Quasi-official bodies in local government

Abstract

Superficially, English local government is easy to define — it consists of the thirty-nine County Councils, six Metropolitan County Councils, the GLC, 296 District Councils, thirty-six Metropolitan District Councils, thirty-two London Boroughs, the City of London, and approximately 1300 Parish Councils. However, the real problems lie beneath this placid surface. In addition to these statutory authorities there are innumerable autonomous and semi-autonomous, official and quasi-official organisations, each with its own part to play in the policy-making process. Created by the statutory authorities, they are not private voluntary bodies in the usual sense.