A new political map for England and Wales

63

Geoforum 19/74

4.

Unterschiedliche verursacht

Verteilung

regionale

Die untersch~edl~chen pole” erkhiren strukturellen

offentlicher

Ergebnisse der Jtrategie

ts3

der Entwicklu~s-

Diese Auffassung,

Entwicklungspole

Die regionale

in Regionen

Nicht allein durch Gewahrung

Ausbau der lnfrastruktur

regionalen

Einkommensunterschieden Steuerung

entgegenzuwjrken, richt alternativ

im Rahmen

bieten sich zwei Strategien

de Virgilancia

Hrsg. (1970):

bienio

1968-

Las

1969.

Manuskript.

del Gobierno

Desarrollo

Economic0

Regional,

Hrsg. (1968):

y Social,

konzen-

- Comisaria

y Social -

del Plan de

Ponencia

de Desarrollo

II. Plan de Desarroflo

S. 117, Cuadro

SELKE,

r73

Strukturvon Sub-

eimr

W. (1972):

raumlichen

Economico

II. 49. Madrid.

Spanische

Auswirkungen

lndustriepois

[81

ziel-

Regionalpolitik

- dargestellt

Valladolid,

Geowissenschaften,

Entwicklungs-

der kulturlandschaftlichen

verstanden

Presidencia

t63

unterschieden entgegengesteuert werden. Dies hat allcrdings ein Umdenken in der Forderpraxis zur Voraussetzung. Urn den gerechten

dei Plan de Desarrollo,

Hektographiertes

sondcrn durch einen gezielten

solite den regionalen

de1 Plan de

y Social - Oficina

erhalten.

in Spanien hat bestehende

fiir die Privatw~rtschaft,

- Comisaria

Anuario

S. 237 ff. Madrid.

in starkem

Das Beispiel der

lnfrastrukturausstattung

Fbrderpolitik

nicht behoben.

vorwiegend

del Gobierno

inversiones pLjblicas provinciales

der beiden

Golicia und’casteflono-Leoneso

zeigt, da8 sich das private Kapital

Hrsg. (1970):

Edicicin Monual,

Economico

de la Ejecucion

basiert auf der

lnfrastrukturtheorie.

der Regionen

die eine bevorzugte

abhlngt,

-

de Estadistica,

de Espaiia,

Presidencia

da8 das Niveau eines Wirtschafts-

anerkannten

National

Desarrollo

lnfrastrukturausbau

MaSe van den infrastrukturieistungen

ventionen

lnstituto

Ausgangslage zu Beginn der Forderungspolitik,

heute allgemein

gefille

1

sich nicht nur aus einer unterschiedlichen

raumes - und damit such sein Einkommensniveau

triert,

c4

Estadhtico

sondern aus dem unterschiedlichen Regionen.

lnvestitionen

Disparitgten

und ihre

am Beispiel des

S. 57. Diplomarbeit,

Freie Universitat

Bundesanstalt

fir Arbeit,

Arbeitnehmer

- Erfahrungsbericht

Fachbereich

Berlin.

Hrsg. (1974):

AuslXndische

1972/73

-,

S. 47.

Niirnberg.

Entwicklung an, die jedoch

werden sollten:

A New Political Map for Engtand and Wales eine r&.rmlich differenzierende lnfrastrukrurinvestitionen (Regionalisierung

Planung der gesamten

im Rahmen

der Entwicklungsplane

Mark

BLACKSELL,

die Bildung von der Zentralregierung Gebietsk~rperschaften, Einsatz offentlicher

die in Eigenverantwortung lnvestitionen

regionaler

The utility

den

of being overtaken

unabh~ngiger

population

ienken.

countries Im lnteresse einer effizienten Entwicklungspl~nen

Regionalpolitik

das Sffentiiche

nur nach den Fachplanungstr~gern zu regionalisieren.

