authority of the district ; and
(6') every rural parish which is co-extensive
with a rural sanitary district ;
every county council shall forthwith take into
consideration every such case within their county,
* A joint committee of the county councils concerned will
act in these cases (subsection (11).)
t Surely this should have been 300 (see s. 1). The Government
would appear to have accepted the final amendments of the
House of Lords without making the necessar^y consequential
amendments.
16G THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
and wliether any proposal has or has not heen
made as mentioned in section fifty-seven of the
ijocal Government Act, 1888,* shall as soon as
l>racti('al)le, in accordance with that section, cause
inquiries to be made and notices given, and make
such orders, if anv, as thev deem most suitable
for carrying into effect this Act in accordance with
the following provisions, namel}' : —
(i.) the whole of each parish, and, unless the
county council for special reasons other-
wise direct, the wliole of each rural
district shall be within the same adminis-
trative county ;
(ii.) the wliolc of eacli parish shall, unless the
county council for spc^cial reasons other-
wise direct, be within the same county
district ; and
(iii.) every rural district which will have less
than live elected councillors shall, unless
for special reasons the county council
otherwise direct, be united to some
neighbouring district or districts.
(2.) Where a parish is at the passing of this
Act situate in more than one url)an district, the
parts of the parish in each such district shall, as
from the appointed da}', unless the county council
for special reasons otherwise direct, and subject to
any alteration of area made by or in pursuance of
this or any other Act, be separate parishes, in like
manner as if they had been constituted separate
parishes under the Divided Parishes and Poor
Law Amendment Act, 1876, and the Acts amending
the same.f
* This section will 1)0 found in the Appendix.
t They will, therefore, he separate parishes for practically &\\
AREAS AND BOUNDARIES. 167
(3.) Where a parish is divided by this Act, the
county council may by order provide for the
apphcation to different parts of that parish of the
provisions of this Act with respect to the appoint-
ment of trustees or })enefieiaries of a charitv* and
for the custody of parish documents, but the order,
so far as regards the charity, shall not have any
effect until it has received the approval of the
Charity Commissioners.
(4.) Where a rural parish is co-extensive with a
rural sanitary district, then, until the district is
united to some other district or districts, and unless
the county council otherwise direct, a separate
election of a parish council shall not be held for the
parish, but the district council shall, in addition to
their own powers, have the powers of, and be
deemed to be, the parish council.
(5.) Where an alteration of the boundary of any
county or borough seems expedient for any of the
purposes mentioned in this section, application
shall be made to the Local Government Board for
an order under section fifty-four of the Local
Government Act, 1888. f
(6.) Where the alteration of a poor law union
seems expedient by reason of any of the provisions
of this Act, the county council may, by their order,
provide for such alteration in accordance with
section fifty-eightf of the Local Government Act,
1888, or otherwise, but this jDrovision shall not
affect the powers of the Local Government Board
with respect to the alteration of unions.
civil purposes, including the appointment of overseers. As to
charities and the custody of documents in such cases, sec sub-
section (3) of this section, and as to overseers and existing
officers, sections 79 (11), 81. * Sec s. 14.
t This section will be foiind in the Appendix.
108 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1891.
(7.) "Where an order for the alteration of the
l)oundary of any pariHli or the division thereof, or
the union thereof or of any part thereof, with
another i)arish is proposed to be made after the
appointed day, notice thereof shall, a reasonable
time before it is made, be given to the parish
council of that parish, or if there is no parish
council, to the parish meeting, and that parish
council or parish meeting, as the case may be,
shall have the right to appear at any inquiry held
1)}' the county council with reference to the order,
and shall be at liberty to petition the Local Gov-
ernment Board against the confirmation of the
order.
(8.) Where the alteration of the boundary of any
parish, or the division thereof or the union thereof
or of part thereof with another parish, seems
expedient for any of the purposes of this Act, pro-
vision for such alteration, division, or union may
])e made by an order of the county council con-
firmed by the Local Government Board under
section fifty-seven of the Local Government Act,
1888.*
(9.) Where a parish is by this Act divided into
two or more parishes, those parishes shall, until it
is otherwise provided, be included in the same
poor law union in which the original parish was
included.
(10.) Subject to the provisions of this Act, any
order made by a county council in pursuance of
this Part of this Act shall be deemed to be an order
under section fifty-seven* of the Local Government
Act, 1888, and any board of guardians afi'ected by
an order shall have the same right of petitioning
* This sectiou will be fouud in llic Apj^endix,
AREAS AND BOUNDARIES. 169
against that order as is given by that section to any
other authority.*
(11.) Where any of the areas referred to in sec-
tion fifty-seven of the Local Government Act, 1888,
is situate in two or more comities, or the alteration
of any such area would alter the boundaries of a
poor law union situate in two or more counties, a
joint committee appointed by the councils of those
counties shall, subject to the terms of delegation,
be deemed to have and to have always had power
to make orders under that section with respect to
that area ;i- and where at the passing of this Act a
rural sanitary district or parish is situate in more
than one county, a joint committee of the councils
of those counties shall act under this section, and
if any of those councils do not, within two months
after request from any other of them, appoint
members of such joint committee, the members of
the committee actually appointed shall act as the
joint committee. Provided that any question aris-
ing as to the constitution or procedure of any such
joint committee shall, if the county councils
concerned fail to agree, be determined by the Local
Government Board.
(12.) Every report made by the Boundary Com-
missioners under the Local Government Boundaries
Act, 1887, shall be laid before the council of any
administrative county or borough affected by that
report, and before any joint committee of county
councils, and it shall be the duty of such councils
and joint committees to take such reports into
* la connection with this, the provisions of ss. 40-42, 80 (2),
should be noticed.
+ This is an amendment of tlie Act of 1888, and supplies a
defect therein. As to the appointment of joint committees of
county councils, see s, 81 of that Act.
170 Tin: LOCAL government act, 1894.
consitleration licforc framing any ortler under the
powers conferred on them under this Act.*
(i;3.) Every county council shall, within two
years after the passinfj of this Act, or within such
further period as the Local Government J^oard may
allow either generally or with reference to any
particular matter, make such orders under this
section as they deem necessary for the purpose of
bringing this Act into operation, and after the
expiration of the said two years or further period
the powers of the county council for that purpose
shall he transferred to the Local Government
Board, who may exercise those powers.
37. —Prorisio)! r/.s to ])arii<]i('s Jidriiii/ parta with
di'tincd li<iini(Jarics. — Where it is proved to thQ
satisfaction of the county council that any part of
a parish has a defined boundary, and has any
property or rights distinct from the rest of the
parish, the county council may order that the
consent of a parish meeting held for that part of
the parishf shall he reipiired for any such act or
class of acts of the parish council affecting the said
jiroperty or rights as is specified in the order, t
38. — Orders for firoi(])i)ifi pariahes and di.ss(dcinfi
(iroiipH. — (1.) Where parishes are grouped, the
grouping order shall make the necessary provisions
for the name of the group, for the parish meetings
* (50 & 51 Vict. c. Gl.) See a similar provision iu s. 53 of the
Act of 1888. The council or joint committee are not bound to
give effect to the Commissioners' recommendations.
t Sec s. 49 as to such meetings.
X The parish meeting may, in such cases, require the parish
council to appoint a committee to exercise their powers au^
duties affecting the part of the parish in question (s. 56).
GROUPING OF PARISHES. 171
in each of the grouped parishes, and for the election
in manner provided by this Act of separate re-
presentatives of each parish on the parish council,
and may provide for the consent of the parish
meeting of a parish to any particular act of the
parish council, and for any other adaptations of
this Act to the group of jiarishes, or to the parish
meetings in the group.
(2.) Where parishes are grouped the whole area
under each parish council shall, unless the county
council for special reasons otherwise direct, be
within the same administrative county and county
district.
(3.) Where parishes are grouped, the grouping
order shall provide for the application of the
provisions of this Act with respect to the appoint-
ment of trustees and beneficiaries of a charity, and
the custody of documents, so as to preserve the
separate rights of each parish.*
(4.) The parish meeting of any parish may apply
to the county council for a grouping order respecting
that parish, and, if the parish has a less population
than two hundred,-]- for a parish council, and any
such application shall be forthwith taken into
consideration by the county council.
(5.) The county council may, on the application
of the council for any group of parishes or of the
parish meeting for any parish included in a group
of parishes, make an order dissolving the group,
and shall by the order make such provision as
appears necessary for the election of parish councils
of the parishes in the group and for the adjust-
ment of property, rights, and liabilities as between
separate parishes and the group.
* Sec ss, 14, 17. t See note p. 165,
172 THE LOCA.L GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
39. — Proriaions for increase and decrease of
pojnilation. — (1.) Where the popuhition of a parish
not having a separate parish council increases so
as to justify the election of such council, the parish
meeting nia}' petition tlu; county council, and the
county council, if they think proper, may order
the election of a parish council in that parish, and
shall by the order make such provision as appears
necessary for separating the parish from any group
of parishes in which it is included, and for the
alteration of the parish council of the group, and
for the adjustment of property, rights, and liabilities
as between the group and the parish with a
separate parish council.
(2.) "Where the population of a parish, according
to the last published census for the time being
is less than two hundred,* the parish meeting may
petition the county council, and the count}' council,
if they think jiropcr, may order the dissolution of
the parish council, and from and after the date of
the order this Act shall apply to that parish as to
a parish not having a parish council.f The order
shall make sucli provision as ajipears necessary
for carrying it into effect, and for the disposal and
adjustment of the property, rights, and liabilities
of the parish council. Where a petition for such
an order is rejected, another petition for the same
purpose may not be presented within two years
from the preseiitation of the previous petition.
40. — Certain orders of county council not to require
coii/innation. — A grouping order, and an order estab-
lishing or dissolving a parish council, or dissolving
a group of parishes, and an order relating to the
* Sty note p. 1G5. f TIic roicvencQ i« to s, 10.
COUNTS COUNCIL ORbEIlS. 17B
Custody of parish documents or requiring the
approval of the Charity Commissioners, and an
order requiring the consent of the parish meeting
for any part of the parish to any act or cUiss of acts
of the parish council,* shall not require submis-
sion to or confirmation by the Local Government
Board,
«
41. — Reduction of time for appealing against
county council orders. — The time for petitioning
against an order under section fifty-seven of the
Local Government Act, 1888, f shall be six weeks
instead of three months after the notice referred to
in subsection three of that section.
42. — Validity of county council orders. — When
an order under section fifty-seven of the Local
Government Act, 1888, f lias been confirmed by the
Local Government Board, such order shall at the
expiration of six months from that confirmation be
presumed to have been duly made, and to be within
the powers of that section, and no objection to the
legality thereof shall be entertained in any legal
proceeding whatever.
* This relates to orders such as may be made under ss. 1 (1),
17(9), 36 (3), 87-39.
t See this section in the Appendix.
174 THE LOCAL OOYERNMENT ACT, 1894.
PART IV
Srpi'i. E:\rEXTAL.
Parisit Meetings ami Klrdions.
43. — lie moral of dis(iiiaJi/ication of viarricd
ironirfi. — For the jjiirposes of this Act a Ionian
shall not be disqualitied by marriage for being on
any local government register of electors, or for
l)eing an elector of any local authority, provided
that a husband and wife shall not both be qualified
in respect of the same property.
44. — Ihyistcr of parochial clcctois* — (1.) The
local government register of electors and the
parliamentary register of electors, so far as they
relate to a parish shall, together, form the register
of the parochial electors of the parish ; and any
person whose name is not in that register shall not
be entitled to attend a meeting or vote as a
parochial elector, and any person whose name is in
* The cdect of tliis clause iu its technical aspect could hardly
be made plain to the ordinary reader without a more lengthy
description than we can permit ourselves. The principal points
are that a person may be registered, if duly qualified, in more
than one register of parochial electors ; that no person who is
not on the register of parochial electors can take part in parish
meetings or vote as parochial elector, and that a person, duly
qualified, may claim to be put on the separate list of parochial
electors referred to in the section. Ownersliip voters in a
parish within a parliamentary borough are enabled to vote as
parochial electors of that parish by subsection (2),
REGISTRATION OF ELECTOllS. 175
that register shall be entitled to attend a meeting
and vote as a parochial elector unless prohibited
from voting by this or any other Act of Par-
liament.
(2.) Where the parish is in a parliamentary
borough, such portion of the parliamentary register
of electors for the county as contains the names of
persons registered in respect of the ownership of
any property in the parish shall be deemed to form
part of the parliamentary register of electors for
the parish within the meaning of this section.
(3.) The lists and register of electors in any
parish shall be framed in parts for wards of urban
districts and parishes in such manner that they
may be conveniently used as lists for polling at
elections for any such wards.
(4.) Nothing m any Act shall prevent a person,
if duly qualified, from being registered in more
than one register of parochial electors.
(5.) \Yhere in that portion of the parliamentary
register of electors which relates to a parish a
person is entered to vote in a polling district other
than the district comprising the parish, such
person shall be entitled to vote as a parochial
elector for that parish, and in addition to an
asterisk there shall be placed against his name a
number consecutive with the other numbers in the
list.
(6.) Where the revising barrister in any list of
voters for a parish would —
(a) In pursuance of section seven of the
County Electors Act, 1888,* place an
asterisk or other mark against the name
of any person ; or
» 51 Vict. c. 10.
176 TUB LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 180-1.
{})) 111 pursiuuicu uf section fuur of the
Eegistration Act, 1885, erase the name of
any person otherwise than hy reason of
tliat name appearing more than once in
the hsts for the same parish ; or
{<•) ill pursuance of section twent3'-eight of
the Parhamentary and Municipal Eegis-
tration Act, 1878,* as amended by section
live of the Registration Act, 1885, t place
against the name of a person a note to
the effect that such person is not entitled
to vote in respect of the qualification
contained in llie list,
the revising barrister shall, instead of placing that
mark or note, or erasing the name, place against
the name, if the person is entitled to vote in re-
spect of that entry as a county elector or burgess,
a mark signifying that his name should be printed
in division three of the list,+ or if he is entitled to
vote only as a iiarochial elector, a mark signifying
that he is entitled to be registered as a parochial
elector, and the name so marked shall not be
printed in the parliamentary register of electors,
but shall be printed, as the case requires, either in
division three of the local government register of
electors, or in a separate list of parochial electors. |
(7.) Where the name of a person is entered both
in the ownership list and in the occu])ation list of
voters in the same parish, and the revising
barrister places against that name a mark or note
signifying that the name should be printed in
* 41 & 42 Vict. c. 26. t 48 & 49 Vict. c. 15.
t Division 3 of the Occupiers' List contains the names of
persons entitled to be registered as county electors or burgesses,
but not as parliamentary voters
PAMSlt MfiEflNdS. 177
division three of the lists, an asterisk or other mark
shall be there printed against the name, and such
person shall not be entitled to vote as a parochial
elector in respect of that entry.
