William A. Robson - The Development of Local Government

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Routledge Revivals

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The Development of Local Government

First Published in 1931, The Development of Local Government presents a comprehensive account of the most important questions related to various aspects of local government. William A. Robson gives us an illuminating history and survey of facts about crucial themes like the municipal structure; the function of local authorities; public health administration; the danger of centralization; conflict of town and country; expansion of cities; need for reconstruction; cultural aspects of civic life; and employment of women in the municipal service. This book is a must read for students and researchers of public administration, political studies, and governance studies.

The Development of Local Government

WilliamA.Robson

First published in 1931
by George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

This edition first published in 2022 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

William A. Robson 1931

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Publisher's Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.

A Library of Congress record exists under LCCN: 31019102

ISBN: 978-1-032-18449-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-25457-7 (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-18452-4 (pbk)

Book DOI 10.4324/9781003254577

THE DEVELOPMENT OF
LOCAL GOVERNMENT

by

WILLIAM A. ROBSON

Professor of Public Administration
in the University of London

LONDON
GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD
MUSEUM STREET

FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1931

SECOND IMPRESSION 1934

REVISED AND ENLARGED SECOND EDITION 1948

THIRD REVISED EDITION 1954

This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, 1911, no portion may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiry should be made to the publisher.

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
BY C. TINLING AND CO. LTD.
LIVERPOOL, LONDON AND PRESCOT

TO
MY WIFE

ABBREVIATIONS

First Report of the Royal Commission on Local Government = 1.R.C.L.G.

Second Report of the Royal Commission on Local Government = 2 R.C.L.G.

PREFACE

IN recent years there has been a notable increase in the number of books devoted to the study of local government or to particular aspects of it. Most of them are descriptive, analytical or historical. There is still a remarkable dearth of works in which the main problems of the subject are discussed in a comprehensive way.

There is, however, a very great need for a comprehensive discussion of the chief problems of the day in this field. Those problems relate principally to the organization of areas and authorities; the relations of the central departments to local authorities; the powers of local authorities; and municipal finance. The failure on the part of successive Governments, Parliament and the public to recognize the nature or even the existence of these problems, far less to attempt to solve them, has produced a situation of the utmost gravity to the local government system.

In 1931, when this book was first published, I was able to refer in the preface to "the immense and growing importance of local government in the life of the nation." To-day, it is unhappily necessary to record its rapidly declining significance in the polity of our country. How and why has this deplorable result occurred? The short answer is that local authorities are being denuded of their functions in consequence of the transfer of services to the central government or to ad hoc bodies appointed by Ministers. Accompanying this curtailment of functions is an immense increase of central control over the remaining duties of local authorities. It is no exaggeration to say that local government is facing a crisis of the first magnitude.

Part I of the book, dealing with the structure of the local government system, is by far the most lengthy and elaborate, as befits the importance and interest of the subject. In this part I drew extensively on the huge mass of facts which was made available by a series of official enquiries such as the Onslow Commission on Local Government, the Royal Commission on Land Drainage, the Hadow Committee on Education, the Departmental Committee on Public Libraries, and the Royal Commission on London Government. This valuable material was in every case obtained for the purpose of investigating some particular aspect or department of local government. No attempt had hitherto been made to utilize it for the purpose of surveying the system as a whole. My object was to show the weaknesses of the municipal structure with a view to remedying its defects.

In preparing the present edition for the press I have revised the text of Part I in numerous places where it was essential to do so; but I have not attempted (nor would it have been possible from the available data) to bring it up to date in every detail. Despite certain alterations which have occurred, the picture there portrayed remains broadly correct, subject to the changes which are mentioned in the Prologue. It seemed preferable, in dealing with the central theme of areas and authorities, to survey separately the principal changes which have taken place during recent years or are now impending. By so doing the reader will obtain a better appreciation of their significance and of the emerging trends than if they were dispersed in a series of amendments to the text of Part I. I have, therefore, added a lengthy prologue which brings together the developments which have occurred since 1930 or are now in process of taking place.

The next part deals with the functions of local authorities, looked at from the most general point of view. The reader will find here a number of considerations of the widest significance. The need to raise our system of local government out of the pedestrian rut into which it has fallen is the main theme of this chapter. Freedom and responsibility, as alternatives to centralization and restraint, are discussed mainly from the point of view of the extent to which they permit or encourage the municipality to promote activities of a cultural character. Next comes a dissertation on the Local Government Service, which may be regarded as the cornerstone of the whole edifice. This has been extensively revised so as to incorporate the many changes of fact and of policy which have occurred. Here one is glad to record substantial progress in bringing about improvements which in the earlier editions were proposed as desirable, but the realization of which seemed remote.

The book has hitherto contained a part dealing with public health administration, in which I described the welter of authorities responsible for various branches of public health and demonstrated the overlapping, waste, inefficiency and extravagance that resulted from these arrangements. I further argued the need for an integration and simplification of health administration, both at the centre and in the localities; and put forward a number of proposals designed to achieve this end. In view of the radical transformation effected by the National Health Service Act, this chapter has served its purpose, and is no longer relevant. It is therefore omitted.

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