Entwicklungsprobleme,

liegt es, in kiinftigen

investitionsvolumen zu unterteilen,

Es stetlen sich somit in Spanien

die in der Bundesrepublik

mit Hilfe des Bundesraumordnungsprogramms Eine derartige,

Deutschland

in Angriff

die Fachplanung

Raumenrwicklungskonzeprion

nicht

sondern such

genom-

ordnung

frequently

combine

to render local government

for current

the turbulent

political

needs. In most West European

history of the past fifty reforms.

years has neces-

In Germany

has bee? one of the overriding

Ruum-

pre-occupations

has proved an elusive goal. By way of contrast England and Wales has presented but in consequence

a political

The inadequacy

of social regions

the political

map of

a fairly stable face to the world,

the needs of post-War

within

of

not to mention

sctentists, and in France the search for viable planning

century.

fehlt bisher in Spanien.

areas has a habit

activity,

sitated sweeping administrative

administered

koordinierende

administrative

by events. Changes in the distribution

and economic

maps unsuitable

men werden.

*

of local government

developments,

nach Provinzen

Exeter

ex ante);

Britain have been

framework

of the situation

devised for the 19th has long been recognised,

but in the absence of a clear consensus about the direction reforms should follow, and little action.

there has been much conflicting

However

throughout

argument

the 1960s and early

1970s changes have begun to be made and the process of reorganisation

Literatur

culminated

government

1st April 1974.

D]

BOESLER,

K.-A.

raumwirksame lnstiturs

[21 Boletrn

Oficial

Kulturiandschaftswandel

Staatst~tigkeit;~~~.

der FU Be&n,

Econ6mico

del Estado,

(197 1): Regional

Development

(1967):

in Spanien.

RICHARDSON,

(Vgl.

H.W.

Policy in Spain;.

~jrfscha~~sord~ffng

lnferventionismusund

seit 1939;

vital question

of

local

as to wether it is the best solution

is

the changes have been made and the

now is to determine

the ways in which the pattern

in both countries

is going to be altered.

The Revised Map The new administrative of local government structure. in Table

Die Entwicklung

revised structure

Legisloci6n

5. 50 ff. Madrid.

8. Jg., S. 39-53.

WIPPLINGER,G.

Argument

really no longer relevant, of spatial interaction

U. (1970): Spanien-Artikel in: der Raumforschung und Raumordnung, Hannover.

wirtrchofi

197. Berlin.

Hrsg. (1970):

Spalte 3045-3054. Urban Studies,

durch

des I. Geographjsche~

Bd. 12,s.

II. Plan de DesarroNo,

such: BRtjSSE, Hundw&rerbuch

r3i

(1969):

in a completely

for England and Wales, which came into force on

The details of the rather complex

of four different

types

a two or three tier situation

are set out

1.

Markr-

der spanischen

Dissertation.

map is an amalgum

system, each operating

Tubingen.

*

Mark BLACKSELL, Exeter

University,

M. A., D. Phil., Lecturer England.

in Geography,

64

Geoforum 19/74

Table 1

A Greater

B

London

D

C

English IMetro-

Engiish non-

Welsh non-

politan

metropolitan

mentropol

counties

counties

counties

Local government i tan

and Wales after

systems in England

1st April

1974

Tiers 1 county

1

2 District

32 (+ the

6

39

8

36

296

37

city of London) 3 Parish,

Parishes -

community equivalent

Column

or 0

A, Greater

London,

recent reorganisation.

the Greater

Council

plus the City of London,

Counties,

politan

of London.

tier structure

similar in concept Counties

nine counties,

six districts,

excluded

from

metropolitan

authorities

Metropolitan

Counties,

that communities

the fundamental familar

and the West Midlands,

it will incorporate

in Wales and Column

the county

Cumberland,

Northumberland

identity,

The picture

continuity

respectively. clearly

In Devon,

for example,

but where previously

the county

boroughs,

boroughs and

Except

for the major

boundaries

sixteen

and democratic

(Fig. 2). It is a drastic

alters the whole basis of representatron.