(8.) Such separate list shall form part of the
register of parochial electors of the parish, and
shall be printed at the end of the other lists of
electors for the parish, and the names shall be
numbered consecutively with the other names on
those lists, and the law relating to the register of
electors shall, with the necessary modifications,
apply accordingly, and the lists shall, for the pur-
poses of this Act, be deemed to be part of such
register.
(9.) Any person may claim for the purpose of
hav'ing his name entered in the parochial electors'
list, and the law relating to claims to be entered in
lists of voters shall apply.
(10.) The clerk of the county council or town
clerk, as the case may be, shall, in printing the
lists returned to him by the revising barrister, do
everything that is necessary for carrying into effect
the provisions of this section with respect to the
persons whose names are marked by the revising
barrister in pursuance of this section.
45. — Supplemental j^J'ovisions as to parish meet-
ings. — (1.) Subject to the provisions of this Act,
parish meetings shall be held on such days and at
such times and places as may be fixed by the parish
council, or, if there is no parish council, by the
chairman of the parish meeting.*
(2.) If the chairman of the parish council is
* The words " subject to the provisions of this Act " have
reference to sections 2 (3), 19 (2), Sched. I, Part I (1).
N
178 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
present at a parish meetinf; and is not a candidate
for election at the meeting, he shall, save as
otherwise provided by this Act, be the chairman of
the meeting.*
(8.) The chairman of the ])arish council, or any
two jiarish councillors, or llie chairman of the
parish meeting, or any six parochial electors, nuiy
at any time convene a parish meeting. f
46. — T>isqitalijlcati()N^ far pari.sJi or district
council. — (1.) A i)erson shall be disqualified for
being elected or being a member or chairman of a
council of a parish or of a district other than a
borough or of a board of guardians if he —
{a) is an infant or an alien ; or
(b) has within twelve months before his
election, or since his election, received
miion or parochial relief ; or
{(■) has, within live years before his election
or since his election, been convicted either
on indictment or summ'arilyof any crime,
and sentenced to imprisonment with hard
labour without the option of a fine, or to
any greater punishment, and has not
received a free pardon, or has, within or
during the time aforesaid, been adjudged
bankrupt, or made a composition or
arrangement with his creditors ; or
(</) holds any paid oftice under the parish
* If the chairman of the parish council is absent, oris unable
or unwilling to take the chair, the meeting will elect a chairman
(Sched. I, Parti (10).)
t As to the mode of convening parish meetings, ace a. 51 and
Bchcd. I, Part I.
DISQUALIFICATIONS. 179
council or district council or board of
guardians, as the case may be ; or
{e) is concerned in an}^ bargain or contract
entered into \Yitli the council or board,
or jDarticipates in the profit of any such
bargain or contract or of any work done
under the authority of the council or
board.
(2.) Provided that a person shall not be dis-
qualified for being elected or being a member or
chairman of any such council or board by reason
of being interested—
(a) in the sale or lease of any lands or in any
loan of money to the council or board, or
in any contract with the council for the
supply from land, of which he is owner
or occupier, of stone, gravel, or other
materials for making or repairing high-
materials for the repair of roads or
w^ays or bridges, or in the transport of
bridges in his own immediate neighbour-
hood ; or
[h) in any newspaper in W'hich any advertise-
ment relating to the affairs of the council
or board is inserted ; or
(f) in any contract with the council or board
as a shareholder in any joint stock
company ; but he shall not vote at any
meeting of the council or board on any
question in which such company are
interested, except that in the case of a
water company or other company estab-
lished for the carrying on of works of
a like public nature, this prohibition may
be dispensed with by the county council.
N 2
IKO THE LOCAL nOVERN'MKN'r ACT, 1891.
(3.) ^Vllel•e a person wlio is a parish councillor,
or is a candidate for election as a parish councillor,
is concorni'd in any such bar^'ain or contract, or
])artiripatcs in any such prolit, as would disqualify
liiiii for being a i)arish councillor, the disquali-
fication may be removed by tlie county council if
they are of opinion that such removal will be
benelicial to the parish.
(4.) Where a person is disqualified by being
adjudged bankrupt or making a composition or
arrangement with his creditors, the disqualification
shall cease, in case of l)ankruptcy, when the
adjudication is annulled, or when he obtains his
discharge with a certilicate that his bankruptcy
was caused by misfortune without any misconduct
on his part, and, in case of composition or arrange-
ment, on payment of his debts in full.
(5.) A person disqualified for being a guardian
shall also be disqualified for being a rural district
councillor.*
(G.) If a member of a council of a parish, or of a
district other than a borough, or of a board of
guardians, is absent from meetings of the council
or board for more than six months consecutively,
except in case of illness or for some reason approved
by the comicil or board, his office shall on the
expiration of those months become vacant.
(7.) Where a member of a council or board of
guardians becomes disqualified for holding office,
or vacates his seat for absence, the council or board
shall forthwith declare the office to be vacant, and
signify the same by notice signed by three members
* Tliis almost uecessarily follows from tlie provision that
rural district councillors shall act as guardians for the parishes
whicli tliey represent (s. 24 (3).)
PARISH COUNCILS. 181
and countersigned by the clerk of the council or
board, and notified in such manner as the council
or board direct, and the office shall thereupon
become vacant.
(8.) If any person acts when disqualified, or
votes when prohibited under this section, he shall
for each offence be liable on summary conviction
to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
(9.) This section shall apply in the case of any
authority whose members are elected in accordance
with this Act in like manner as if that authority
were a district council, and in the case of London
auditors as if they were members of a district council.
47. — Supplemental provisions as to parish coun-
cils. — (1.) If at the annual election of parish coun-
cillors any vacancies are not filled by election, such
number of the retiring councillors as are not re-
elected, and are required to fill the vacancies, shall,
if willing, continue to hold office. The councillors
BO to continue shall be those who were highest on
the poll at the previous election, or if the numbers
were equal or there was no poll, as may be deter-
mined by the parish meeting, or if not so deter-
mined, by the chairman of the parish council.
(2.) A retiring parish councillor or chairman of
a parish council or parish meeting shall be re-
eligible.
(3.) A parish councillor may, by notice in writing
to the chairman of the council, resign his office,
and a chairman of a parish council or parish meet-
ing may resign his chairmanship by notice in
writing to the council or meeting.*
* The resignation of guardians, district councillors (other
than borough councillors), and London vestrymen is provide(J
for in 48 (4).
18"2 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894,
(4.) A casual vacancy among parish councillors
or in the olHce of chairman of the council shall be
111 led by the parish council, and where there is no
parish council, a casual vacancy in the office of
chairman of the i)arish meeting shall be filled by
the parish meeting, and the person elected shall
retire from office at the time when the vacating
councillor or chairman would have retired.
(5.) If any parish council become unable to act
hy reason of a want of councillors, whether from
failure to elect or otherwise, the county council may
order a new election, and may by order malve such
provision as seems expedient for authorising any
person to act temporarily in the place of the parish
council and of the chairman thereof.
48. — Supplemental provisions as to elections,
polls, and tenure of ofjiee* — (1.) The election of a
parish councillor shall be at a parish meeting, or
at a poll consequent thereon.
(2.) Rules framed under this Act by the Local
Government f^oard in relation to elections shall,
notwithstanding anything in any otlier Act, have
effect as if enacted in this Act, and shall provide,
amongst other things —
(i.) for every candidate being nominated in
writing by two parochial electors as
proposer and seconder and no more ;t
(ii.) for preventing an elector at an election
for a union or for a district not a borough
• lu couucctiou with this section, sec the " Introduction,"
pp. 90-94.
t In a borough, nominations are required to be subscribed
by eight persons "assenting to the nomination," besides the
proposer and seconder.
EULES FOR ELECTIONS. 183
from subscribing a nomination paper or
voting in more than one parish or other
area in the union or district ;
(iii.) for preventing an elector at an election
for a parish divided into parish wards
from subscribing a nomination paper or
voting for more than one ward ;
(iv.) for fixing or enabling the county council
to fix the day of the poll and the hours
during which the poll is to be kept open,
so, however, that the poll shall always be
open between the hours of six and eight
in the evening ;
(v.) for the polls at elections held at the same
date and in the same area being taken
together, except where this is imprac-
ticable ;
(vi.) for the appointment of returning officers
for the elections.
(3.) At every election regulated by rules framed
under this Act, the poll shall be taken by ballot,
and the Ballot Act, 1872,* and the Municipal
Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Practices) Act,
1884, f and sections seventy-four and seventy-five
and Part IV. of the Municipal Corporations Act,
1882, J as amended by the last-mentioned Act
(including the penal provisions of those Acts) shall,
subject to adaptations, alterations, and exceptions
made by such rules, apply in like manner as in the
case of a municipal election. Provided that —
(a) section six of the Ballot Act, 1872, shall
apply in the case of such elections, and
* 35 & 36 Vict. c. 33. t 47 & 48 Vict. c. 70.
:;: 45 & 40 Vict, c, 50.
181 Tin: LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1801.
the returning officer may, in addition to
using tlie schools and pul)lic rooms
therein referred to free of charge, for
taking the poll, use the same, free of
charge, for hearing o])jections to nomi-
nation papers and for counting votes ;
and
{h) section thirty-seven of the IMunicipal
Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Practices)
Act, 1881, shall apply as if the election
were an election mentioned in the First
Schedule to that Act.*
(4.) The provisions of the Municipal Corporations
Act, 1882, and the enactments amending the same,
with respect to the expenses of elections of coun-
cillors of a horough, and to the acceptance of office,
resignation, re-eligibility of holders of office, and
the filling of casual vacancies, and section fifty-six
of that Act, shall, subject to the adaptations,
alterations, and exceptions made l)y the said rules,
ai)ply in the case of guardians and of district coun-
cillors of a county district not a borough, and of
members of the local board of Woolwich, and of a
vestry under the Metropolis Management Acts,
1855 to 1800, and any Act amending the same.
Provided that — ■
* This makes certain provisions of the IMunicipal Elections
(Corrupt and Illegal Practices) Act iuai^plicablc to elections
regulated by rules framed under tlie present Act, viz., those
provisions which " prohibit the payment of any sum, and tlie
incurring of any expense by, or on behalf of a candidate at an
election, on account of, or in respect of, tlic conduct or manage-
ment of the election, and tliose which relate to the time for
sending in and paying claims, and those which relate to the
maximum amount of election expenses, or the return or declara-
tion respecting election expenses,"
CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS. 185
(a) the provisions as to resignation shall not
apply to guardians, and district coun-
cillors of a rural district shall he in the
same position with respect to resignation
as memhers of a board of guardians ;* and
{l>) nothing in the enactments applied by this
section shall authorise or require a
returning officer to hold an election to
fill a casual vacancy which occurs within
six months before the ordinary day of
.retirement from the office in which the
vacancy occurs, and the vacancy shall be
filled at the next ordinary election ;t
and
{(■) the rules may provide for the incidence of
the charge for the expenses of the elec-
tions of guardians being the same as
heretofore.
(5.) If any difficulty arises as respects the
election of any individual councillor or guardian,
or member of any such local board or vestry as
aforesaid, or auditor, and there is no provision for
holding another election, the county council may
order a new election to be held and give such
directions as may be necessary for the purpose of
holding the election.
(6.) Any ballot boxes, fittings, and compart-
ments provided by or belonging to any public
authority, for any election (whether parliamentary,
county council, municipal, school board, or other),
* Sec s. 47 (3), as to the resignation of parish councillors or
of the chairman of the jjarish council or parish meeting.
t A similar provision is made as regards casual vacancies on
county councils by s. 1 of the County Councils Election Act,
1891 (54 & 55 Vict, c, G8).
18G THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
shall, on request, unci if not required for immediate
use by the said authority, be lent to the returning
officer for an election under this Act, upon such
conditions and either free of charge or, except in
the prescribed cases, for such reasonable charge as
may be prescribed.
(7.) The expenses of any election under this
Act shall not exceed the scale fixed by the county
council, and if at the beginning of one month
before the first election under this Act a county
council have not framed any such scale for their
county, the Local Government Board may frame
a scale for the county, and the scale so framed
shall apply to the first election, and shall have
effect as if it had been made by the county council,
but shall not be alterable until after the first
election.
(8.) This section shall, subject to any adapta-
tions made by the said rules, apply in the case of
every poll consequent on a parish meeting, as if it
were a poll for the election of parish councillors. ,
49. — Provision as to parish meeting for part of
parish. — Where a parish meeting is required or
authorised in pursuance of this Act to be held for
a ward or other part of a parish,* then —
(a) the persons entitled to attend and vote at
the meeting, or at any poll consequent
thereon, shall be the parochial electors
registered in respect of qualifications in
that ward or part ; and
(/') the provisions of this Act with respect to
parish meetings for the whole of a parish,
* Parish meetings for parts of parishes may be held under
SS.7 (4), 18, 37, 53 (1), 56 (2).
PARISH AND DISTRICT COUNCILS. 187
including the provisions with respect to
the convening of a parish meeting by
parochial electors, shall apply as if the
ward or part were the whole parish.
50. — Supplemental provisions as to overseers. —
If, in the case of a rural parish or of any urban
parish in respect to which the power of appointing
overseers has been transferred under this Act,
notice in the prescriljed form * of the appointment
of overseers is not received by the guardians of
the poor law union comprising the parish within
three weeks after the fifteenth day of April,! or
after the occurrence of a vacancy in the of&ce of
overseer, as the case may be, the guardians shall
make' the appointment or fill the vacancy, and any
overseer appointed by the guardians shall super-
sede any overseer previously appointed whose
appointment has not been notified. Any such
notice shall be admissible as evidence that the
appointment has been duly made.
Parish and District Councils.
