Berkshire County Council
Berkshire County Council | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Established | 1 April 1889 |
| Disbanded | 31 March 1998 |
| Preceded by | Court of Quarter Sessions |
| Succeeded by | Bracknell Forest Council Reading Borough Council Slough Borough Council West Berkshire Council Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council Wokingham Borough Council |
| Elections | |
Last election | 6 May 1993 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Shire Hall, Shinfield Park, Reading | |
Berkshire County Council, also known as the County Council of the Royal County of Berkshire, was the county council for Berkshire in England. It was created in 1889 and abolished in 1998. The council had responsibilities for education, social services, public transport, planning, emergency services and waste disposal.
On the abolition of the county council in 1998, the county's six existing district councils also took on county council functions in their areas, making them unitary authorities. Berkshire is therefore now administered by the six councils of Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wokingham.
History
[edit]Elected county councils were created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, taking over many administrative functions that had previously been performed by unelected magistrates at the quarter sessions.[1] The areas covered by the new county councils were called administrative counties. These differed from the historic counties by excluding any boroughs considered large enough to provide their own county-level functions, known as county boroughs, and by adjusting the boundaries such that any urban sanitary districts which straddled county boundaries were placed entirely in one administrative county. In Berkshire's case, Reading was made a county borough, and the urban sanitary districts of Abingdon and Oxford had straddled the county boundary prior to 1889; Abingdon was placed entirely in Berkshire and Oxford was placed entirely in Oxfordshire.[2]
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The first elections were held in January 1889. After some provisional meetings, the council formally came into being on 1 April 1889. On that day it held its first official meeting at Reading Assizes Court, the county's main courthouse, which had been completed in 1861 and also served as the meeting place for the quarter sessions which preceded the county council.[3] The first chairman of the council was William George Mount, who was also the Conservative Member of Parliament for Newbury and the chairman of the quarter sessions.[4]
In 1957 the council was given official permission from Elizabeth II to describe the county as the "Royal County of Berkshire".[5] After that it styled itself the "County Council of the Royal County of Berkshire" in official notices, although the name "Berkshire County Council" continued to be commonly used in the media.[6]
Non-metropolitan county
[edit]Local government was reformed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The administrative county of Berkshire was abolished and a new non-metropolitan county of Berkshire created instead. There were some significant differences in the new county's territory; it ceded a large area north of the Berkshire Downs hills in the north-west of the old county to Oxfordshire, but gained the area around Slough and Eton from Buckinghamshire. Reading was also brought under the authority of the county council for the first time. The lower tier of local government was reformed at the same time. Prior to 1974 it had comprised numerous boroughs, urban districts and rural districts. After 1974 the lower tier within the county as reformed comprised six non-metropolitan districts: Bracknell (renamed Bracknell Forest in 1988), Newbury, Reading, Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wokingham.[7][8]
Premises
[edit]Berkshire County Council established its meeting place in the assize courts in Reading.[9] Meanwhile the administrative staff and committee rooms of the County Council were accommodated in the shire hall next door.[9] Following the Local Government Act 1972, the council found a need to move to bigger premises at Shire Hall in Shinfield Park in the winter of 1980/1981,[10] at an estimated cost of £27.5 million.[11]
List of chairmen
[edit]Berkshire County Council had both a council leader and the mostly ceremonial role of chairman.
Chairmanships were unlimited in duration or number of times (e.g. Sir George Robert Mowbray held the chairmanship twice in – 1944–1946 and 1960–1965).
In 1965, Chairman Sir Louis Dickens changed the term of office to 3 years, to be changed one year before elections. In 1974, the Local Government Act changed the size of and nature of the council, hence the distinction between 'old' and 'new' County Councils.