for the sake of administrative

fill the acknowledged

of

an important

convenience,

parish councils - the third tier - wilf

gap. Civil parishes have always played

role in the administration

small size of urban administrative

of rural areas, but the

units, made them unnecessary

in the towns and cities. The civil parish system has now been extended

to urban areas as well, although

be known

by several different

the new authorities

has

have been allowed

will

names. In Wales the term community

council is to be used, and in England some of the ancient The numer of counties

to keep their names, although

boroughs

their status ha>

been changed to that of a parish council.

and the

has been split into three parts, the Rhondda

boroughs,

urban districts and sixteen

which fundamentally

The hope is that revitalised

the old and the

Powys and Dyfed

of

have remained

there were three county

there are now but ten districts

are being sacrificed

it is

and Cardiff

The precise details of all these changes can be seen

in Fig. 1.

and municipal

that they replace.

Grave misgivings have been voiced that smali-scale locai interests

Humberside,

Gwyedd,

to Swansea,

of the

and the non-

are very much larger and fewer in number, of county

local admrnistration

despite these between

the best description

in both the metropolitan

York-

all the old names have disappeared.

roughly

Probablv

some discrepancies

in the top tter of the new structure,

is probably

unaltered,

rural districts,

In their place are now Clwyd, Glamorgan,

where much of

is in Cornwall.

the ancient and much cherished separation

eight municipal

new county,

although

counties

rationalisation,

been cut by half and virtually

corresponding

while the other,

urban and rural areas in England and Wales has been swept away.

remains

the names survive in the new county

for Wales is quite different,

only survivor,

of this is

One side of the river, with the

has occurred,

is the keynote

conurbatioos,

D, expect

notably

in the northwest.

In general, however,

alterations, there is considerable new at the county level.

administered

few.

urban and rural districts,

important to note that they are not metropolitan counties. Hereford and Worcester are merged into a single unit, but as both were 10th and Worcester.

There are still a

Perhaps the classic example

that any system would contain

than the multiplicity

and Westmorland

the Tees and the Severn estuaries respectively,

Hereford

it was inevitable

metropolitan

the

and Avon now enclose the urban areas on the Humber,

to lose their former

have been removed.

estuary.

second tier. The districts

In England

and some of the larger counties,

balancing

on the Tamar

If continuity

little major change; some

shire, have been split up. There is a completely Cleveland

council

of local government.

names such as Rutland,

authorities.

then radical reappraisal

D, Welsh Non-

the same as column

map shows relatively

cohesion

of this kind and the surprising thing is that they are so relatively

boroughs.

replace parishes.

have disappeared, Cumbria

six metro-

the civil parish system. There are no

instrument

the new county

anomalies

the recent sururban growth

of units in the third,

Essentially

In both England and Wales therefore

in the ofd system have

is also much greater

bulk of the urban area, is in Devon,

with new ones for urban areas,

is essentially

counties

There

in column C have a three

The final number

civil parishes, together

previously

Plymouth

Greater

to the London

Small and under-

units have been largely swept away and

of quite large cities which are effectively

by two county

B

with a second tier of two hundred

parish, tier is yet to be decided. former

number

and, in areal terms, cover the greater part of England.

are thirty

and ninety

the admjnistrative

of the ideas

them they have a second tier of thirty

district councils,

if one includes the six

among the major urban areas, even though by no means ail

is

rights

in coiumo

administrative

been sensibly sub-divided.

There are six of these new

South Yorkshire

The English Non-Metropolitan There

some of the more unwieldly

councils,

Tyne and Wear, Merseyside,

West Yorkshire,

and between

consisting of

but it enjoys certain extra Counties

and resources in the 1970s.

populated

of London

to the other major conurbations

the reorganisation

Manchester,

of population

in

especially

comes much closer to the actual distribution

its

which in some respects set it apart from the rest

are an extension behind

counties,

two borough

of the system. The English Metropolitan

Metropolitan

the new structure,

metropolitan

which reported

was set up. The position

similar to that of the boroughs, and privileges,

Undoubtedly

a two tier authority

and thirty

determined

was the

of the day largely accepted

and in 1964

London

[li,

no. still to be

determined

by the most

in London

Royal Commission

The Government

recommendations

has not been affected

Local Government

subject of a separate 1960.