51. — Public notices. — A public notice given by a
parish council for the purposes of this Act, or other-
wise for the execution of their duties, and a public
notice of a parish meeting, shall be given in the
manner required for giving notice of vestry meet-
* "Prescribed" means prescribed by order of the Local
Government Board (s. 75).
t The first appointment of overseers by the parisli council
will take place in April, 1895. The appointment for the year
1894-5 were to be made by the justices as usual on, or within
fourteen days after, the 25th March (54 Geo. Ill, c. 91).
188 Tlir. LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
ings,* and l)y posting tho notice in some con-
8i)icnous place or places within the parish, and in
such other manner (if any) as appears to the
council or to the persons convening the meeting
desirable for giving publicity to the notice.
^Qt.—Sitpplcinintal pruri^ion^ as to transfer of
jioircr.H. — (1.) Any power which may be exercised
and any consent which may be given by the
owners and ratepayers of a parish or by the
majority of them under any of the Acts relating
to the relief of the poor or under the School Sites
Acts or the Literary and Scientific Institutions
Act, 1854, so far as respects the dealing with
parish property or the spending of money or
raising of a rate may, in the case of a rural parish,
be exercised or given by the parish meeting of the
parish.t
(2.) In a rural parish the power of making
an application or passing a resolution given ))y
section twelve of the Elementary Education Act,
1870,1 and by section forty-one of the Elementary
Education Act, 1876, § to the electing body
mentioned in the former section shall be trans-
ferred to the parish meeting of the parish, and
shall in cases under the latter section be exercise-
able by the like majority of the parish meeting,||
and, if a poll is taken, of the parochial electors, as
* i.e. by being posted at the doors of all the churches and
chapels in the parish. As to the time for the publication of a
notice of a parisli meeting, sec Schcd. I, Part I (2) (3).
t Sec p. 27 of the Introduction.
+ 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75.
§ 39 & 40 Vict. c. 79.
II i.e. a two-thirds majority (39 & 40 Vict. c. 79, s. 41),
TRANSFER OF POWERS. 189
is required by that section in the case of the said
electing body, and rule two of the Second Part of
the Second Schedule to the former Act with
respect to the passing of such resolutions shall
not apply.*
(3.) The consent of justices shall not be required
for the sale of land belonging to a parish which
has been used for materials for the repair of high-
ways or for the purchase of land with the proceeds
of any such sale.f
(4.) Where the legal estate in any property is
vested in the churchwardens and overseers of any
parish by virtue of the Poor Eehef Act, 1819,:]:
nothing in the Charitable Trusts Acts, 1853 to
1891, shall be deemed to require the consent of
such churchwardens and overseers in their capacity
as a corporation under that Act, or of the parish
council as their successors, to a vesting order
under those Acts dealing with the said legal
estate. Provided that nothing in this section
shall affect any rights, powers, or duties of the
churchwardens and overseers or the parish council,
in cases where they have active powers of manage-
ment.
(5.) All enactments in any Act, whether general
or local and personal, relating to any powers,
* The rule referred to is to the effect that the resolution of
the electing body shall be passed as nearly as possible in like
manner as a school board is elected. The reference in this sub-
section is to an application for the formation or dissolution of
a school board.
t See s. 48 of the Highway Act, 1835 (5 & 6 Will. IV, c. 50),
under which land allotted to the parish for materials, when
exhausted, may be sold and other land purchased, with consent
of justices.
t 59 Geo. Ill, 0. 12.
VM THE LOCAL GOVEnxMEN'T ACT, 1804.
duties, or lialtilitics transferred by this Act to a
parish council or parish meeting from justices or
the vestry or overseers or churchwardens and
overseers shall, subject to the provisions of this
Act and so far as circumstances admit, be con-
strued as if any reference therein to justices or to
the vestry, or to the overseers, or to the church-
wardens and overseers, referred to the parish
council or parish meeting as the case requires, and
the said enactments shall be construed with such
modifications as may be necessary for carrying this
Act into effect.
53. — Siipplrmcntal f.yorisiona as to adoptive
Acts. — (1.) Where on the appointed day any of the
adoptive Acts is in force in a part only of a rural
parish, the existing authority under the Act, or the
parish meeting for that part, may transfer the
powers, duties, and liabilities of the authority to
the parish council, subject to any conditions with
respect to the execution the]'eof by means of a
committee as to the authority or parish meeting
may seem fit, and any such conditions may be
altered by any such parish meeting.*
(2.) If the area on the appointed day under
any authority under any of the adoptive Acts will
not after that day be comprised within one rural
l^arish, the powers and duties of the authority
shall 1)0 transferred to the parish councils of the
rural parishes wholly or partly comprised in that
area, or, if the area is partly comprised in an
lu-ban district, to those parish councils and
the district council of the urban district, and
* As to parisli meetings for parts of parishes, sec s. 49, and as
to tlie appointment of committees, s. 5G. The Adoptive Acta-
are defined by s. 7.
ADOPTIVE ACTS, 101
shall, until other provision is made in pursuance
of this Act, he exercised hy a joint committee*
appointed hy those councils. Where any such
rural parish has not a parish council the parish
meeting shall, for the purposes of this provision,
be substituted for the parish council.
(3.) The property, debts, and liabilities of any
authority under any of the adoptive Acts whose
powers are transferred in pursuance of this Act
shall continue to be the property, debts, and
liabilities of the area of that authority, and the
proceeds of the property shall be credited, and the
debts and liabilities and the expenses incurred in
resi^ect of the said powers, duties, and liabilities,
shall be charged to the account of the rates or
contributions levied in that area, and where that
area is situate in more than one parish the sums
credited to and paid by each parish shall be
apportioned in such manner as to give effect to
this enactment.
(4.) The county council on the application of a
parish council may, by order, alter the boundaries
of any such area if they consider that the alter-
ation can properly be made without any undue
alteration of the incidence of liability to rates and
contributions or of the right to property belonging
to the area, regard being had to any corresponding
advantage to persons subject to the liability or
entitled to the right.
54. — Effect on parish council of constitution of
urhan district. — (1.) Where a new borough is
created, or any other new urban district is con-
stituted, or the area of an urban district is
extended, then —
* With, respect to joint committees, see s. 57.
102 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1804.
(a) as respects any rural i)arish oi- part of a
rural parish which will he coni})rised in
the borough or urban district, provision
shall be made, either by the constitution
of a new parish, or by the annexation of
the parish or parts thereof to another
parish or parishes, or otherwise, for the
api)ointnient of overseers and for placing
the parish or part in the same position
as other parishes in the borough or
district, and
(b) as respects any parish or part which
remains rural, provision shall be made
for the constitution of a now parish
council for the same, or for the annex-
ation of the parish or part to some other
parish or parishes, or otherwise for the
government of the parish or part, and
(f) provision shall also where necessary be
made for the adjustment of any property,
debts, and liabilities affected by the said
creation, constitution, or extension.*
(2.) The provision aforesaid shall be made —
(a) Where a new borough is created, by a
scheme under section two hundred and
thirteen of the Municipal Corporations
Act, 1882 ;
(h) Where any other new urban district is
constituted, by an order of the county
council under section fifty-seven of the
Local Government Act, 1888 ;f
(c) Where the area of an urban district is
• Adjustments of property and liabilities under this Act aro
dealt with in s. G8. t Sec Appendix.
COMMITTEES. 193
extended, by an order of the Local
Government Board under section fifty-
four, or of the county council under
section fifty-seven, as the case may be,
of the Local Government Act, 1888.*
(3.) Where the area of an urban district is
diminished this section shall apply with the neces-
sary modifications.
55. — Power to chanf/e name of district or iiarisli.
— (1.) "Wliere a parish is divided or united or
grouped with another parish by an order in pur-
suance of this Act each new parish or group so
formed shall bear such name as the order directs.
(2.) Where a parish is divided by this Act, each
parish so formed shall bear such name as the
count}' council direct.
(3.) Any district council may, with the sanction
of the county council, change their name and the
name of their district.
(4.) Every change of name made in pursuance
of this section shall he published in such manner
as the authority authorising the change may
direct, and shall be notified to the Local Govern-
ment Board.
(5.) Any such change of name shall not affect
any rights or obligations of any parish, district,
council, authority, or person, or render defective
any legal proceedings, and any legal proceedings
may be continued or commenced as if there were
no change of name.
*D^
56. — Committees of j^arish or district councils. —
(1.) A parish or district council may appoint com-
f These sections will be found in the Appendix
l!ll THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
mittees, consistinp; citlier wholly or partly of
members of tlie council, for the exercise of any
powers which, in the opinion of the council, can
1)6 properly exercised by committees, but a com-
mittee shall not hold office beyond the next annual
meeting of the council, and the acts of every such
connuittee shall be submitted to the council for
their approval.
Provided that where a committee is appointed
by any district coiuicil for any of the purposes of
the Pul^lic Health Acts or Iii<j;li\vay Acts, the
council may authorise the committee to institute
any proceedinf:^ or do any act which the council
might have instituted or done for that purpose
other than the raising of any loan or the making
of any rate or contract.
(2.) Where a parish council have any powers
and duties which are to be exercised in a part only
of the parish, or in relation to a recreation ground,
l)uilding, or property held for the benetit of a part
of a parish, and the part has a defined boundary,
the parish council shall, if required 1)}^ a parish
meeting held for that part,* appoint annuall}' to
exercise such powers and duties a committee con-
sisting partly of members of the council and
partly of other persons representing the said part
of the ]mrish.
(B.) With respect to committees of parish and
district councils the provisions in the First
Schedule to this Act shall have effect.
(4.) This section shall not apply to the council
of a borough.f
* As to parish meetings for parts of parishes sec s. 49.
t Tlie appoiutmcnt of committees by town councils of
boroughs is provided for by s. 22 of the Municipal Corporations
Act, 1882. • - • -.
AUDIT OF ACCOUNTS. 195
57. — Joint committees. — (1.) A parish or district
council may concur with any other parish or district
council or councils in appointing out of their respec-
tive bodies a joint committee for any purpose in
respect of which they are jointly interested, and
in conferring, with or without conditions or re-
strictions, on any such committee any powers
which the appointing council might exercise if the
j)urpose related exclusively to their own parish or
district.
(2.) Provided that a council shall not delegate
to any such committee any power to borrow money
or make an}^ rate.
(3.) A joint committee appointed under this
section shall not hold office beyond the expiration
of fourteen days after the next annual meeting of
any of the councils who appointed it.
(4.) The costs of a joint committee under this
section shall be defrayed by the councils by whom
it is appointed in such proportions as they may
agree upon, or as may be determined in case of
difference by the county council.
(5.) Where a parish council can under this Act
be required to appoint a committee consisting
partly of members of the council and partly of
other persons,* that requirement may also be made
in the case of a joint committee, and shall be duly
complied with by the parish councils concerned at
the time of the appointment of such committee.
58. — Audit of accounts of district and parish
councils and inspection. — (1.) The accounts of the
receipts and payments of parish and district
councils, and of parish meetings for parishes not
having parish councils, and their committees and
* See section 56 (2)
o 2
196 Tin: local government act, 1891.
officers, shall be made up yearly to the thirty-first
(lay of March, or in the case of accounts which
are required to be audited half-yearly,* then half-
yearly to the thirtieth day of September and the
"thirty-ih-st day of March in each year, and in such
form as the Local Government l^oard prescribe.
(2.) The said accounts shall, except in the case
of accounts audited by the auditors of a borou^di,
(liul inclusive of the accounts of a joint committee
appointed by a borough council with another
council not beinp; a boroujjjh council,) be audited by
a district auditor, and the eiuictments relatinf^ to
audit by district auditors of accounts of urban
sanitary authorities and their officers, and to all
matters incidental thereto and consequential
thereon,! shall ap})ly accordingly, except that in
the case of the accounts of rural district councils,
their committees and officers, the audit shall be
half-vearlv instead of yearlv.
(3.) The Local Government Board may, with
respect to any audit to which this section applies,
make rules modifying the enactments as to publi-
cation of notice of the audit and of the abstract
of accounts and the report of the auditor.;):
* lu the case of rural district councils there will bo a half-
yearly audit (subsection (2) .)
t The general effect of these enactments is stated at p. 99 of
the Introduction.
4: S. 2-t7 of the Public Health Act, 1875, requires notice of
the audit to be given by advertisement in a newspaper. It also
requires the auditor to make a report on the accounts to the
authority on whose behalf they are submitted, and tlie clerk to
publish an abstract of the accounts in a newspaper. In the
case of a parish meeting or council, the expense of the adver-
tisements seems unnecessary ; but the enactment in the tex"-
will enable the Local Government Board to modify the require-
ments of the section.
DISTRICT COUNCILS. 197
(4.) Every parochial elector of a rural parish
may, at all reasonable times, vrithout payment,
inspect and take copies of and extracts from all
books, accounts, and documents belonging to or
under the control of the parish council of the
parish or parish meeting.
(5.) Every parochial elector of a parish in a
rural district may, at all reasonable times, without
payment, inspect and take copies of and extracts
from all books, accounts, and documents belonging
to or under the control of the district council of
the district.
59. — Supplemental provisions as to district
councils. — (1.) Section one hundred and ninety-
nine and Schedule I. of the PubHc Health Act,
1875, so far as that schedule is unrepealed*
(which relate to the meetings of urban authorities,
and to the meetings and proceedings of local
boards), shall apply in the case of every urban
district council other than a borough council and
of every rural district council and board of
guardians, as if such district council or board
were a local board, except that the chairman of
the council or board may be elected from outside
the councillors or guardians.
(2.) Any urban district council other than a
borough council, and any rural district council and
board of guardians may, if they think fit, appoint
a vice-chairman, to hold ofiice during the term of
office of the chairman, f and the vice-chairman
shall, in the absence or during the inability of
* The Schedule is repealed so far as it relates to committees,
by the present Act.
t The chairman will be elected for one year at the annual
meeting (38 & 39 Vict. c. 55, Sched. I, Part I (3).)
198 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
the cliiiirinan, have the powers and autliority of
the chairniaii.
(3.) Any rural district council shall he entitled
to use for the purpose of their meetings and pro-
ceedings the hoai'd room and offices of any hoard
of guardians for the union comjjrising their
district at all reasonahle hours, and if any
question arises as to what hours are reasonahle
it may he determined hy the Local Government
Board.
(4.) Nothing in this section shall affect any
powers of the Local Government Board with
respect to the proceedings of guardians.