Old Berkshire County Council (1889–1974)
[edit]The following table lists the chairmen of the old Berkshire County Council from 1889 to 1974:[12]
| Name | Elected | Party |
|---|---|---|
| William George Mount [a] | 1889–1905 | Conservative |
| Albert Richard Tull | 1905–1906 | |
| William Hew Dunn | 1906–1911 | |
| Sir Robert Gray Cornish Mowbray | 1911–1916 | |
| James Herbert Benyon | 1916–1926 | |
| Sir William Arthur Mount | 1926–1930 | |
| Thomas Skurray [b] | 1931–1938 | |
| Alderman Arthur Thomas Loyd OBE | 1938–1944 | Conservative |
| Sir George Robert Mowbray [c] | 1944–1946 | |
| Henry Arthur Benyon | 1946–1947 | |
| Herbert James Thomas | 1947–1954 | |
| William John Cumber | 1954–1957 | |
| Colonel Granville Watson | 1957–1960 | |
| Sir George Robert Mowbray [d] | 1960–1965 | |
| Air Commodore Sir Louis Walter Dickens [e] | 1965–1968 | |
| Derrick Aylmer Frederick Henry Howard Hartley Russell | 1968–1971 | |
| Richard Henry Carilef Seymour | 1971–1974 |
New Berkshire County Council (1974–1998)
[edit]The following table lists the chairmen of the new Berkshire County Council from 1974 to 1998:
| Name | Elected | Party |
|---|---|---|
| Derek Pickering[13] | 1974–1977 | Conservative |
| Richard Watt | 1977–1980 | |
| Lewis Moss | 1980–1982 | |
| Trevor Timperley | 1982–1983 | Labour |
| Ian Morgan [14] | 1983–1986 | Conservative |
| Gareth Gimblett | 1986–1989 | |
| Tony Wiseman[15] | 1989–1992 | |
| Jim Day[15][16] | 1992–1994 | Liberal Democrat |
| Cecil Trembath[17][18] | 1994–1996 | |
| Maurice Tomkinson[19] | 1996–1997 | Conservative |
| Ann Risman[19][20] | 1997–1998 | Liberal Democrat |
Abolition and creation of the Unitary Authorities
[edit]The 1990s led to the restoration of county boroughs under a new name, "unitary authorities", which radically changed the administrative map of England. The Banham Review of 1992 sought to consolidate local authorities where possible and abolish unnecessary tiers of government. The changes to Berkshire County Council in 1998 were part of the final wave of changes resulting from the act.[21]
The council was abolished, and the ceremonial county is now governed by the six unitary authorities: West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Reading and Slough. The general secretary of the National Association of Local Government Officers described the re-organisation as a "completely cynical manoeuvre".[22]
Aftermath
[edit]One of the last Chairmen of Berkshire County Council, Tony Wiseman, went on to found CRAG (a combination of the Readingstoke Action Group and CPRE) with a number of other former members of the council. CRAG successfully opposed Wokingham borough council's plan for building of houses between Reading and Basingstoke (to create a conurbation dubbed Readingstoke).[23][24]
After the abolition and until the 2009 local government reforms, the ceremonial county of Berkshire was unique in England as being the only non-metropolitan county to have no County Council throughout its entire area, with the entire county governed by unitary authorities.
Powers and composition
[edit]As stated above, under the Local Government Act 1972[25] the chief responsibilities of Berkshire County Council, in common with other non-metropolitan county authorities, included education, social services, public transport, planning, emergency services and waste disposal. It served to provide a strategic county-wide framework within which the differing plans of its six district councils could be harmonised.
As with many County Councils, the Local Government Act 1972 changed the structure of the council, and a large area around Abingdon and the Vale of the White Horse became part of Oxfordshire while Slough, which had been within Buckinghamshire, became part of Berkshire.[26] The former County Borough of Reading - which had been part of the historic assize and ceremonial county - also became part of the administrative county.
Elections to the Berkshire County Council
[edit]Elections were held to Berkshire County Council every 3 years, with chairmen being selected in the second year of each term (in all years after 1965).[27] After the 1974 re-organisation elections were held every four years, the last full election taking place in 1993.
Political composition
[edit]| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| No overall control | 1889–1974 | |
| Conservative | 1974–1990 | |
| No overall control | 1990–1998 | |
Between 1889 and 1945, the Council was fairly apolitical, although two of the Chairmen (William George Mount and Arthur Loyd) went on to become Conservative MP's.