0

Communities

no. still to be

One of the most important government

features

of the reorganised

in England and Wales is the statutory

map of local

provision

that

has now been made for a continuous review of political boundaries. Both countries now have boundary commissions, whose duty is

Geoforum

65

19/74

Fig. 1 County

boundaries

in England

Wales before and after

to monitor

continuously

and to make adjustments

exercise.

to boundaries,

last quarter

of a century

completely

new relationship

as and when they think fit.

assessment and adjustment

that

have argued in favour of for many years and it is

gratifying

to note that Michael

at Bristol

University,

for England.

1974

the changing needs of local government

It is the kind of continuous geographers

and

1st April,

Chisholm,

is a member

Not that the scope of the boundary

be over-emphasized.

They

Commission commissions

mentary

without

recourse to time-wasting

functions. Report

should

cannot of course alter the philosophy

of the new system, but they can see to it that operational are rectified

government,

Professor of Geography

of the Boundary

Much of the pressure for Local government

deficiencies

and costly parlia-

and legal procedures.

Maude

at a provincial

Report)

the different

on Local Government

ignored of local government

in England and

in

of the need for intermediate

level, between

the counties and central

[33

ha0 been published. their

In the event the government

proposals

the call for any kind of provincial

and, very signifivantly, centre.

there has been no real change in the relationship To look at the reorganisation

levels of

and the distributionof

government. Subsequently there was pressure from several other quarters, urging Parliament not to act finally on local government reform until after the Kifbrandon Report on the Conwent ahead and published

of functions

in the

At the higher level a great deal was made in the

of the Royal Commission

stitution The redistribution

between

in terms of both jurisdiction

England C2](the control

reform

has been aroused by a desire to see a

and local government.

Except

central

for the specific instances Of water

Wales purely in terms of the rationalisation

of administrative

resources and the National

Health

areas would be to miss the most important

object of the whole

functions

unaltered.

remains virtually

As a result

between

Service, the distribution

of

66

Geoforum

At first sight it might appear that the new metropolitan offer the best solution is an illusion.

to the demand

In the metropolitan

the districts and the county metropolitan

counties.

counties

maintain

a largely independent

metropolitan

with long-term

strategic

including

and Newcastle

The counties matters

are

and it is doubt-

and prestige that the

Council enjoys in London.

counties,

boundaries virtually

between

to that in the non-

Birmingham

existence.

ful if they will ever gain the authority London

the relationship

The real power lies with the metropolitan

so that cities like Liverpool,

Greater

counties

for city regions, but this

is quite different

districts,

mainly concerned

19/74

In addition

London,

all the

suffer from having their

drawn too closely around the urban area. There

no opportunity

for the integrating

with their rural tributary city-region

is

the major urban areas

zones, which is at the heart of the

concept.

The essence of the current /oca/ government

reorganisation

therefore

is a reform

and not a change in the relationship

local and central government. levef have been radical.

Certainly

of

between

the changes at the local

ln the non-metropolitan

counties education,

personal social services, major road works and strategic planning are now all exclusively

county

those that were formerly central government, matters,

responsibilities.

county

boroughs

The districts,

and answerable

now only have responsibility

such as house building,

services like refuse collection.

the control

The effect

for more local

of development

is twofold:

hand the larger towns and cities no longer exercise Fig. 2

control

over their futures,

but, on the other,

large enough to mdke an effective District

boundaries

1st April,

in the county

of Devon before and after

power of the counties.