(5.) If any district council, other tlian a
horough council, hecome unal)le to act, whether
from failure to elect or otherwise, the county
council of the county in which the district is
situate mav order elections to he held and mav
apponit persons to form the district council until
the newly elected members como into office.
(6.) Nothing in this Act shall affect any powers
of the Secretary of State under the Public Health
Supplemental Act for Aldershot, 1857, or the
position of persons nominated under those
powers.*
Miscellaneous.
60. — Supplrineiital j^fovisions as to fiuardians. — ■
(1.) The council of each county may, from time to
time, by order, fix or alter the number of
guardians or rural district councillors to be elected
for each parish within their county, and for those
purposes may exercise powers of adding parishes
• The Aldershot Lo:al Board includes members nominated
by the Secretary of State for War,
GUARDIANS. 199
to each other and dividing parishes into wards,
similar to those which by the Acts rehiting to
the rehef of the poor are, for the purpose of the
election of guardians, vested in the Local Govern-
ment Board.* •
(2.) The council of each county may for the
purpose of regulating the retirement of guardians
or rural district councillors, in cases where they
retire by thirds, and in order that as nearly as
may be one-third of the persons elected as
guardians for the union, and one-third of the
persons elected as rural district councillors for the
district, shall retire in each year, direct in which
year or years of each triennial period the
guardians or district councillors for each parish,
ward, or other area in the union or rural district
shall retire.
(3.) Where a poor law union is situate in more
than one county, the power under this section of
fixing or altering the number of guardians or rural
district councillors, and of regulating the retire-
ment of guardians and of district councillors,
shall be exercised by a joint committee of the
councils of the counties concerned, but if any of
those councils do not, within two months after
request from any other of them, appoint members
of such joint committee, the members of the
committee actually appointed shall act as the joint
committee.
* Parishes of not more thau 300 inhabitants may be added
to adjoining parishes in the same union for the election of
guardians (31 & 32 Vict. c. 122, s. 6). It will be observed that
the county council cannot properly, under this provision, add a
rural parish to an urban parish, or vice versa. Any parish may
be divided into wards for the election of guardians under
39 & 40 Vict. c. 61, s. 12.
t200 TIIK LOCAL GOVERNMKN'r ACT, IH!) I.
Provided tliiit if any order under this sub-
section is, within six weeks after the making
thereof, objected to by any of the county councils
concerned, or l)y any committee of any of those
councils authorised in that behalf, it shall be of
no effect until confirmed by the Local Government
Board.
(4.) "S\'liere under any local and personal Act
guardians of a poor law union are elected for
districts, whether called l)y that name or not, the
provisions of this Act with respect to the election
of guardians shall apply as if each of the districts
were a parish.
(5.) The board of guardians of a union elected
in pursuance of this Act shall, save as otherwise
provided by an order of the Local Government
Board, made on the application of those guardians,
have the same powers and duties under any
local and personal Act as the existing board of
guardians.
(6.) Nothing in this Act shall alter the constitu-
tion of the corjjoration of the guardians of the poor
W'ithin the city of Oxford, or the election or quali-
fication of the members thereof, except those
members who are elected by the ratepayers of
parishes.*
61. — Place nf meeting of ])ari.s]i or disfrict council
or hoard of (jiiardians. — No parish meeting or
meeting of a parish council, or of a district council,
or of a board of guardians shall be held in premises
licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquor, except
in cases where no other suitable room is available
* The Oxford Poor Law Incorporation includes reprcscnta-
tivcs of tlic town council and university.
1>0WERS OP COUNTY COUNCIL. 201
for such meeting either free of charge or at a
reasonable cost.
62. — Permissive transjer to urban district council
of po2vers of other authorities. — (1.) Where there is
in any urban district, or part of an urban district,
any authority constituted under any of the adoptive
Acts,* the council of that district may resolve that
the powers, duties, property, debts, and liabilities
of that authority shall be transferred to the council
as from the date specified in the resolution, and
upon that date the same shall be transferred
accordingly, and the authority shall cease to exist,
and the council shall be the successors of that
authority.
(2.) After the appointed day any of the adoptive
Acts shall not be adopted for any part of an urban
district without the approval of the council of that
district.
63. — Provisions as to county council acquirinp
powers of district council. — (1.) Where the powers
of a district council are by virtue of a resolution
under this Act transferred to a county council,!
the following provisions shall have effect : —
(a) Notice of the resolution of the county
council by virtue of which the transfer is
made shall be forthwith sent to the
district council and to the Local Govern-
ment Board :
{h) The expenses incurred by the county council
shall be a debt from the district council
* e.g a burial board. The Adoptive Acts are defined by
s. 7.
t See ss. 16, 26.
202 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
to the county council, and shall be de-
frayed as part of the expenses of the
district council in the execution of the
Public Health Acts, and the district
council shall have the like power of
raising the nione}^ as for the defraying of
those expenses :
{<■) The county council for the purpose of the
powers transferred may on behalf of the
district council borrow sul)ject to the like
conditions, in the like manner, and on the
security of the like fund or rate, as the
district council might have borrowed for
the purpose of those powers :
{(J) The county council may charge the said
fund or rate with the pa3'ment of the
principal and interest of the loan, and
the loan with the interest thereon shall
be paid by the district council in like
numner, and the charge shall have the
like effect, as if the loan were lawfully
raised and charged on that fund or rate
by the district council :
{(') The county council shall keep separate
accounts of all receipts and expenditure
in respect of the said powers :
(/) The county council may by order v^est
in the district council all or any of
tlie powers, duties, property, debts, and
liabilities of the county council in rela-
tion to any of the said powers, and the
property, debts, and liabilities so vested
shall be deemed to have been acquired or
incurred by the district council for the
purpose of those powers.
(2.) Where a rural district is situate in two or
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 203
more counties a parish council complaining under
this Act may complain to the county council of the
county in which the parish is situate, and if the
subject-matter of the complaint affects any other
county the complaint shall be referred to a joint
committee of the councils of the counties concerned,
and any question arising as to the constitution of
such joint committee shall be determined by the
Local Government Board, and if any members
of the joint committee are not appointed the
members who are actually appointed shall act as
the joint committee.
64. — Power to act through district council. — A
county council may employ a district council as
their agents in the transaction of any administrative
business on matters arising in, or affecting the
interests of, its own district,*
65. — Saving for Jiarbour pou-ers. — Where any
improvement commission affected by this Act have
any powers, duties, propert}^ debts, or liabilities
in respect of any harbour, the improvement com-
mission shall continue to exist and be elected for
the purpose thereof, and shall continue as a
separate body, as if this Act had not passed, and
the property, debts, and liabilities shall be appor-
tioned between the district council for the district
and the commission so continuing, and the adjust-
ment arising out of the apportionment shall be
determined in manner provided by this Act.f
66. — Saving for elementary schools. — Nothing in
* Cf. s. 28 of the Act of 1888, under which the county council
have power to " delegate " powers to the district council,
t See s. 68.
204 TIIR LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1891.
this Act shall affect the trusteeship, management,
or control of any elementary school.*
67. — Transfer of propcrtji and debts and
liahilitics. — Where any powers and duties are
transferred hy this Act from one authority to
another aulliority —
(1.) All property held by the first authority
for the purpose or hy virtue of such
powers and duties shall pass to and vest
in the other authority, subject to all debts
and liabilities affecting the same ; and
(2.) The latter authority shall hold the same
for the estate, interest, and purposes, and
subject to the covenants, conditions, and
restrictions for and subject to which the
property would have been held if this
Act had not passed, so far as the same
are not modified by or iji pursuance of
this Act ; and
(3.) All debts and liabilities of the first
authorit}^ incurred by virtue of such
powers and duties shall become debts and
liabilities of the latter authority, and be
defrayed out of the like property and
funds out of which they would have been
defrayed if this Act had not passed.
68. — Adjustment of jn-operti/ and liahilities.—r{l')
Where any adjustment is required for the purpose
* i.e. a school at which elementary education is the principal
part of the education there given, and whel-e the ordinary pay-
ments in respect of the instruction, from each scliohir, do not
exceed 9d. a week (Elementary Education Act, 1870, s. 3 and
s. 75 of the present Act).
ADJUSTMENT OF mOPERTY, ETC. 205
of this Act, or of any order, or thing made or done
under this Act, then, if the adjustment is not
otherwise made, the autliorities interested may
make agreements for the purpose, and may thereby
adjust any property, income, debts, habihties, and
expenses, so far as affected by this Act, or such
scheme, order, or thing, of the parties to the
agreement.
(2.) The agreement may provide for the transfer
or retention of any property, debts, or habihties,
with or without any conditions, and for the joint
use of any property, and for payment by either
party to the agreement in respect of property,
debts, and habihties so transferred or retained, or
of such joint user, and in respect of the salary or
remuneration of any officer or person, and that
either by way of an annual payment or, except in
the case of a salary or remuneration, by way of a
capital sum , or of a terminal^le annuity for a period
not exceeding that allowed by the Local Govern-
ment Board : Provided that where any of the
authorities interested is a board of guardians, any
such agreement, so far as it relates to the joint use
of any property, shall be subject to the approval of
the Local Government Board.
(3.) In default of an agreement, and as far as
any such agreement does not extend, such adjust-
ment shall be referred to arbitration in accordance
with the Arbitration Act, 1889,* and the arbitrator
shall have power to disallow as costs in the
arbitration the costs of any witness whom he con-
siders to have been called unnecessarily, and any
other costs which he considers to have been
incurred unnecessarily, and his award may provide
* 52 & 53 Vict. c. 49.
200 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
fur any matter for which an agreement might have
provided.
(4.) Any sum required to he paid l)y anj^
authority for the purpose of adjustment may be
])aid as part of the general expenses of exercising
their duties under this Act, or out of such special
fund as the authority, with the approval of the
Local Government Board, direct, and if it is a
capital sum the payment thereof shall be a ])urpose
for which the authority may borrow under the
Acts relating to such authority, on the security of
all or any of the funds, rates, and revenues of the
authority, and any such sum may be borrowed
without the consent of any authority, so that it be
repaid within such period as the Local Government
Board may sanction.
(5.) Any capital sum paid to any authority for
the purpose of any adjustment under this Act shall
be treated as capital, and applied, with the sanction
of the Local Government Board, either in the re-
payment of debt or for any other purpose for which
capital money may be applied.
69. — l^Dircr to deal iritli matters ayinbin out of
alteration of houiiflaries. — Where an alteration of
any area is made by this Act, an order for any of
the matters mentioned in section fifty-nine of the
Local Government Act, 1888,* may, if it appears
to the county council desirable, be made l)y the
county council, or, in the case of an area situate in
more than one county, by a joint committee of
county councils, but nothing in this section shall
empower a county council or joint committee to
alter the boundaries of a county.
* See this section n the Appendix,
QUESTIONS UNI-ER ACT. 207
70. — Summary proceeding for determination of
questions as to transfer o; jwicers. — (1.) If any
question arises, or is about to arise, as to whether
any power, duty, or HabiHty is or is not transferred
by or under this Act to any parish council, parish
meeting, or district council, or any property is or
is not vested in the parish council, or in the chair-
man and overseers of a rural parish, or in a
district council, that question, without prejudice to
any other mode of trjdng it, may, on the application
of the council, meeting, or other local authority
concerned, be submitted for decision to the High
Court in such summary manner as, subject to any
rules of court, may be directed by the Court ; and
the Court, after hearing such parties and taking
such evidence (if any) as it thinks just, shall decide
the question.*
(2.) If any question arises or is about to arise
under this Act as to the appointment of the trus-
tees or beneficiaries of an}^ charity, or as to the
persons in whom the property of any charity is
vested, such question shall, at the request of any
trustee, beneficiary, or other person interested, be
determined in the first instance by the Charity
Commissioners, subject to an appeal to the High
Court brought within three months after such
determination. Provided that an appeal to the
High Court of Justice from any determination of
the Charity Commissioners under this section may
* Under a similar provision in s. 29 of the Local Government
Act, 1888, the Court has decided numerous questions submitted
to it with regard to the transfer of powers under that Act. The
present Act — differing in this respect from the Act of 1888 {see
Ex parte the county council of Kent and the councils of Dover
and Sandwich [1891] , 1 Q. B. 725) — gives an appeal against
the decision of the High Court in such cases.
208 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
be presented only under Llie same conditions as are
prescribed in the ca.:ie of appeals to the High
Court from orders made l)y the Charity Com-
missioners under the Charitable Trusts Acts, 1853
to 181)1.*
(3.) An appeal shall, with the leave of the High
Court or Court of Appeal, but not otherwise, lie to
the Court of Ajjpeal against any decision under
this- section.
71. — Sii])j)leme7ital inovisions as to county council
orders. — A copy of every order made by a county
council or joint committee in pursuance of this
Act shall be sent to the Local Government Board,
and, if it alters any local area or name, also to the
Board of Agriculture.!
72. — Provisions as to local inquiries. — (1.) The
expenses incurred l\v the Local Government
Board in respect of inquiries or other proceedings
under this Act shall be paid by such authorities
and persons and out of such funds and rates as
the Board may l)y order direct, and the Board may
certify the amount of the expenses so incurred, and
any sum so certified and directed by tlie Board to
be paid by any authority or person sliall l)e a debt
from that authority or person to the Crown. J
(*2.) Such expenses may include the salary of
* Twenty-one days' notice of the intention to appeal must bo
given to the Commissioners and to the solicitor acting for the
Attorney-General in cx-officio proceedings relating to charities
(23 & 24 Vict. c. 136, s. 8 ; 32 & 33 Vict. c. 110, s. 11).
t Orders will be made by joint committees under ss. 20, 36,
and 60.
J Similar provisions are contained in s. 87 of the Act of 1888,
COSTS 01-' INQUIRIES. 200
any inspectoi' f3r officer of the Board engaged in
the mquiry or proceedmg, not exceedmg three
guineas a day.*
(3.) The Local Government Board and their
inspectors shall have for the purposes of an inquiry
in pursuance of this Act the same powers as they
respectively have for the purpose of an inquiry
under the Public Health Act, 1875.*
(4.) Where a county council hold a local inquiry
under this Act or under the Local Government
Act, 1888, on the application of the council of a
parish or district, or of any inhabitants of a
parish or district, the expenses incurred by the
county council in relation to the inquiry (including
the expenses of any committee or person authorised
by the county council) shall be paid by the council
of that parish or district, or, in the case of a
parish which has not a parish council, by the parish
meeting ; but, save as aforesaid, the expenses of
the county council incurred in the case of inquiries
under this Act shall be paid out of the county
fund.t
73. — Provision as to Sundaijs and hank hoUdat/s.