Following the 1945 General election, the Labour Party won 17 councillors in 1945.[28] Despite this win, Labour were still a minority and party politics didn't really come to the fore until 1974, with the Local Government Act 1972. This Act also brought representatives of the former County Borough of Reading on to the County Council for the first time and brought the Borough of Slough into the County from Buckinghamshire while the northern part of the county was transferred to Oxfordshire.
The council was then dominated by the Conservatives, until 1990 when they lost overall control but continued to run the Council's administration.
In 1992 a Lib Dem coalition with Labour took majority control of the Council and, following the 1993 elections, dominated the council until the coalition fractured in 1996. A Lib Dem minority administration with Conservative support then ran the council until it was split into unitary authorities. The final leader of the council, from July 1996 to March 1998, was Bob Mowatt, a Liberal Democrat, although for the final couple of months his deputy, Jeff Brooks, was serving as acting leader.[29][30][31]
Coat of arms
[edit]Owing to the reorganisation of the council under the Local Government Act 1972, the coat of arms for Berkshire County Council is different before and after 1974.
Pre–1974 (1947–1974)
[edit]
Arms and Crest [the stag argent] granted 18 July 1947. Crest changed and supporters granted 7 April 1961.
The coat of arms granted by the College of Arms to the Berkshire County Council are described as:
- Arms: Azure two Lions passant guardant in pale Or a Bordure embattled Ermine.
- Crest: On a Wreath of the Colours upon a Mount Vert a Stag at gaze Or in front of an Oak Tree fructed proper.
- Supporters: On the dexter side a Lion Gules gorged with an ancient Crown Or and charged on the shoulder with a Tudor Rose proper and on the sinister side a Horse Argent gorged with a like Crown pendent therefrom a Bezant charged with a Pile Sable.
From Civic Heraldry:
The two Royal Lions are appropriate because Berkshire is a Royal County, a privilege is unique among shire counties. They are derived from the arms attributed to the Norman kings and have association with Reading Abbey, which was founded by Henry I. The embattled border to the shield is intended to represent the castles of the County, of which Windsor is the best known survivor.
The crest is based upon the badge of the old Royal Berkshire Militia, and there is a tradition that a banner with this symbol, or one similar, was carried by the men of Berkshire at the Battle of Agincourt. The stag under the oak is assumed to represent the stags and oaks of Windsor Forest, which gave royal sport to the Saxon and Norman kings. William I, who had an eye for good hunting country when he chose Windsor for his residence and began its famous Castle [sic].
The Red Lion Supporter is another Royal symbol, and the Tudor Rose on the Lion's collar, a Royal association with Windsor Castle. The White Horse is a reference to the historic carving in the chalk of a great White Horse on the top of the Downs near Uffington. The horse has a pendant with a wedge shape upon it; this shape is known in heraldry as a "pile" and its inclusion here tells in punning form of the atomic pile at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell.[26]
Post–1974 (1974–1998)
[edit]
- Arms: Azure two Lions passant guardant in pale each crowned with an ancient Crown Or within a Bordure embattled Ermine.
- Crest On a Wreath of the Colours upon a Mount Vert within a Mural Crown Ermine a Stag at gaze Or in front of a hollow Oak Tree leaved and fructed proper.
- Supporters On the dexter side a Lion Gules gorged with an ancient Crown Or charged on the shoulder with a Tudor Rose proper and on the sinister side a Horse Sable gorged with a like crown pendant therefrom a Mullet of six points Gold.
Again from Civic Heraldry:
The arms were based very much upon the former Berkshire Arms. The principal change was the substitution of a Black Horse for a White Horse as the right-hand supporter, the White Horse representing the White Horse of Uffington which is no longer in the county. The Black Horse represents the county's considerable connections with horse-racing, there being a reference in old county histories to the ancient native horses of Berkshire being black. The six-pointed star on the collar, refers to the six borough and districts in the county, and also to the close association of Slough with the celebrated astronomer Sir William Herschel.[26]
And from Berkshire History:
Because the arms were officially granted to the Berkshire County Council and not actually to the county itself, they were altered slightly with the reorganisation of the administrative county boundaries in 1974 (largely the replacement of the white horse with a black one) and, since the council's demise in 1998, officially the county has no arms at all. Attempts to transfer the old arms to the Lord Lieutenancy have, so far, been unsuccessful.[32]
In popular culture
[edit]- The main setting for BBC comedy show The Wrong Mans and the workplace for the main two characters.