1974

exptdined

elsewhere,

over a sufficient

counter

even direct to and

on the one independent

the new districts are

to the considerable

The only reservation,

as the author

,llO] is that the districts

has

may not have control

range of the larger strategic functions

to make

them reaily viable. In the metropolitan Nor was provincial

government

the only reform

canvassed at the upper level. There them a member

write a dissenting

C61 , L71,who the county,

report [4),

all firmly

that was widely

short of respensrbiiiry.

were many people, among

of the Royal Commission,

here are district

who felt moved to

and several eminent

geographersC52,

believed that the city region rather than

should form the basis of local government

administrative

areas. They

larger than either

responsibilities

dnd

influence

or the unitary

report.

unit in practice.

there was real hope, among geographers

Nevertheless,

and Portsmouth. for a number

at the county elsewhere

referred

level

and

to accommodate

to above, but in effect

Senior in his minority C9J

contribution

-

at all

water resources

Yet like any other

discrepancy

between

supply are not necessarily

and transfers from one region to another

water was little short of chaotic.

reorganisation Supply

the exploitation

of

was in the hands of more

and, in addition,

vested chiefly

in the county

boroughs

there were d number

of

and urban and rural districts.

set out in the Water Act [l ij

wdter from the main structure the

have complete

control

, has

been to remove

of local government

system of ten regional water authorities.

this was paying little

to the Royal Commission

in demand.

Areas with abundant

Prior to the current

The solution

of Avon

by Derek

structure

private suppliers. The disposal of sewage was a local concern,

level. To be sure there in the new counties

and district

than 340 water authorities

keeps it together

more than lip service to the grand design put forward report.

around

there are only two major

physical resource there is a considerable

are common.

Plans for the integrated

in the country

of the city region, notably

and Cleveland,

with the power

Service. Of all physical resources water,

those of greatest demand

effectively ruled out example of the

the actual reorgaoisation

the urban area at a district

county

Health

supply and demand.

by

of years and had reached a

stage. <8? However,

were some attempts concept

The Government,

of this urban area as a single unit had been in the

with rural Hampshire

districts,

despite these reservations,

dfter land, IS the one most generally

that the

missed is the coastal area of south Hampshire,

process of formulation

metropolitan

It would

to exert much

which it was felt could not be dccommodated

and the National

For a time

to the city region wouid be recognised,

adhering to the existing county structure, realistic city regions. The most celebrated

fragments

it was bound

in particular,

but in the event they were disappointed.

fairly advanced

functions.

authorities

They argued thdt

and that, therefore,

to be the most successful political

Gosport

county

of cities like Birmingham,

within the two-tier

and social interaction

development

and roads, and strategic planning

exclusively

leverage over recalcetrant

economic

Southampton,

which are somewhat

and personal social services

seem likely that they will not be in a position

functions,

opportunity

Education

dre the most important

the city region would come closest to the actual patterns of

they attached

is almost completely

envisaged city regions as being much

the present counties,

proposed in the Royal Commission

importance

areas the position

reserved and it is the top tier, the counties,

and to set up a

These new bodies

of supply, consumption

and disposal, which

should make the planning of such a vital resource much more coherent. democratic

One wonders, control,

however,

wether

as far as water resources are concerned, frequently

there is sufficient

for there is ample evidence

do not see eye to eye.

local

to suggest that

central and local government

67

Geoforum 19174

The new structure for the National Health Service falls between the complete separation from local government, which has been decided upon for water and the integration chosen for education and the social services. The National Health Service Reo~ani~tion Act [12] has set up thirteen new Regional Health Autorities, which are somewhat similar to the Water Authorities, but below them are Area Health Authorities the boundaries of which coincide with the non-metropolitan counties and metropolitan districts. In this way it is hoped that the National Health Service will be able to enjoy both access to regional resources and a degree of local control.

