ABSTRACT
Before the Second World War there was very little delegation in local government. The Local Government Acts of 1888 and 1894 authorised county councils to delegate their functions to district councils; and from the beginning of the present century legislation dealing with specific services, such as mid-wives, small holdings, the housing of rural workers and the registration of nursing homes contained similar provisions, but little or no use was made of these powers. The Town and Country Planning Act, 1947, following the Education Act, permitted the delegation of planning control functions by county councils to district councils. The concordat resulting from negotiations between the local authority associations had agreed that district councils should be entrusted with some functions hitherto exercised by county councils. Rural districts would encounter greater difficulty in entering the heaven of delegated powers. Some counties regard district councils to which powers have been delegated as mere agents with almost no discretion.