Notes
[edit]- ^ (Chairman of the preceding Court of Quarter Sessions 1887–1889)
- ^ Known by the famous poem:
*S upreme he sits in Council Hall
*K eeping a ceaseless watch o’er all
*U ntiring in his chosen work
*R efusing any task to shirk
*R esolved his county's rate shall be
*A thing too small for eye to see
*Y ea, verily, A King is he! - ^ First term
- ^ Second term
- ^ Instituted 3 year chairmanships
References
[edit]- ^ Davies, Ellis Roger (1981). A History of the First Berkshire County Council. p. 1856. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ Pulling, Alexander (1889). A Handbook for County Authorities. London: William Clowes and Sons. p. 12. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ Historic England. "Assizes Courts, The Forbury (Grade II) (1113476)". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ "Berkshire County Council". Faringdon Advertiser. 6 April 1889. p. 5. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "Now "Royal County" – officially". Reading Standard. 20 December 1957. p. 1. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "Road Traffic Acts". London Gazette (55074). 19 March 1998. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "The England Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 20 July 2024
- ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 3 March 2023
- ^ a b "From old Shire Hall to sheer class". Reading Post. 2 March 2006. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
- ^ "Shirehall 1981-2000", Berkshire Record Office, 4 February 2012, archived from the original on 12 August 2016, retrieved 4 February 2012
- ^ "Ch. 52 specifically sections 2420 and 2488". A History of the first Berkshire County Council 1889-1974.
- ^ "Ch. 54". A History of the first Berkshire County Council 1889–1974.
- ^ "The new chairman". Reading Evening Post. 2 May 1973. p. 9. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ County Council Meeting Minutes 10th November 1984
- ^ a b County Council Meeting Minutes 9th May 1992
- ^ "Chairman Jim calls it a day". Reading Evening Post. 4 March 1994. p. 11. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ "Cecil's in charge". Wokingham Times. 12 May 1994. p. 3. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ Evans, Andrew (13 August 1992). "Public Service Management: End of the metropolitan line: County councils face an uncertain future. Andrew Evans recalls how the Government abolished local authorities serving 18 million people". The Independent. independent.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
- ^ a b "Final line-up in memory of the way they were..." Reading Evening Post. 15 May 1997. p. 7. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ Fort, Linda (1 April 1998). "Farewell tears amid an uncertain future". Reading Evening Post. p. 10. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ The Berkshire (Structural Change) Order 1996. SI 1996/1879
- ^ "Angry reaction to councils White Paper". The Times. 8 October 1983.
- ^ "Debate Protects the Public", Daily Telegraph, 4 February 2012, archived from the original on 28 February 2016, retrieved 4 February 2012
- ^ "Goodbye Berkshire, Hello Readingstoke", The Independent, 4 February 2012, retrieved 4 February 2012
- ^ see section 'Division of Functions' and citations there
- ^ a b c Civic Heraldry, 4 February 2012, archived from the original on 22 February 2012, retrieved 4 February 2012
- ^ A History of the first Berkshire County Council 1889-1974
- ^ "Ch. 39 specifically section 1903". A History of the first Berkshire County Council 1889-1974.
- ^ "New county leader called the 'captain of the Titanic'". Reading Evening Post. 24 July 1996. p. 3. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- ^ "Stand-in council leader backed by Tories". Reading Evening Post. 6 February 1998. p. 7. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- ^ "Farewell tears amid an uncertain future". Reading Evening Post. 1 April 1998. p. 10. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- ^ Berkshire History: Berkshire Coat of Arms and Berkshire Flag, 4 February 2012, archived from the original on 6 February 2012, retrieved 4 February 2012
