Why So Many Councils?

"I blame the council".

It's a remark you'll often encounter when discussing anything from potholes to planning or bins to bus services. When local services are found wanting, it's the council at fault. But which council?

Hertford, like many towns up and down the country, is administered by multiple local authorities. But how did we end up with such a confusing system of local government? The answer has a lot to do with history.

County Councils are the largest of the local authorities and deal with things like education, social care, highways and strategic planning. You can blame the Anglo-Saxons for county councils. It was their idea to create the counties in the 10th century.

District Councils are smaller affairs and handle things such as housing, planning, emptying the bins and parking* (more on this later). A county will be made up of several District Councils. In the case of Hertfordshire, there are ten districts -Broxbourne, Dacorum, East Herts, Hertsmere, North Hertfordshire, St.Albans & District, Stevenage, Three Rivers, Watford and Welwyn Hatfield. You can blame The Tories for District Councils. They were brought in as part of the Local Government Act of 1972, passed by Edward Heath's Conservative government of 1970-74.

The new District Councils took over many of the responsibilities of smaller borough, urban district and rural district councils that were themselves formed in 1894 by a Local Government Act. There were around 40 boroughs, U&RDCs in Hertfordshire. Hertford was governed by Hertford Borough Council.

And then there are the Town Councils - the remnants of the old boroughs. They retained minimal responsibilities, such as cemeteries and allotments .

East Herts Council offices at Wallfields in Hertford

Until recently, the county council was based at County Hall in Pegs Lane, but the authority now operates from premises across the county - in Hertford, Stevenage, Hemel Hempstead and Welwyn Garden City

East Herts District Council has offices at Wallfields in Hertford and Navigation House in Bishops Stortford.

Hertford Town Council is based at Hertford Castle.

The County Council

Hertfordshire County Council exploys around 8,000 people. The council covers 634 square miles and a population of around 1.2 million.

The County Council operates through a leader and cabinet model. The full council elects a leader who, in turn, appoints and chairs the cabinet. Each cabinet member has a specific area of responsibility, for example children and young people, housing or finance. The cabinet meets regularly so decisions are made quickly.

Services

• Schools and education
• Highways, roads and pavements
• Local bus services
• Adult social services
• Recycling, waste and environment
• Libraries and archives
• Children's social care
• Births, deaths, marriages and citizenship
• Public Health
• Business and trading standards
• Fire and rescue

The County Council is responsible for highways, including road repairs and streetlighting

The District Council

East Herts Council exploys around 300 people. The council covers an area of 183 square miles and a population of 145,000.

The District Council also operates under a leadser and cabinet system. The full council elects a leader who, in turn, appoints and chairs the Executive. Each executive member has a specific area of responsibility, for example financial sustainability, planning and growth etc. The Executive meets regularly so decisions are made quickly..

Services

• Planning and Building Control
• Housing
• Refuse collection and recycling
• Parking
• Environmental Health
• Licensing
• Local Parks and Recreation

The District Council runs Hartham Leisure Centre

The Town Council

The town council is all that remains of the once mighty Hertford Borough Corporation.

The Corporation provided the town's first running water, gas, electricity, sewerage and street lighting.

The powers once enjoyed by the borough council have since been ceded to industry and larger councils, leaving just few areas of responsibility.

Services

• Allotments
• Cemeteries
• Promotional events
• Tourist Information Centre

And just to confuse matters, not all of Hertford's allotments are run by the town council. The allotments in West Street and Norwood Close are both run by East Herts District Council.

Hertford Corporation once ran the town's water supply and sewerage

Confused Yet?

There are a couple of areas where the district and county council are supposed to work closely together, but this is not always the case.

Take parking for example. Whilst the distict council is responsible for enforcing parking restrictions, it's the county council that draws up those restrictions.

Before parking restrictions can be imposed, Hertfordshire County Council has to draw up Traffic Regulation Orders. These TROs have to define the exact area the restrictions will apply to and the nature of those restrictions, including any signage and/or roadmarkings. These have to meet technical standards to be legally enforceable. Local councillors and the public have to be consulted before restrictions can be applied. It can take up to 2 years to create a Traffic Regulation Order. Once a TRO is approved, it is then up to the district council to enforce the restrictions.

However, the system leads to conflict when the district council disagrees the legality of regulations drawn up by the county council. The county council has also been criticised for being slow to respond to issues raised by district councillors.

The county council sets parking restrictions but the district council enforces them

Another area where responsibility can be confusing is refuse.

Whilst the district council is responsible for collecting refuse and recycling, it's the county council who are responsible for disposing of it. The county council also run local recyclng centres such as the one north of Ware at westmill.

The district council collects recycling but the county council runs recycling centres

The county council also has an important roll in the planning process, both in shaping local planning and responding to local planning applications. Whilst planning is the responsibility of the district council, it is the county council that is responsible for highways and public transport.

Finally, the county council is responsible for drains on roads but the district for is responsible for road sweeping. This can be messy when trying to establish who is responsible for dealing with blocked drains!

The Future: Unitary Authorities

Central Government is moving ahead with plans to replace two-tier councils with single Unitary Authorities.

It is unclear at this stage what a new unitary authority will look like but local councils across Hertfordshire have submitted options for reorganisation.

With the Government clear it will be abolishing both district and county councils, options include replacing them with one, two, three or four unitary councils covering Hertfordshire, with a combined authority sitting over the top, controlling new strategic powers such as transport, including rail, and housing. This strategic authority would be controlled by an elected mayor who would have power to raise funds via taxes and to accelerate the Government's growth agenda.

New arrangements are expected to be in place by the end of 2028