1995 No. 1771
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ENGLAND AND WALES

The Dorset (Boroughs of Poole and Bournemouth)(Structural Change) Order 1995

Made
Coming into force
For the purposes of articles 2(2), 4, 6(1), (3) and (4), and 9 to 11
For all other purposes
Whereas the Local Government Commission for England, acting pursuant to section 15(4) of the Local Government Act 19921 has submitted to the Secretary of State a report on its review of the county of Dorset together with its recommendations:
And whereas the Secretary of State has decided to give effect, with modifications, to the recommendations in respect to the boroughs of Bournemouth and Poole2:
Now, therefore, the Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 173, 18(3)(a) and 26 of the Local Government Act 1992, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Order, a draft of which has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament:

PART IGENERAL

Citation and Commencement1.

This Order may be cited as the Dorset (Boroughs of Poole and Bournemouth) (Structural Change) Order 1995 and shall come into force for the purposes of articles 2(2), 4, 6(1), (3) and (4) and 9 to 11 on the day after the day on which it is made and for all other purposes on 1st April 1997.

Interpretation2.

(1)

In this Order—

“the Act” means the Local Government Act 1992;

“the 1972 Act” means the Local Government Act 19724;

“Bournemouth” (except in references to the county of Bournemouth) means the borough of Bournemouth and “the Bournemouth Council” means the council of that borough;

“Dorset” means the non-metropolitan county of Dorset, and “the County Council” means the council of that county;

“Poole” (except in references to the county of Poole) means the borough of Poole and “the Poole Council” means the council of that borough;

“the relevant date” means 6th May 1996;

“relevant provision” means a provision in any subordinate legislation made under the Act or made, in connection with the Act or such provision, under any other enactment;

“the reorganisation date” means 1st April 1997;

“subordinate legislation” has the same meaning as in section 21 of the Interpretation Act 19785 and

“the transferee authorities” means the councils of Bournemouth and Poole.

(2)

The period beginning with the relevant date and ending immediately before the reorganisation date is specified as the preliminary period for the purposes of any statutory instrument made under the Act.

PART IILOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION IN BOURNEMOUTH AND POOLE

Structural change3.

The functions of the County Council in relation to Bournemouth and Poole shall, subject to the following provisions of this Part and to any other relevant provision, be transferred to the Bournemouth Council and the Poole Council respectively.

Dorset Police Authority4.

(1)

In this article, “the 1964 Act” means the Police Act 19646.

(2)

For the purposes of the functions to which this article applies—

(a)

sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 27 of Schedule 1B to the 1964 Act (meaning of “relevant council”)7 shall have effect as from 1st October 1996 as if the transferee authorities had ceased to form part of Dorset on that date; and

(b)

accordingly, the appointments which are required to be made to the Dorset Police Authority (as established under section 3 of the 1964 Act) (“the Authority”)8 by paragraph 2(2) of that Schedule (appointments of members of police authority by joint committee appointed by relevant councils) shall be made, as soon as practicable after that date, by a joint committee appointed by the County Council and the transferee authorities (as relevant councils) in accordance with that provision.

(3)

The functions to which this article applies are—

(a)

on and after the reorganisation date, all functions of the Authority; and

(b)

before that date (but on and after 1st October 1996), the following functions of the Authority in respect of the financial year beginning on the reorganisation date—

(i)

functions under Chapter IV of Part I of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (precepts)9, and

(ii)

functions under sections 4A (local policing objectives) and 4B (local policing plans) of the 1964 Act10.

(4)

For the purposes of the functions referred to in paragraph (3)(b) above—

(a)

section 28(2)(b) of the Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994 (approval of decisions about precepts) shall have effect as though the reference to the members of the police authority appointed under paragraph 2 of Schedule 1B to the 1964 Act was a reference to the members so appointed by virtue of paragraph (2) above; and

(b)

the members of the Authority appointed under paragraph 2 of that Schedule otherwise than by virtue of paragraph (2) above shall not participate in the discharge of those functions.

