ABSTRACT
A number of commentators have argued that in Britain there has been a return to a new magistracy, in which elected local government has been diminished at the expense of appointed bodies. The present local government system dates from 1973, when the Local Government Act abolished the local government system then in operation, a system which had largely remained unchanged since it was set up under the Local Government Act of 1898. Given the range of services deemed to be regional, little in the way of executive functions was left to the local authorities Influenced no doubt by wider charges about lack of accountability, central government has been sensitive to the accusation that local government has too few services and too limited a role. Central government has had some reservations about local authorities’ activities in this area, fearing that they will attempt initiatives for which they are ill-equipped.