— When the day on which anything is required by
or in pursuance of this Act to be done is Sunday,
Christmas Lay, or Good Friday, or a bank holiday,
that thing shall be done on the next following day,
not being one of the days above mentioned.
74. — Provisions as to SciUy Islands. — This Act
* See note (J) on previous page.
t The Act of 1888 does not provide for the expenses incurred
by county councils in connection with inquiries under that Act,
although s. 87 provides for expenses of the Local Government
Board. This omission is now remedied.
210 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
bhall bo deemed to be an Act touching local
government within the meaning of section forty-
nine t)f the Local Government Act, 1888, and a
provisional order for the Scilly Islands may, on the
ai)])hcation of the council of the Isles of Scill}^
and after sucli ])ubhc notice as ai)i)ears to the
Local Government Loard sufficient for giving
information to all persons interested, be made
accordingly.*
75. — Consiruct'ion of Act. — (1.) The definition
of " parish " in section one hundred of the Local
Government Act, 1888, sliall not apply to this
Act,t but, save as aforesaid, expressions used in
this Act shall, unless the context otherwise requires,
have the same meaning as in the said Act.
(2.) In this Act, unless the context otherwise
requires —
Any reference to population means the popu-
lation according to the census of one
thousand eight hundred and ninetj'-one.
The expression " parochial elector," when
used with reference to a parish in an
urban district, or in the county of London
or an}' county borough, means any person
who would be a parochial elector of the
parish if it were a rural parish.
The expression "election" includes both the
nomination and the poll.
The expression " trustees " includes persons
* i.e., this Act may be applied to tlic Scilly Islands by a pro-
visional order of the Local Government Board.
+ By section 5 of the Interpretation Act, 1889, " parish " is
defined to mean a jilace for which a separate poor rate is or can
be made, or for whicli a separate overseer is or can be appointed.
DEFINITIONS. . 211
administering or managing any charity or
recreation ground, or other property or
thing in relation to which the word is
used.
The expression " ecclesiastical charity " in-
cludes a charity, the endowment whereof
is held for some one or more of the
following purposes : —
(a) for any spiritual purpose which is a
legal purpose ; or
(h) for the benefit of any spiritual person or
ecclesiastical officer as such ; or
((') for use, if a building, as a church,
chapel, mission room, or Sunday school,
or otherwise by any particular church
or denomination ; or
(d) for the maintenance, repair, or improve-
ment of any such building as aforesaid,
or for the maintenance of divine service
therein ; or
(c) otherwise for the benefit of any particu-
lar church or denomination, or of any
members thereof as such.
Provided that where any endowment of a charity
other than a building held for any of the purposes
aforesaid, is held in part only for some of the
purposes aforesaid, the charity, so far as that
endowment is concerned, shall be an ecclesiastical
charity within the meaning of this Act ; and the
Charity Commissioners shall, on application b}^ any
person interested, make such provision for the
apportionment and management of that endow-
ment as seems to them necessarv or expedient for
giving effect to this Act.
The expression shall also include any building
p 2
21'2 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1)594.
■wliic'li in the opinion of the Charity Com-
missioners has been erected or provided
within forty years before the passing of
this Act mainly by or at the cost of
members of any particuhir church or
denomination.
Tlie expression "affairs of the church " shall-
include the distril)ution of offertories or
other collections made in any cliurdi.
The expression " parochial charity " means a
charity the benefits of wliieh are or the
separate distribution of the benelits of
which is confined to inhabitants of a
sinf^le parish, or of a single ancient
ecclesiastical parish divided into two or
more parishes, or of not more than five
neighbouring parishes.*
The expression "vestry" in relation to a
parish means the inhabitants of the
parish whether in vestry assembled or
not, and includes any select vestry either
by statute or at common law.
The expression " rateable value " means the
rateable value stated in the valuation list
in force, or, if there is no such list, in the
last poor rate.
The expression " county " includes a county
borough, and the expression " county
council " includes the council of a county
borough.
'o'
* Probably a narrower definition would have excluded some
existing charities that may not improperly bo termed "paro-
chial," and it is believed that the definition was not settled
until the actual circumstances of particular charities had been
considered.
FIEST ELECTIONS. 213
The expression "elementary school" means
an elementar}^ school within the mean-
ing of the Elementary Education Act,
1870.*
The expression " local and personal Act "
includes a Provisional Order confirmed
by an Act and the Act confirming the
Order.
The expression " prescri])ed " means pre-
scribed by order of the Local Govern-
• ment Board.
76. — Extent of Act. — This Act shall not extend
to Scotland or Ireland.
77. — Short title. — This Act may be cited as the
Local Government Act, 1894.
PART V.
Transitory Provisions.
78. — First elections toparish councils. — (1.) The
overseers of each rural parish shall convene the
first parish meeting of the parish at the time
fixed by or under this Act for the first election of
parish councillors, whether there is or is not a
parish council for the parish, and for this purpose
the overseers of a parish shall be deemed to be the
overseers of every part of the parish. f
(2.) The chairman of the parish meeting at
which the first parish councillors are nominated,
or in his default the clerk of the guardians,
shall convene the first meeting of the parish
council.
* See note to s. 66.
t This provides for parishes divided by s. 1 (3),
211 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
(3.) The first parish councillors and the first
chairman of a parish mectin*]; elected under this
Aet shall retire on the second ordinary day of
coniinj]f into office of councillors* -which happens
after their election.
79. — First f}t'ctii)ns of (iKanlicois and district
roiiHcils. — (1.) The existinf^ hoards of guardians
and urhan and rural sanitary authorities shall take
the necessar}' measures for the conduct of the first
elections of guardians and district councillors
respectively under this Act, inchuling any appoint-
ment of returning officers required hy rules under
this Act.f
(2.) Where a parish is divided hy this Act into
two or more new parishes, then, suhject to any
order made by the county council, there shall be
one guardian, and if it is in a rural district, one
district councillor for each of such new parishes. +
{'■).) Of the guardians and urban and rural
district councillors first elected under this Act,
save as hereinafter mentioned, one-third as nearly
as may be shall continue in office until the fifteenth
day of April one thousand eight hundred and
ninety-six, and shall then retire ; and one- third as
nearly as may be shall continue in office until the
fifteenth day of April one thousand eight hundred
and ninety-seven, and shall then retire, and the
remainder shall continue in oftice until the
fifteenth day of April one thousand eight hundred
and ninety-eight, and shall then retire.
(4). The guardians and rural district councillors
* i.e. ISth April, 1S9G. {See s. 3 (4).)
t Sec s. 48.
+ This applies to parishes divided by ss, 1 (3), 3G (2).
FIKST ELECTIONS. 215
to retire respectively on the fifteenth clay of April
one thousand eight hundred and ninety-six and on
the fifteenth day of April one thousand eight
hundred and ninety-seven shall he the guardians
and rural district councillors for such parishes,
wards, or other areas, as may be determined by
the county council for the purpose of the rota-
tion.
(5.) Where guardians or rural district councillors
retire together at the end of the triennial period,
the guardians and district councillors first elected
under this Act shall retire on the fifteenth day of
April one thousand eight hundred and ninety-
eight.
(6.) Of the first urban district councillors elected
under this Act, the third ^Yho are respectively to
retire on the fifteenth day of April one thousand
eight hundred and ninety-six and one thousand
eight hundred and ninety-seven shall be determined
according to their place on the poll at the election,
those that were lowest on the poll retiring first.
If there was no poll, or if a question arises in
consequence of an equality of votes l^etween two or
more councillors, the matter shall be determined
by ballot conducted under the direction of the
council.
(7.) In the case of an urban district divided into
wards, the foregoing provisions with respect to
retirement shall apply separately to each ward.
(8.) Upon the day on which the first guardians
and urban or rural district councillors elected under
this Act come into office,* the persons who are then
members of boards of guardians, and urban and
rural sanitary authorities, shall cease to hold office,
* See page 102 of the Introduction.
2in THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
l)nt until that day the persons who are at the pass-
in;^ of this Act ^niardians and nicmhers of urban
sanitary authorities (for urban districts not being
boroughs) and of higlnvay boards shall continue
in office notwithstanding any want of qualifica-
tion, as if the term of office for which they were
elected expired on that day, and, except for the
purpose of filling casual vacancies or electing
additional guardians, no further elections shall be
held.*
(9.) The first meeting of each district council
elected under this Act shall be convened by the
returning officer.
(10.) The foregoing provisions shall apply to the
existing members and first members elected under
this Act of the local board of Woolwich and of any
vestry under the Metropolis Management Acts,
1855 to 1890, and any Act amending the same,
and to the existing and first auditors elected under
those Acts in like manner as if they were members
of urban sanitary authorities or urban district
councillors, as the case may require, except that
the date of the annual election shall be substituted
for the fifteenth day of April.
* Circulars have boon issued by the Local Government Board
to boards of giiardians, urban sanitary authorities (other than
town councils), highway boards, metropolitan vestries and dis-
trict boards, &c., explaining the effect of this subsection. We
have mentioned {sec note to s. 50) that the appointment of
overseers l)y the justices was to take place this year as usual. It
should also bo noticed that in separate highway parishes a
surveyor or surveyors of liighways should have been elected at the
usual time this year. Members of burial boards and inspectors
under the Lighting and Watching Act must likewise, until
November next, be appointed at the usual time, notwithstand-
ing anything in the Act,
REMOVAL OF DIFFICULTIES 217
(11.) The overseers of any parish divided by this
Act shall, until the first appointment of overseers
next after the appointed day, continue in oftice as
if they were overseers of each j^art of the said
i:)arish, which by reason of such division becomes
a separate parish.*
80. — Power of conniy council to remove diffi-
culties. — (1.) If any difficulty arises with respect to
the holding of the first parish meeting of a rural
parish, or to the first election of parish or district
councillors, or of guardians, or of members of the
local board of Woolwich, or any vestry in the
county of London, or of auditors in the county of
London, or to the first meeting of a parish or
district council, or board of guardians, or such local
board or vestry as aforesaid, or if, from no election
being held or an election being defective or other-
wise, the first parish or district council, or board
of guardians, or local board or vestry has not l)een
properly constituted, or there are no auditors under
the Metropolis Management Acts, 1855 to 1890, or
an insufticient number, properly elected, the county
council may by order make any appointment or do
any thing which appears to them necessary or
expedient for the propei* holding of any such first
meeting or election and properly constituting the
parish or district council, board of guardians, local
board, or vestry, or auditors, and may, if it appears
to them necessary, direct the holding of a meeting
or election, and fix the dates for any such meeting
or election, but a parish shall, notwithstanding
any such failure to constitute the parish council,
* See note to subsection (2). Separate ovei'seers for the new
parishes formed by the division will not be appointed until the
usual time in 1895. The note to s. 50 niay be referred to,
218 THE LOCAL CxOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
be (Ipomod to be a parisb baving a parisb council
witbiii tbe meaning of tbis Act. Any sucb order
may modify tbe provisions of tbis Act, and the
enactments appHed by or rules framed under tbis
Act so far as may ai)pear to tbe county council
necessary or expedient for carrying tbe order nito
effect.
(2.) Tbe Local Government Board sball make
regulations for expediting and simplifying tbe pro-
cedure under section fifty- seven of tbe Local
Government Act, 1888, in all cases in tbe year one
thousand eight hundred and ninety-four, for the
purpose of bringing this Act into immediate opera-
tion, and such regulations may dispense with tbe
final approval of an order by tJie county council in
cases where the prescribed notice of the proposed
order has been given before it is made by the
county council.
81. — Existing officers. — (1.) Where the powers
and duties of any authority other than justices are
transferred by tliis Act to any parisb or district
council, tbe officers of that authority sball become
the officers of that council, and for tbe purposes of
this section the body appointing a surveyor of
highways shall be deemed to be a highway
authority and an}' paid surveyor to be an officer of
that body.*
(2.) Where there is in a rural parish an
existing vestry clerk appointed under tbe Vestries
Act, 1850, be sball l^ecome the clerk of tbe parish
council, and if there is also an assistant overseer
in tbe parish, then, notwithstanding the foregoing
* A surveyor of .parish highways appointed under s. 9 of the
Highway Act, 1835 (5 & 6 Will. IV, c. 50), appears to be within
this clause.
EXISTING OFFICERS. 219
provisions of this Act,* that assistant overseer
shall not, while such vestry clerk holds office, be
the clerk of the parish council.
(3.) Any existing assistant overseer in a parish
for which a parish council is elected shall, unless
appointed by a board of guardians, become an
officer of the parish council.
(4.) Every such officer, vestry clerk, and
assistant overseer, as above in this section men-
tioned shall hold his office by the same tenure and
upon the same terms and conditions as heretofore,
and while performing the same duties shall receive
not less salary or remuneration than heretofore.
(5.) Where a parish or rural sanitary district is
divided by this Act,f any officer for the parish or
district so divided shall hold his office as such
officer for each parish or district formed by the
division, and his salary shall be borne by the
respective parishes or districts in proportion to
their rateable value at the commencement of the
local financial year next after the passing of this
Act.
(6.) So much of any enactment as authorises
the appointment of assistant overseers by a board
of guardians shall be repealed as from the
appointed day.+
(7.) Section one hundred and twenty of the
Local Government Act, 1888,§ which relates to
compensation to existing officers, shall apply in
the case of existing officers affected by this Act,
* The provisions referred to are those of s. 17.
+ i.e. under ss. 1 (3), 24 (5), or 36 (2).
X This will not affect present office-holders (Interpretation
Act, 1889, s. 38).
§ See this section in the Appendix,
220 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
whetlier officers above in this section mentioned or
not, as if references in that section to the county
council were references to the parish council, or
the district council, or board of guardians or other
authority wliose officer the person affected is when
the claim for compensation arises as the case may
require. Provided that all expenses incurred by a
district council in pursuance of this section shall be
l)aid as general expenses of the council, and any
expenses incurred by a board of guardians in
pursuance of this section shall be paid out of their
common fund, and any expenses incurred by any
other authority in pursuance of this section shall
be paid out of the fund applicable to payment of
the salary of the offices affected.