(5)

In the exercise of its powers, the joint committee referred to in paragraph (2)(b) above—

(a)

shall, for the purposes of paragraph 4(1)(b) of Schedule 1B to the 1964 Act, ignore any member of the County Council elected for an electoral division in the areas of the transferee authorities11; and

(b)

shall not appoint any such member to the Authority under paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 1B to the 1964 Act.

(6)

A member of the Authority who was appointed under paragraph 2 of Schedule 1B to the 1964 Act otherwise than by virtue of paragraph (2) above and who is not subsequently so appointed shall cease to hold office as a member of the Authority on the reorganisation date.

(7)

In determining the period of a term of years for the purpose of paragraph 17 of Schedule 1B to the 1964 Act (term of appointment of members of a police authority), any period as a member of the Authority prior to the reorganisation date under an appointment made by virtue of paragraph (2) above shall be disregarded except where the person in question had been a member of the Authority by virtue of an appointment under paragraph 2 of that Schedule prior to his appointment by virtue of paragraph (2) above.

Amendment of Schedule 1A to the Police Act 19645.

Schedule 1A to the Police Act 196412 shall be amended by inserting after the words “The county of Dorset” in the right-hand column opposite the name of the Dorset police area the words “and the non-metropolitan districts of Bournemouth and Poole”.

Fire services6.

(1)

In this article—

“the 1947 Act” means the Fire Services Act 194713; and

“the relevant area” means the area comprising Dorset (as constituted on and after the reorganisation date) and the areas of the transferee authorities.

(2)

The area of each transferee authority shall, subject to any combination scheme under the 1947 Act, become the area of a fire authority for the purposes of that Act.

(3)

For the purposes of the making of a combination scheme with respect to the relevant area before the reorganisation date in accordance with section 10 of the 1947 Act (power to make schemes in advance of alterations to local government areas), section 5(2) of that Act shall have effect, in relation to that area, as if—

(a)

in paragraphs (a) and (d) of that subsection, for “the constituent authorities”, wherever those words occur, there were substituted “the council of the county of Dorset”; and

(b)

in paragraphs (e) and (f) of that subsection, for “any of the constituent authorities” there were substituted “the council of the county of Dorset”.

(4)

Section 10 of the 1947 Act shall have effect, in relation to the relevant area, as if after the word “but” there were inserted the words “, except so far as it relates to the constitution of an authority as the fire authority for the combined area constituted by the scheme and the performance by that authority of any functions necessary for bringing the scheme into full operation on that date,”.

Planning Functions7.

(1)

Any structure plan applying immediately before the reorganisation date to Dorset and any proposals prepared before that date for the alteration or replacement of any such plan shall be treated as if they had been prepared jointly by the County Council and the transferee authorities; and section 50 of the Town and Country Planning Act 199014 (“the 1990 Act”) shall apply accordingly.

(2)

In relation to the transferee authorities—

(a)

section 36(5) of the 1990 Act (which provides that a local plan shall not contain policies in respect of minerals or waste) shall not apply;

(b)

subsection (1) of section 37 of that Act (minerals local plans) shall have effect as if, after the words “local plan”, there were added the words “or include in their local plan their detailed policies in respect of development consisting of the winning and working of minerals or involving the deposit of mineral waste”; and

(c)

subsection (2) of section 38 of that Act (waste policies) shall have effect as if, after paragraph (b), there were added the following—

“or

(c)

include their waste policies in their local plan.”.

Constitution of new counties8.

(1)

Bournemouth and Poole shall cease to form part of Dorset.

(2)

A new county shall be constituted comprising the area of Bournemouth and shall be named the county of Bournemouth.

(3)

A new county shall be constituted comprising the area of Poole and shall be named the county of Poole.

(4)

Section 2(1) of the 1972 Act (which provides that every county shall have a council) shall not apply in relation to the counties of Bournemouth and Poole.

