An Act for constituting a Local Government Board, and vesting therein certain functions of the Secretary of State and Privy Council concerning the Public Health and Local Government, together with the powers and duties of the Poor Law Board.
The Local Government Board (LGB) was a British Government supervisory body overseeing local administration in England and Wales from 1871 to 1919.
The LGB was created by the Local Government Board Act 1871[1] (34 & 35 Vict. c. 70) and took over the public health and local government responsibilities of the Home Secretary and the Privy Council and all the functions of the Poor Law Board, which was abolished.
In 1919 the LGB was converted into a new department called the Ministry of Health.
Membership
The board was headed by a president, appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the British monarch. The president was permitted to hold a seat and vote in the House of Commons, and the position was generally held by a cabinet minister.
The Local Government Board was permitted to appoint such secretaries, assistant secretaries, inspectors, auditors, clerks, messengers, "and other officers" as they deemed fit, subject to the approval of the treasury. Salaries paid to officers were required to be confirmed by Parliament. On the formation of the LGB, the existing staff of the Poor Law Board, the Local Government Act Office and the Medical Department of the Privy Council were transferred to the new body.[2]
Powers and duties
The purpose of the LGB was stated to be "the supervision of the laws relating to the public health, the relief of the poor, and local government". The act establishing the board listed the duties transferred from existing authorities under various acts of parliament:
The LGB carried out its work in the following ways:[2]
Delegated legislation
The board was empowered to make general orders and regulations enforcing the various statutes for which it was responsible. These orders and regulations had the same force of law as those made by a secretary of state.
Inspection and regulation
The LGB had broad powers of regulation of the bodies under its control. The board's inspectors were able to visit local authorities and ensure that they were performing satisfactorily. They could also act as a medium for resolving disputes between local bodies and ratepayers or other interests.
Provisional orders
The board possessed quasi-judicial powers, being able to make legally binding decisions on the bodies under its supervision. Examples included the changing of boundaries, raising of loans or the taking on of additional powers. These provisional orders were subject to confirmation by Parliament.
Auditing and accountability
The board compiled and published financial summaries for each local authority annually. It also appointed district auditors and supplied such statistics as might be required by parliament.
Abolition
The Ministry of Health Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 19) abolished the Local Government Board, and all of its powers and duties were transferred to a new department called the Ministry of Health, which also combined the duties of the Insurance Commissioners, the Welsh Insurance Commissioners, the medical duties of the Board of Education, the duties of the Privy Council under the Midwives Acts, and the powers of the Home Secretary in relation to the Children Act 1908 (8 Edw. 7. c. 67). Most of the Local Government Board staff transferred to the new ministry.
^ abcBellamy, Christine (1988). Administering Central-local Relations, 1871-1919: The Local Government Board in Its Fiscal and Cultural Context. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
External links
Maltbie, Milo R. (June 1898). "The English Local Government Board". Political Science Quarterly. 13 (2). Academy of Political Science: 232–258. doi:10.2307/2140168. JSTOR2140168.