82. — Provision as to liif/liirai/s. — (1.) Where
before the appointed day the highway expenses
were charged on a particular parish or other area
and not on a district, the district council may
determine that the highways in that parish or
area shall be placed in proper repair before the
expenses of repairing the same become a charge
upon the district, and, failing such highways
l)eing placed in proper repair to the satisfaction of
the district council, the district council may them-
selves place the highways in proper repair, and the
expense incurred by them of placing those high-
ways in proper repair shall be a separate charge
on the parish or area, and an}^ (piestion which
arises as to whether any such expenses are
jiroperly a separate charge on the parish or area
shall be determined by the county council,
(2.) Where in pursuance of an order of a county
council a parish continues to maintain its own
liigliways after the appointed day, the highway
APPOINTED DAY. S21
expenses shall not be deemed to be expenses of
the parish council or of the parish meeting within
the meaning of this Act.*
83. — T)uiii of countji council to hring Act into
operation. — It shall be the duty of every county
council to exercise all such of tlieir powers as may
be requisite for bringing this Act into full oj^eration
within their county as soon as may be after the
passing thereof, and a county council may delegate
their powers under this Act to a committee.
S4:.~ Appointed day. — (1.) The first elections
under this Act shall be held on the eighth day of
November next after the passing of this Act, or
such later date or dates in the year one thousand
eight hundred and ninety-four as the Local
Government Board may fix.f
(^2.) The persons elected shall come into office
on the second Thursday next after their election,
or such other day not more than seven days
earlier or later as may be fixed by or in pursuance
of the rules made under this Act in relation to
their election. +
(3.) Every division into wards or alteration of
the boundaries of any parish or union or district
which is to affect the first election shall, if it
affects the parishes or parts for which the registers
of parochial electors will be made, be made so
far as practicable before the first day of July
next after the passing of this Act, and any such
* A parish not within a highway district will continue to
maintain its liighways where an order is made under s. 25,
postponing the operation of that section as to highway matters.
The reference in the last three lines is to ss. 11 and 19.
t The remarks at page 102 of the Introduction should be
referred to. + i.e. rules made under s. 48.
222 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, l89l.
division or alteration Nvhirli ;ifter the appointed
day may be- made on application by the parish
council or any parochial electors of any parish,
may he made before the ajjpointed day on
appHeation by the vestry or a like lunnber of the
ratepayers of the parish.*
Provided that —
(a) If an}^ county council havin<j; any such
division or alteration under consideration
so direct, the lists of voters shall be
framed in parts corresponding with such
division or alteration so that the parts
may serve either for the unaltered parish,
union, or district, or for the same when
divided or altered ; and
(/>) If the county council making such division
or alteration on or after the said day and
on or before the last day of August one
thousand eight hundred and ninety-four
so direct, the clerk of the county council
shall make such adjustment of the
registers of parochial electors as the
division or alteration may render neces-
sary for enabling every i)arocliial elector
to vote at the first election in the ward,
union, or district in which his qualifica-
tion is situate, and in that case the said
division or alteration shall be observed in
the case of that election.
(1.) Subject as in this Act mentioned, "■ the
appointed day" shall,
* It is to be regretted that a similar provision has not been
made for applications before the appointed day for grouping
orders and orders for tlic establishment of parish councils in
parishes of less than 300 inhabitants.
APPOINTED DAY. 223
(a) for the purpose of elections and of parish
meetings in parishes not having a parish
council, be the day or respective days
fixed for the first elections under this
Act, or such prior day as may be neces-
sary for the purpose of giving notices or
doing other acts preliminary to such
elections ; and
(/>) for the purpose of the powers, duties, and
liabilities of councils or other bodies
elected under this Act, or other matters
not specifically mentioned, be the day on
"which the members of such councils or
other bodies first elected under this Act
come into office ; and
{(') for the purpose of powers, duties, and
liabilities transferred to a council of a
borough by this Act, be the first day of
November next after the passing of this
Act;
and the lists and registers of parochial electors
shall be made out in such parts as may be neces-
sary for the purpose of the first elections under
this Act.
Provided that where an order of a county
council postpones the operation of the section with
respect to highways as respects their county or any
part thereof* the day on which such postponement
ceases shall, as respects such county or part, be
the appointed day, and the order of postponement
shall make such provision as may be necessary for
holding elections of highway boards during the
interval before the appointed day.f
* An order under s. 25 (1) is referred to.
t This will enable the comity council to give directions for
2-21 I'llE LOCAL tlOVERNMENt ACT, 1804.
85. — Ciirmit rati's, tC-c. — (1.) Every rate and pre-
cept for contributions made before the appointed
day may be assessed, levied, and collected, and
proceodinfTS for the enforcement thereof taken, in
like manner as nearly as may be as if this Act had
not passed.
(2.) The accounts of all receipts and expendi-
ture before the appointed day shall be audited,
and disallowances, surcharges,* and penalties
recovered and enforced, and other consequential
proceedings had, in like manner as nearly as may
be as if this Act had not passed, but as soon as
practicable after the appointed day ; and every
authority, committee, or officer whose duty it is to
make up any accounts, or to account for any
portion of the receipts or expenditure in any
account, shall, until the audit is completed, be
deemed for the purpose of such audit to continue
in office, and be bound to perform the same duties
and render the same accounts and be subject to the
same liabilities as before the appointed day.
(3.) All proceedings, legal and other, commenced
before the appointed day, may be carried on in
like manner, as nearly as may be,, as if this Act
had not passed, and any such legal proceeding
may be amended in such manner as may appear
necessary or proper in order to bring it into con-
formity with the provisions of this Act.
the election of waywardens in place of those who will cease to
hold office when the rural district councillors conic into office, and
also to order for what period such waywardens shall be elected,
having regard to the period of postponement. — Circular of Local
Government Board, 9th March, 1894.
* As to disallowances and surcharges, see the remarks on
p. 99 of the Introduction.
EXISTING SECURITIES. 225
(4.) Every valuation list made for a parish
divided by this Act shall continue in force until a
new valuation list is made.
(5.) The change of name of an urban sanitary
authority shall not affect their identity as a cor-
porate body or derogate from their powers, and
any enactment in any Act, whether public general
or local and personal, referring to the members of
such authority shall, unless inconsistent with this
Act, continue to refer to the members of such
authority under its new name.
86. — Saving for existing securities and discharge
of debts. — (1.) Nothing in this Act shall preju-
dicially affect any securities granted before the
passing of this Act on the credit of any rate or
property transferred to a council or parish meeting
by this Act ; and all such securities, as well as all
unsecured debts, liabilities, and obligations incurred
by any authority in the exercise of any powers or
in relation to any property transferred from them
to a council or parish meeting shall be discharged,
paid, and satisfied by that council or parish meet-
ing, and where for that purpose it is necessary to
continue the levy of any rate or the exercise of
any power which would have existed but for this
Act, that rate may continue to be levied and
that power to be exercised either by the authority
who otherwise would have levied or exercised the
same, or by the transferee as the case may require.
(2.) It shall be the duty of every authority
whose powers, duties, and liabilities are transferred
by this Act to liquidate so far as practicable before
the appointed day, all current debts and liabilities
incurred by such authority.
Q
220 THE LOCAL CtOveknment act, 1894.
87. — Sarinr/ for c.vistinn I'l/flairs. — All such 1)VG-
laws, orders, and rcf^nilations of any authority,
whose powers and duties are transferred hy this
Act to any council, as are in force at the time of
the transfer, shall, so far as they relate to or are
in ])ursnance of the powers and duties transferred,
continue in force as if made hy that council, and
may he revoked or altered accordingly.
88. — Sariiuj for potditKj contractu, tCc. — (1.) If
at the time when any powers, duties, liahilities
dehts, or property are hy this Act transferred to a
council 01- parish meeting, any action or pro-
ceeding, or any cause of action or proceed-
ing is pending or existing hy or against any
authority in relation thereto the same shall not be
iu anywise prejudicially affected hy the passing of
this Act, hut may he continued, prosecuted, and
enforced hy or against the council or parish meet-
ing as successors of the -said authority in like
manner as if this Act had not been passed.
(2.) All contracts, deeds, bonds, agreements,
and other instruments subsisting at the time of
the transfer in this section meujioned, and affect-
ing any of such powers, duties, liabilities, debts,
or property, shall be of as full force and effect
against or in favour of the couiu-il or ]iarish meet-
ing, and may l)e enforced as fully and effectually
as if, instead of the authority, the council or parish
meeting had been a party thereto.
89. — IlcpeaJ. — The Acts specified in the Second
Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed as from
the appointed day to the extent in the third
column of that schedule mentioned, and so much
of any Act, whether public general or local and
REPEAL. 227
personal, as is inconsistent with this Act is also
hereby repealed. Provided that where any wards
of an urban district have been created, or any
number of members of an urban sanitary authority
fixed, by or in pursuance of any local and personal
Act, such wards and number of members shall
continue and be alterable in like manner as if they
had been fixed by an order of the county council
under this or any other Act.*
* Wc have not thought it necessary to print Schedule II in
our copy of the Act, as it is long and deals chiefly with enact-
ments superseded by the Act. The most important repeals arc
referred to in the Introduction,
Q 2
SCHEDULES.
FIRST SCHEDULE.
Rules as to Parish Meetings, Parish Councils, and
Committees.
Part One.
Bulcs applicable to Parish Meetings*
(1.) The annual assembly of the parish meeting shall be
held on tlie twenty-fifth day of March in each year, or
within seven days before or after that day.
(2.) Not less than seven clear days before any parish
meeting, public notice thereof shall be given specifying the
time and place of the intended meeting and the business to
be transacted at the meeting, and signed by the chairman
of the parish council or other conveners of the meeting.
(3.) If the business relates to the establishment or dissolu-
tion of a parish council, or the grouping of a parish, or the
adoption of any of the adoptive Acts, not less than fourteen
days' notice shall be given.
(4.) A parish meeting may discuss parish affairs and pass
resolutions thereon.
(5.) Every question to be decided by a parish meet ig
shall, in the first instance, be decided by the majority of
those present and voting on the question, and the chairman
shall annoimce his decision as to the result, and that decision
shall be final, unless a poll is demanded.
(6.) A poll may be demanded at any time before the con-
clusion of a parish meeting.
• See s. 2 (7).
230 TIIH LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1804.
(7.) A poll may bo (luuiaiideil by any one parochial
elector in the case of a resolution respecting any of the
following matters, namely : —
(a) Any application, representation, or complaint to a
county council or district covmcil ;*
(6) The appointment of a chairman for the year or of a
committee, or the delegation of any ])owcrs or
duties to a conuuitteo, or the approval of the acts
of a conmiittcc ;
(c) The appointment of an overseer, the appointment
or revocation of the appointment or dismissal of an
assistant overseer or a parish officer ;
{d) The appointment of trustees or beneficiaries of a
charity ;
(c) The adoption of any of the adoptive Acts ;
(/) The formation or dissolution of a school board ;
(g) The consent or refusal of consent to any act,
matter, or thing which cannot by law be done
without that consent ;f
(/;) The incurring of any expense or liability ;
(/) The place and time for the assembly of the parish
meeting ;
(A-) Any other prescribed matter ; J
but, save as aforesaid, a poll shall not be taken xmless either
the chairman of the meeting assents, or the poll is demanded
by parochial electors present at the meeting, not being less
than five in number or one-third of those present, whichever
number is least.
(8.) In case of an ecjual division of votes at a parish
meeting, the chairman shall have a second or casting vote.
(9.) Where a parish meeting is held for the election of
parish councillors, opi)ortunity shall be given at the meeting
lor putting questions to such of the candidates as are present,
* e.g., an application for the powers of a parish council
(s. 19), or for a grouping order, or an order creating a parish
council (s. 38) ; a representation as to the stopping of a right of
way (ss. ID, 26) ; a complaint of default on tiiopart of a district
council to perform tlieir duties (ss. 16, 19).
t e.g., consent to the making of a grou[)ing order or an order
creating a loarisli council, or to the incurring by the parish
council (if any) of any expense or liability (ss. 1, 11).
:J: i.e. prescribed by the Local Government Board (s. 75).
SCHEDULES. 231
and receiviiifj explanations from theui, and any candidate
shall be entitled to attend the meeting and speak thereat,
but, unless he is a parochial elector, not to vote.
(10.) If the chairman, of the parish meeting ia absent
from or unwilling or unable to take tlie chair at nny assembly
of the parish meeting, the meeting may appoint a person to
take the chair, and that person shall have, for the purpose
of that meeting, the powers and authority of the chairman.
(11.) Any notice required to be given to or served on a
parish meeting may be given to or served on the chairman
of tlie parish meeting.
Part Two.
Rules applicable to Parish Councils*
(1.) Every parish councillor shall, at the first meeting
after his election, or if the council at the first meeting so
permit, then at a later meeting fixed by the council, sign, in
the presence of some member of the council, a declaration
that he accepts the oftice, and if he does not sign such a
declaration his oftice shall be void.
(2.) If any casual vacancy arises in the council, the coun-
cil shall fortliwith be convened for filling the vacancy.
(3.) The first business at the annual meeting shall be to
elect a chairman and to appoint the overseers.
(4.) The chairman may at any time convene a meeting of
the parish council. If the chairman refuses to convene a
meeting of the council after a requisition for that purpose
signed by two members of the council has been presented
to him, any two members of the council may forthwith, on
that refusal, convene a meeting. If the chairman (without
so refusing) does not within seven days after such presenta-
tion, convene a meeting, any two members of the coiincil
may, on the expiration of those seven days, convene a
meeting.
(5.) Three clear days at least before any meeting of a
parish council notice thereof, specifying the time and place
of the intended meeting and the business to be transacted at
tlie meeting, and signed b}' or on behalf of the chairman of
the parish council or persons convening the meeting, shaU
be given to every member of the parish council, and in case
of the annual meeting notice specifying the like particulars
* Sec s. 3 (10).
282 TITE T.OCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1804.
shiiU be ^'ivoii to every member of the parish council
immechatc'ly filter his election.
(G.) Any notice required by law to be given to the chair-
man or any other member of the parish council may be left
at or sent by post to the usual place of abode of such chair-
man or member.
(7.) No business shall be transacted at any meeting of a
parisli council unless at least one-third of the full niunber of
members are present thereat, subject to this qualitication,
that in no case shall the quorum be less than three.
(8.) The names of the members present at any meeting of
the parish council, as well as of those voting on each ques-
tion on wliicli a division is taken, shall be recorded, so as to
show whether each vote given was for or against the
question.
(9.) Every question at a meeting of a parish council shall
be decided by a majority of votes of the members present
and voting on that question.
(10.) In case of an equal division of votes the chairman of
the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.
(11.) The parish council may, if they think fit, appoint
one of their number to be vice-chairman, and the vice-
chairman shall, in the absence or during the inability of the
chairman, have the powers and authority of the chairman.
(12.) The proceedings of a parish council sliall not be
invalidated by any vacancy among their members, or by any
defect in the election or qualifu-ation of any members thereof.
(18.) A parisli council shall hold not less than four meet-
ings in each year, of which one shall be the annual meeting,
and every sucli meeting shall bo open to the public unless
the council otherwise direct.
(14.) Every cliecpie or other order for payment of money
by a parish council shall be signed by two members of the
council.
(15.) Any notice required to be given to or served on a
parish council may be given to or served on the clerk to the
parish council.
(16.) The parisli council may appear before any court or
in any legal proceeding by their clerk or by any officer or
member authorised generally or in respect of any special
proceeding by resolution of the council, and their clerk or
any member or officer shall, if so authorised, be at liberty to
institute and carry on any ])rocecdIng which the parish
council are authorised to institute and carry on.
SCHEDULES. 233
Part Three.
General.*
(1.) Minutes of the proceedings of every parish council
and piirish meeting shall be kept in a book provided for that
purpose.
(2.) A minute of proceedings at a ineeting of a parish
council, or of a committee of a parish or district council, or
at a parish meeting, signed at the same or the next ensuing
meeting by a person describing himself as or appearing to
be chairman of the meeting at which the minute is signed,
shall be received in evidence without fm'ther proof.
(3.) Until the contrary is proved, every ineeting in respect
of the proceedings whereof a minute has been so made shall
be deemed to have been duly coiiA'ened and held, and all the
members of the meeting shall be deemed to have been duly
qualihed ; and where the proceedings are proceedings of a
committee, the committee shall be deemed to have been
duly constituted, and to have had power to deal with the
matters referred to in the minutes.
(4.) Any instrument purporting to be executed under the
hands or under the hands and seals of the chairman and of
two other members of a parish council or of a parish meet-
ing shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to have
been duly so executed.
(5.) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a parish council
may make, vary, and re^■oke standing orders for the regula-
tion of their proceedings and business, and of the proceed-
ings and business at parish meetings for a rural parish
having a parish council.
(6.) ^Yhere there is no council for a rural parish, the
parish meeting may, subject to the provisions of this Act,
regulate their own proceedings and business.
Part Four.
Proceedings of Committees of Parish or District Councils.^
(1.) The quorum, proceedings, and place of meeting of a
committee, whether within or without the parish or district,
* See ss. 2 (7), 3 (10). t See s. 56 (3).
234 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894.
and the area (if iiny) within whicli the connnittcc are to
exercise their authority, shall be such as may be deter-
mincd by ro^nilatioiis of the council or councils appointinj^
tlie connnittcc.
(2.) Subject to sucli re^^Milations, the (juoruni, proceedinp;s,
and place of meeting, \vhether within or without the parish
or district, shall be such as the committee direct, and the
chairman at any meeting of the connnittee shall have a
second or casting vote.
SECOND SCHEDULE.
Enactments Repealed.*
* See note to s. 89.
APPENDIX.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1888.
(51 & 52 Vict. c. 41.)
SECTIONS 54, 57, 58, 59, 120.
54. — -Future AUeraUons of Boundaries. — •(!.)
Whenever it is represented by the council of any
county or borough to the Local Grovernment Board — -
(a) That the alteration of the boundary of any
county or borough is desirable ; or
******
(/) That the alteration of any area of local
government partly situate in their county or
borough is desirable,
the Local Grovernment Board shall, unless for special
reasons they think that the representation ought not
to be entertained, cause to be made a local inquiry,
and may make an order for the proposal contained in
such representation,' or for such other proposal as they
may deem expedient, or may refuse such order ; and if
they make the order, may by such order divide or alter
any electoi'al division.*
• i.e. a division for the election of a county councillor.
230 Till'; LOCAL fiOVERNMENT ACT, 1888.
(3.) Providocl thiit if the oi'cler alters the boundary
of a county or boruuyh, ***** it shall be
provisional only, and shall not have effect unless con-
firmed by Parliament.
(•i.) Where such order alters the boundary of a
borough it may, as consequential upon such alteration,
do all or any of the following things : increase or
decrease the numl)er of the wards in the boi'ough, and
alter the boundaries of such wards, and alter the
apportionment of the number of councillors among
the wards, and alter the total number of councillors,
and in such case, make the proportionate alteration in
the number of aldermen.
57. — Fvfure Alterafion of Coviifi/ Diftfricfsi and
P(ir!t<hes and Wards, and Future Extahlishiiwnf of Urban
Di fit rids. —(I.) Whenever a county council is satisfied
that a pr'inul facie case is made out as respects any
county district* not a borough, or as respects any
parish, for a proposal for all or any of the following
things ; that is to say : —
(a) the alteration or definition of the boundary
thereof ;
(h) the divisii)n thereof or the union thereof
with any other such district or districts,
parish or parishes, or the transfer of part of
a parish to another parish ;
(o) the conversion of any such district or ])art
thereof, if it is a rural district, into an urban
district, and if it is an urban district, into a
rural district, or the ti*ansfer of the whole or
any part of any such district from one district
to another, and the formation of new urban
or rural districts ;
{d) tlie division of an urban district into wards ;
and
* See the definition of " county district " iu s. 21 of tlic Local
Government Act, 1894.
APPENDIX. 237
(e) the alteration of the immbei of wards, or of
the boundaries of any ward, or of the
nnmlier of members of any district council,
or of the apportionment of such members
among the wards,
the county council may cause such inquiry to be made
in the locality, and such notice to be given, both in
the locality,' and to the Local Grovernment Board,
Education Department, or other Government depart-
ment as may be prescribed,* and such other inquiry and
notices (if any) as they think fit, and if satisfied that
such proposal is desirable, may make an order for the
same accordingly.!
(2.) Notice of the provisions of the order shall be
given, and copies thereof shall be supq)lied in the
prescribed manner,* and otherwise as the county
council think fit, and if it relates to the division of a
district into wards, or the alteration of the number of
wards or of the boundaries of a ward, or of the number
of the members of a district council, or of the appor-
tionment of the members among the wards, J shall
come into operation upon being finally approved by
the county council.
(3.) In any other case the order shall be submitted
* Regulations as to notices under this section were prescribed
by order of the Local Government Board in 1889 ; but section
80 (2) of the new Act requires that Board to make regulations
for expediting and simplifying the procedure under s. 57 of the
Act of 1888 as regards the present year, and an order for this
purpose was issued on the 22ud March, which for the time
being takes the place of the order of 1889.
t Section 36 (11) of the Act of 1894 amends this by providing
that a joint committee of the county councils may make orders
as regards areas in two or more counties, and as regards areas
the alteration of which would affect tlie boundaries of a union
in two or more counties. Section 72 (4) of the new Act provides
for the expenses of the county council in connection with
inquiries.
X i.e. in the cases provided for in paragraphs (d) and (c) of
subsection 1.
2B8 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1888.
ti) the Local Govermnout Board ;* au<l if within [six
weeks]! after such uotice of the provisions of the
order as the Local G-overnment Board determine to be
the first notice, the council of any district affected by
the order, or any number of county electors registered
in that district or in any ward of that district, not
l)eiuo: less than one-sixth of the total number of
electors in that district or ward, or if the order relates
only to a parish, any number of county electors regis-
tered in that parish, not being less than one-sixth
of the total number of electors in that parish, petition
the Local Governineut Board to disallow the order,iJ:
the Local Government Board shall cause to be made k
local inquiry, and determine whether the order is to be
confirmed or not.
(4.) If any sucli petition is not presented, or beine
presented is withdrawn, the Local Government Board
shall confirm the order. §
(5.) The Local Government Board, on confirming an
oi'der, may make such modifications therein as the^
consider necessary for carrying into effect the object!;
of the order.
(6.) An order under this section, when confirmed by
■the Local Government Board, shall be forthwith lar^
up(tn t]ieta1)le of l)oth Houses of Parliament, if Parlia-
ment be then sitting, and, if not. forthwith after the
then next meeting of Parliament. ||
* pjut this does not apply to a grouping order under the Local
Govcrument Act, 1894, nor to an order establishing or dissolving
51 parish council or dissolving a group, or other order within
section 40 of that Act.
•h Sec section 41 of tlic Act of 1804.
X Sec sub.sections (7) and (10) of section 3G of tlie Local
Government Act, 1894, as to parish councils, parisli meetings,
and guardians petitioning.
§ Tlic validity of an order under tliis section wliicli lias been
confirmed by tlic Department cannot be questioned after six
mouths from the date of confirmation (s. 42 of the Act of 1894),
II The order does not require the assent or confirmation 61
Parliament; but an address to the Crown to disallow tlie order
miglrt be moved in either House,
APPENDIX. 239
(7.) This section shall l)e in iidditiou to, and not in
derogation of, any power of the Local Government
Board in respect of the union or division or alteration
of pax-is hes.*
58. — Additional Power of Local Government Board
as to Unions. — The Local Grovernment Board, where it
appears expedient so to do with reference to any poor-
law union which is situate in more than one county,
instead of dissolrint,' the union, may by order provide
that tlie same shall continue to be one union for the
purposes of indoor paupers or any of those purposes,
and shall be divided into two or more poor-law unions
for the purpose of outdoor relief, and may by the order
make such provisions as seem expedient for determin-
ing all other matters in relation to which suclr union is
to be one union or two or more unions. f
59. — Supplemental Provisions as to Alteration of
Areas. — (L) A [scheme or] order under this Act may
make such administrative and judicial arrangements
incidental to or consequential on any alteration of
boundaries, authorities, or other matters made by the
* * * order as may seem expedient.
(4.) Any * * * order made in pursuance of
this Act may, so far as may seem necessary or proper
for the piu-poses of the * * * order, provide for
all or any of the following matters, that is to say : —
(rt) may provide for the abolition, restriction, or
establishment, or extension of the jurisdiction
of any local authority in or over any part of
the area affected by the * * * order, and
for the adjustment or alteration of the boun-
daries of such area, and for the constitution
* e.g. , under the Divided Parishes Act.
t Sec section 36 {<]) of the Local Government Act, 1894, as to
county councils making orders under this section.
240 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1888.
of the local tivithorities therein, and may deal
with the powers and duties of any council,
local authorities, quarter sessions, justices of
tlie poiK'c. corontTs, sheriff, lieutenant, custos
rotiiloruiu, clerk ol' the jteace, and other officer
therein, and with the cost of any such authori-
ties, sessions, jjcrsons, or officers as aforesaid,
and may deterniiuo the status of any such
area as a comj>onent part of any larger area,
and provide for the election of representatives
in such area, and may extend to any altered
area the provisions of any local Act which
were previously in force in a portion of the
area ; and
(h) may make iemporary ])rovision for meeting
•the. debts and liabilities of the various
authorities affected by the * * * order,
for the management of their property, and
for regulating the duties, position and re-
muneration of officers affected by the * * *
order, and apj^lying to them the provisions of
this Act as to existing officers ;* and
(c) may provide for the transfer of any writs,
process, records, and documents relating to
or to be executed in any part of the area
affected by the * * * order, and for
determining questions arising from such
transfer ; and
(f/) may provide for all matters which appear
necessary or proper for bringing into opera-
tion and giving full effect to the * * *
order ; and
(e) may adjust any property, debts and liabilities
affected by the * * * order.
(5.) Where an alteration of boundaries of a county
is made by this Act, an order for any of the above
* See s. 120 of the Act of 1888, post.
APPENm:?c. 241
mentioned matters may, if it appears to the Local
Government Board desirable, be made by that Board,
but such order, if petitioned against by any council,
sessions, or local authority affected thereby, within
three months after notice of such order is given in
accordance with this Act, shall be provisional only,
unless the petition is withdrawn or the oi'der is con-
firmed by Parliament.
(6.) A [scheme oi-] order may be made for amend-
ing any * * * order previously made in pursu-
ance of this Act, and may be made by the same
authority and after the same procedure as the original
* * * order. Where a provision of this Act
respecting a [scheme or] order requires the * * *
order to be laid before Parliament, or to be confirmed
by Parliament, either in every case or if it is petitioned
against, such * * * order may amend any local
and personal Act.
120. — Gompenscdion to Existing Officers* — (1.)
Every existing officer declared by this Act to be
entitled to compensation, and every other existing
officer, whether before mentioned in this Act or not,
who by virtue of this Act, or anything done in pursu-
ance of or in consequence of this Act, suffers any direct
pecuniaiy loss by abolition of office or by diminution
or loss of fees or salary, shall be entitled to have com-
pensation paid to him for such pecuniary loss by the
county council, to whom the powers of the authority,
whose officer he was, are transferred under tliis Act,
regard being had to the conditions on which his appoint-
ment was made, to the nature of his office or employ-
* Section 81 of the Local Government Act, 1894, applies this
section to the case of existing officers affected by that Act "as if
references in [this] section to the county council v/ere refer-
ences to the parish council, or the district council, or board of
guardians, or other authority whose officer the person affected
is when the claim for compensation arises, as the case may
require."
B
'Ml THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1888.
lueiit, to the iliiraticm of his service, to auy lulditioual
emolumeuts which he acquires by virtue of this Act,
or of auythiug done in pursuance of or in consequence
of this Act, and to the emohimeiits which he niij^ht
liave acquired if he had not refused to accept any office
offered hy any council or other l)ody acting under this
Act. and to all the other circumstances of the case, and
the coni])ensation shall not exceed the amount which,
under the Acts and rules relating to Her Majesty's
Civil Service, is paid to a person on abolition of office.
(2.) Every person who is entitled to compensation,
as above mentioned, shall deliver to the county council
a claim under his hand setting forth the whole amount
received and expended by him or his predecessors in
office, in every year during the period of five years
next before the passing of this Act, on account of the
emoluments for whieh he claims comjxmsation, dis-
tinguishing the offices in respect of which the same
have been received, and accompanied by a statutory
declaration under the Statutory Declaration Act, 1835,
that the same is a true statement according to the best
of his knowledge, information, and belief.
(3.) Such statement shall be submitted to the
county council, who shall forthwith take the same into
consideration and assess the just amount of compensa-
tion (if any), and shall forthwith inform the claimant
of their decision.
(4.) If a claimant is aggrieved by the refusal of the
county council to grant any compensation, or by the
amouiit of compensation assessed, or if not less than
one-third of the members of such council subscribe a
I^rotest against the amount of the compensation as
being excessive, the claimant or any subscriber to such
protest (as the case may ])e) may, within three months
after the decision of the council, appeal to the Treasury,
who shall consider the case and determine whether any
compensation, and if so, what amount ought to be
APPENDIX. 243
granted to the claimant, and such determination shall
be final.
(5.) Any claimant under this section, if so required
by any member of the county council, shall attend at a
meeting of the council and answer upon oath, which
any justice present may administer, all questions asked
by any member of the council touching the matters set
forth in his claim, and shall further produce all books, .
papers, and documents in his possession or luidcr his
control relatiug to such claim.
't>
(6.) The sum payable as compensation to any person
in pursuance of this section shall commence to be pay-
able at the date fixed by the council on granting the
compensation, or, in case of appeal, by tha Treasury,
and shall be a specialty debt due to him from the
county council, and may be enforced accordingly in
like manner as if the council had entered into a bond
to pay the same.
(7.) If a person receiving compensation in pursu-
ance of this section is appointed to any office under the
same or any other county council, or by virtue of this
Act, or anything done in pursuance of or in consequence
of this Act, receives any increase of emoluments of the
ofiice held by him, he shall not, while receiving the
emoluments of that office, receive any greater amount
of his compensation (if any) than, with the emoluments
of the said office, is equal to the emoluments for which
compensation was gi-anted to him ; and if the emolu-
ments of the office he holds are equal to or greater than
the emoluments for which compensation Avas granted,
his compensation shall be suspended while he holds
Such office.
(8.) [All expenses incurred by a disti-ict council, in
pursuance of this section, shall be paid as general
expenses of the council, and any expenses incurred by
a board of guardians in ])ursuance of this section shall
be paid out of their cominon fund, and any expenses
R 2
244 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1888.
incurred bv any otlior authority in pursuance of tliis
section shall be i)aid out of the fund applicable to
payment of the salary of the offices affected.*]
* The words in brackets arc from section 81 (7) of tlie Act of
1894.
INDEX
Accounts —
Of charities, 138
^ parish meeting, 195
— parish council, 195
— district council, 195
— county council, 202
— joint committee, 195
Inspection of, 197
Action —
Pending, 226
Adjustment —
Of property, debts and
liabilities, 20i
Adoptive Acts —
Adoption, 117, 190
Transfer of powers under,
117, 190, 201
Expenses, 118, 133
Borrowing under, 135
Aldershot, 198
Allotments —
Transfer of powers to
parish council, 115, 116,
136
Meetings as to, 110
Purchase and hiring of
land, 122, 128
Letting, 130
Appointed Day, 221
Arbiteation —
On acquisition of land for
allotments, 125, 128
■ — adjustment of property
and liabilities, 205
Areas —
Adjustment and altera-
tion, 165, 191, 206, 221
Assistant Overseers^
Appointment, &c., 112, 115
— by guardians abolished,
219
To be officer of parish
council, 141, 219
Audit —
Of accounts, 195, 224
Auditors —
District, audit by, 196
(London), qualificatiou
and election, 161, 183
— existing, continuance
in office of, 210
Baths and Washhouse8
Acts, 117
Borough —
Council of, a district coun-
cil, 150
Appointment of overseers
and assistant overseers,
163
Transfer of powers to
council or other repre-
sentative body, 163, 164
(New), creation of, effect
on parish, 191
Borrowing Powers —
Of parish council, 132, 133
— county council, 135, 202
For purposes of adjust-
ment, 200
246
INDEX.
BOCNDARIES —
Adjustmcut and altera-
tion, 1C5, 191, 20G, 221
BuEiAL Acts, 117, 201
Bye-Laws —
As to recreation gi-ounds,
&c., 119
Existing, continued, 22G
Candidates—
Nomination and election,
182
Meetings, use of school
and other rooms. 111
For parish council, heck-
ling, 230
— , disqualification
of, may he removed, 180
Casual Vacancy —
Filling of, 182, 185, 231
Chairman —
Of parish meeting, 107,
144, 178
— parish council, 109, 181
— guardians, 149, 197
— district council, 150,
152, 197
— metropolitan vestry or
district board, 161, 162
Charities, 113, 136, 144, 163,
211
Questions, settlement of,
207
CnuRcii —
Property, and affairs of,
113, 114
Churchwardens —
Cease to bo overseers, 113
Transfer of powers to
parish council, 114
Churchy'ard, 114
Clerk —
Of parish council, 141, 219
— district council, 141
Collector of Poor Rates,
144
Committee —
Meetings, use of schools,
&c.. Ill
Of parish meeting, 144
— parish or district coun-
cil, 193
— county council, 111,
121
Joint, 195
Common, 121, 157
Common Pasture, 127
Compounding —
Of owners for rates, 164
Construction op Enact-
ments —
As to vestry, overseers, &c.,
189
Contracts —
For sewerage and water
supply, 140
Pending, 226
County Boroughs —
Application of Act to, 161
County Council —
Powers of, in default of
district council, 139,
146, 158, 201
— — , as to areas and
boundaries, 165
Duty of, to bring Act into
operation, 221
Lending by, 135
May act through district
council, 203
Orders of, to be sent to
Govez-nment depart-
ments, ^03
County Hate —
Appeals, 114
County Rate Basis —
Appeals, 115
Court —
Settlement by, of ques-
tions, 207
INDEX.
247
CuRBENT Rates —
Saving for, 2-4
Debts and Liabilities —
Transfer of, 204
Adjustment of, 20 1
Existing, saving for, 2£5
Definitions, 210
Demand Notes, 133
Difficulties —
Power of county council
to remove, ISj, 217
District Auditor —
Audit by, 196
District Boards^
(Loudon), IGl
District Councils —
Defined, 149
Powers and duties of, 123,
154
• — delegation, 189
Employment of, by county
council, 203
Failure to perform duty,
127, 139, 144, 158, 201
Expenses, 159
See also " Rural District
Council," " Urban Dis-
trict Council."
District Councillors —
See " Rural District Coun-
cillors," " Urban Dis-
trict Councillors."
Documents — ■
Of parish, custody of, 141,
1Q7
Election —
Of parish councillors, IC 8,
182
— guardians, 147, 182
— district councillors, 151,
152, 182
— vestrymen and auditors
(metropolis), 161, 182
Expenses, 184
First, provisions as to, 214
Emigrant Runners, 158
Exhausted Parish Lands, 183
Existing Officers, 218
Extent of Act, 213
Fairs, 158
Fire-Engine, 115
Footpaths, 135 (secalso "Right
of Way ")
Game-Dealers, 158
Gang-Masters, 158
Grouping of Parishes, 103,
170
Guardians —
Number, 198
Qualification, 147
Disqualification, 178
Election, 147, 182, 200,
217
Co-optation, 149
Term of ofitice, resignation
aud retirement, 148, 185,
199, 214
Transfer of powers to
parish council, 115
Chairman, 149, 197
IMeetings and proceedings,
197
Existing, continuance in
office, 215
Where local Act in force,
200
Harbour —
Saving for powers of im-
provement commission,
203
High Court—
Settlement by, of ques-
tions, 207
Highway Authorities —
Transfer of powers to dis-
trict council, 154
Highway Boards — •
abolished, 154
Existing members of, con-
tinuance in office, 215
248
INDEX.
lIionwAYS—
Control of, in rural dis-
trict, ISi
Stopping diversion, etc.,
135 145
Expenses, ICO, 220
Housing of the Working
Classes, IIG
Impuovement Commission —
Harbour powers, 203
Infant Life Puotection, 158
Inn —
Use of, for meetings, 200
Inquiries, 110, 208
Joint Committee, 195
Justices —
Chairman of councils, &c.,
are, 150, 1G2
Transfer of powers of, 158,
162
Knackees' Yards, 158
Land —
Acquisition of, 119, 122,
124
Lecae Proceedings —
Pending, 224, 226
Lighting and Watching Act,
117
Lists of Voters —
Preparation of, 175, 222
Literary and Scientific In-
stitutions Act, 188
Locae Government Board—
Inquiries, &c., by, 110, 208
Powers of, as to altera-
tions of areas and boun-
daries, 167
^ as to adjustment of
property, debts and lia-
bilities, 205
^ as to compulsory
acquisition of land, 123,
124
Rules of, for elections, 109,
148, 151, 152, IGl, 182
London —
Provisions as to, 161, 162
JIarried Woman—
gualification of, for elec-
tion, 108, 147, 151, 152,
161
, as voter, 174
Name —
of parish or group of
parishes or district, 109,
154, 170, 193
Nomination —
of councillors, &c., 182
Notices —
of parish councils and
parish meetings, 187,
229
Nuisances, 120
Officers —
Existing, 218
of parish council, 140
Open Spaces, 119
Overseers —
Appointment, 112, 144,
163, 187
Transfer of powers of,
114, 163
and chairman of parish
meeting incorporated,
145
Owners —
Rating of, 164
Oxford, 200
Parish—
Name of, 109, 193
Alteration, division, &c.,
of, 165
Rural, defined, 106
— (small), parish meet-
ings in, 144
books and documents, 115
141
chest, 115
office, 115
INDEX.
249
Parish —
property, 113, 115, 145,
170, 191
wards, 143, 199
Parish Council —
Establishment, 105, 171,
172
Election, constitution and
incorporation of, 108,
182
Chairman, 109, 111
Officers, 110
Meetings and proceed-
ings, 109, 110, 200, 231
Powers, 112
Acts of, how signified :
consent of parish meet-
ing to, 110, 170, 171
Expenses, 132
Failure to elect, 182
Casual vacancy, 182, 231
Dissolution, 172
Parish Councillors—
Number, 108
Qualification, 108
Disqualification, 178
Election, 103,143, 182
Term of office, resigna-
tion, and retirement,
109, 181, 214
Parish Meetings —
Establishment and con-
stitution, 105, 107
Chairman, 108, 178
Time and place of meet-
ing, 107, 110, 177
Who may convene, 178
Voting at, 107
Powers, 117, 132, 13G, 188
Expenses of, and of polls,
108 111, 133, 146
In large parishes, 143
— small parishes, 144
— parts of parishes, 118,
170, 186
First, provisions as to, 213
Parochial Committee, 139
Parochial Electors —
defined, ]07, 210
Register of, 174
Right of, to inspect
accounts and docu-
ments, 197
, to use school and
other rooms, 110
Passage Brokers, 158
Pawnbrokers, 158
Petroleum Act —
Execution of, 158
Polls —
consequent on parish
meetings, conduct of,
108, 186
— expenses, 108, 133
Poor Rate —
Appeals, 114
Property —
Transfer and adjustment
of, 204
Public Improve ts Act,
1860, 117
Public Libraries Act, 117
Public Offices, 119
Public Property and Chari-
ties, 136
Public Walks, 119
Questions —
Settlement of, unde Act,
207
Recreation Ground, 119,136,
194
Registration of Voters, 174
Repeal of Acts, 226
Returning Officers, 183, 216
Right of Way —
Acquisition, 120
Stopping or diversion,
135, 145, 157
250
INDEX.
IloADsiDE Wastes, 15G
KULES —
as to parish meetings,
229, 2:3:3
, parish councils,
231, 23:3
, committees, 233
, elections, lOJ, 148,
151, 152, IGl, 182
Rural District — ■
Alteration, division, Ac,
and change of name,
1G5, 193
Rural District Council—
Named, cliangc of name,
150, 193
Constitution and elec-
tion, 152, 182
Meetings and in-oceed-
iugs, 197, 200
Powers of, 139, 154
Expenses, 159
Failure to elect, 198
— to perform duty, 139,
157
Rural District Council-
lors —
Number and qualifica-
tion, 152
Disqualification, 178
Election, 152, U2
Nomination, 153
Term of office, resigna-
tion and retirement,
152, 185, 199, 214
Rural Parish—
What is a, lOG
Rural Sanitary Authority —
Existing members of,
continuance in office,
215
School—
Use of, for meetings, 110
Saving for, 203
School T5oard —
Formation and dissolu-
tion, 188
School Sites Act, 188
SciLLY Islands, 210
Securities —
Existing, 225
Sewerage, 139
Short Title oe Act, 213
Treasurer^
of parish council, 141
Trustees —
of cliarities 13G
Urban District —
Creation or extension of,
effect on parish, 191
Change of name, 193
Appointment of overseers
and assistant overseers,
1G3
Transfer of powers to
district council or other
body, 1G3, 1G4
Urban District Council —
Named, change of name,
150, 193
Constitution and elec-
tion, 150, 182
Meetings and proceed-
ings, 197, 200
Powers of, 154
Expenses, 159
Failure to elect, 198
perform duty, 158,
201
Transfer to, of powers
under Adoptive Acts, 201
Urban District Council-
lors —
Qualification, 151
Disqualification, 178
Election, 151, 182
Term of office, resigna-
tion and retirement, 151,
182, 214
INDEX.
251
Ubban Sanitaey Authority—
Existing members of,
continuance in office,
216
Valuation List, 114, 225
Vestry —
Transfer of powers to
parish meeting, 144
parish council, 113
(Loudon), appointment of
overseers and assistant
overseers, &c., transfer
of powers, 163, 164
Vestry Clerk, 141, 218
Vestrymen —
(London) qualification and
election, 161, 182
— existing, continuance
of, in office, 216
Vestry Room, 115
Vice-Chairman —
of guardians, 149, 197
of district council, 197
Village Greens, 115, 119
Voting —
at parish meetings, 107
at elections under Act, 107,
148, 151, 152, 161
Water Supply, 120, 139
Women —
Married, see " ^larried
Women "
Woolwich, 161, 184, 216
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