PART IIITRANSITIONAL PROVISION

Elections of councillors in Bournemouth9.

(1)

The Borough of Bournemouth (Electoral Arrangements) Order 197915 shall have effect subject to the provisions of this article.

(2)

Elections of all councillors of the Bournemouth Council shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 1996, 1999 and every fourth year after 199916.

(3)

The term of office of any councillor so elected shall be, in the case of the councillors elected in 1996, three years and, in any other case, four years.

(4)

On the fourth day after any such elections—

(a)

the persons who were councillors immediately before those elections shall retire; and

(b)

the newly elected councillors shall come into office.

Elections of councillors in Poole10.

(1)

The Borough of Poole (Electoral Arrangements) Order 197917 shall have effect subject to the provisions of paragraphs (2) to (4) of this article.

(2)

Elections of all councillors of the Poole Council shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 1996, 1999 and every fourth year after 1999.

(3)

The term of office of any councillor so elected shall be, in the case of the councillors elected in 1996, three years and, in any other case, four years.

(4)

On the fourth day after any such elections—

(a)

the persons who were councillors immediately before those elections shall retire; and

(b)

the newly elected councillors shall come into office.

(5)

With effect from 1st May 1996—

(a)

the Borough of Poole (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1979 shall be amended by the substitution of the following article for article 6—

“6.

The number of councillors to be elected for each ward constituted by this Order shall be three”; and

(b)

column 2 of the table in the Schedule to that Order shall be deleted and the heading to that table amended to “Names of new wards”.

Retirement of councillors11.

(1)

The electoral divisions of Dorset comprised in Bournemouth and Poole shall cease to be electoral divisions on the reorganisation date; and any person holding office, immediately before that date, as a councillor for such a division shall retire on that date18.

(2)

Section 89 of the 1972 Act (filling of casual vacancies in case of councillors) shall have effect—

(a)

in the case of a casual vacancy occurring in the office of councillor of a transferee authority during the period beginning with the date on which this article comes into force and ending with the relevant date, as if the reference in subsection (3) of that section to the day on which the councillor whose office is vacant would regularly have retired were a reference to the relevant date; and

(b)

in the case of a casual vacancy occurring in the office of councillor for any electoral division referred to in paragraph (1) above as if the reference in that subsection were a reference to the reorganisation date.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State

David Curry
Minister of State,
Department of the Environment
(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order gives effect to recommendations made by the Local Government Commission for England in respect of the county of Dorset (“Dorset”) insofar as they relate to the structure of local government in the boroughs of Bournemouth (“Bournemouth”) and Poole (“Poole”).

Article 3 effects the structural change by providing for the transfer on 1st April 1997, of the functions of Dorset County Council in relation to Bournemouth and Poole to the councils of those boroughs.

Articles 4 and 5 make provision in respect of the Dorset police authority.

Article 6 makes provision for the purposes of subordinate legislation to be made under the Fire Services Act 1947 in respect of fire services in Dorset.

Article 7 makes provision in relation to the Dorset structure plan and to enable the local plan prepared by the councils of Bournemouth and Poole to contain minerals and waste policies.

Article 8 provides for Bournemouth and Poole to cease to form a part of Dorset on 1st April 1997 and for new counties of Bournemouth and Poole to be constituted on that date (but without a county council).

Article 9 amends the Borough of Bournemouth (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1978 to make provision for a whole council election in the borough of Bournemouth in 1996 and for the councillors so elected to retire in 1999.

Article 10 amends the Borough of Poole (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1979 to make provision for a whole council election in the borough of Poole in 1996 and for the councillors so elected to retire in 1999.

Article 11 provides for the retirement, on 1st April 1997, of existing councillors elected for county divisions included in Bournemouth and Poole and for casual vacancies in the office of a councillor who, by virtue of the Order, would retire before the day they would regularly have retired.