Local government in local governance: The 1994-95 restructuring of local government in England

After more than a decade of central-local conflict, the British government decided in the early 1990s on a wholesale restructuring of local government. Its goal was to replace the existing two-tier structures in England, Scotland and Wales by a system of unitary, all-purpose authorities, which it believed would be more efficient, accountable and effective. The goal was readily achieved in Scotland and Wales by legislative fiat, but in England a Local Government Commission was established to review and make recommendations about the structure of local government in different areas, in the light of local opinion and community identity. The consultations undertaken by the Commission generated considerable local struggle over the spatial form of the restructuring and the outcome was chaotic; the expected outcome was not delivered in most parts of the country because of little public support for the detailed proposals and conflict between the two powerful vested interest groups representing the two tiers of the existing structure. The nature of that conflict is illustrated here by a case study.