Conclusions The most strikting feature of the local government reorganisation in England and Wales is the strong element of political expendiency it contains. By keeping the majority of the rural counties intact in the new non-metropolitan counties and most of the cities independent within the metropolitan districts, the government has succeeded in pleasing both the landed gentry and the big city bosses. Whether they have also increased the possibility for public participation in the government process is more open to question. There are now many fewer elected post in the first and second tiers of local government and it is to be hoped that the needs of minorities have not been swamped in the rush to rationalise. Certainly the flexibility indtroduced by the Boundary Commissions is a welcome innovation and it should ensure, that adjustments are made to the system, when and where they are required. It remains a fact, however, that in comparison with many other European countries, there is still a high degree of central control over local affairs in England and Wales. It will be interesting to see whether it proves necessary to institute some form of regionat government in the future.

Scale and the Dimensions of Socioeconomic

Spatial

Variation Harold CARTER,

Aberystwyth*

Social geography is concerned with the spatial expression of the structuring of populations according to socio-economic criteria, such as social class or wealth, age and family size. In the context of enquiry so defined perhaps the widest range of most successful work has been in the field of social area analysis. Indeed so many studies have produced the same results that already some astringent questions are being asked: should the development of a theory of residential differentiation restrict itself primarily t0 those gross dimensions of variation which have been examined in numerous studies?: Are we to avoid the witless replications of methodologies and analyses long since generalized? The conrequence of impatience with the repetition of standard analyses, where debate tends to move to the niceties of methodology rather than the significance of results, has been the diversion of research to a behavioural approach with an emphasis shifted to the atom&d individual rather than the areal aggregate. Valuable though this alternative line of development is, by moving to an extreme of scale it sacrifices the insight which is to be gained by scrutinizing intermediate scales in order to assessthe universality of the gross dimensions of variation, or otherwise, specificaliy to test whether these dimensions are ‘gross’. Most factorial ecologies have led to the identification of a series of standard components, the gross dimensions noted above, which command the differentiation of social space in the city. Table 1 reproduces the components identified by DAVIES and LEWIS (1973) in a recently published study of Leicester, England. Table 1 First order dimensions of Leicester (after Davies and Lewis).

References Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London, Report cmnd. 1164 London l-t. M. S. 0. 1960. on Local Government in England, cmnd. 4040 London H.M.S.O. 1969.

Royal Commission Report

Royal Commission on the Constitution, Report 5460-l

London

H. M. S. 0.

Royal Commission

cmnd.

1973.

on Local Government

in England.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Socio-Economic Status Mobility Stage in Life Cycle Substandardness Mobile Young Adult Ethnicity Economic Participation Urban Fringe Femaies

op. cit.

DICKSON, R. E. (1964): City und Region. Routledge and Keegan Paul. FREEMAN, Administration.

London:

T. W. (1968): Geography and Regional iondon: Hutchinson.

WISE, M. (7971): “Regionai Identity”. G. E. CHERRY (ed.): Loco1 Government Reform. Regional Studies Association. Hampshire County Council, Report on the Feusibility Urban Growth. London H. M. S. 0. 1966.

of

Major

Royal Commission on Local Government in England, op. cit.

BLACKSELL, M. (1974): “Reformed England and Wales“, Geogl. Mug., XLVf, No. 6, pp. 235-240. The Public and General Acts. Water Act, Chapter 37. London H. M. S. 0. 1973. The Public and General Acts. The Notional Reorganisatjon

Act,

London

Health

H. M. S. 0. 1973

Service

The authors write: ‘In Leicester, the two largest eigenvalues, accounting for 17.6 and 9.9 percent of the variance respectively, represent socioeconomic status (factor I ) and lifezycle status (factor 3)‘. These are the two factors universally identified along with a third, ethnicity, which also emerges from the Leicester study as factor 6. fn Leicester the movement of populations tends to mask some of the clarity with which these factors energe, whilst an interesting urban fringe factor is identified. But if these elements or components are to be identified in cities of the western world then the degree of clarity with which they emerge should also distinguish between cities, and provide if not a standard functional classification, at least an indication of the extent to which ‘modernising’ forces are at work. That this is applicable has been demonstrated by BERRY (1972) in his study *

Prof. Harold CARTER, M. A., Department of Geography, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK