| Sanitary district | |
|---|---|
| Category | Local government district |
| Location | England and Wales andIreland |
| Found in | County |
| Created by | Public Health Act 1872 Public Health Act 1875 Public Health (Ireland) Act 1878 |
| Created |
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| Abolished by | |
| Abolished |
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| Possible types |
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| Government |
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Sanitary districts were established inEngland and Wales in 1872 and inIreland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures:
Each district was governed by alocal board of health, which was responsible for various public health matters such as providing clean drinking water, sewers, street cleaning, and clearingslum housing.
In England and Wales both rural and urban sanitary districts were replaced under by theLocal Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) by the more generalrural districts andurban districts. A similar reform was carried out in Ireland in 1899 under theLocal Government (Ireland) Act 1898.
| Public Health Act 1872 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
.svg) | |
| Long title | An Act to amend the Law relating to Public Health. |
| Citation | 35 & 36 Vict. c. 79 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 10 August 1872 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | Statute Law Revision Act 1883 |
Sanitary districts were formed under the terms of thePublic Health Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. 79). Instead of creating new bodies, existing authorities were given additional responsibilities. The sanitary districts were created on 10 August 1872, when the act receivedroyal assent, and the existing authorities were able to exercise their new powers from their first meeting after that date.[1] The powers and responsibilities initially given to sanitary authorities in 1872 were relatively limited. They had to appoint a medical officer, but other powers were generally permissive rather than compulsory. Three years later thePublic Health Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. 55) substantially broadened the scope of powers and expectations on sanitary authorities.[2]
Urban sanitary districts were formed in anymunicipal borough governed under theMunicipal Corporations Act 1835, in anyimprovement commissioners district formed by private act of Parliament, and in anylocal government district formed under thePublic Health Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c. 63) orLocal Government Act 1858.
The existing governing body of the town (municipal corporation, improvement commissioners or local board of health) was designated as theurban sanitary authority.
When sanitary districts were formed there were approximately 225 boroughs, 575 local government districts and 50 improvement commissioners districts designated as urban sanitary districts. Over the next nineteen years the number changed: more urban sanitary districts were formed as towns adopted legislation forming local boards and as additional boroughs were incorporated; over the same period numerous urban sanitary districts were absorbed into expanding boroughs.
Rural sanitary districts were formed in all areas without a town government. They followed the boundaries of existingpoor law unions, less the areas of urban sanitary districts. Any subsequent change in the area of the union also changed the sanitary district. At the time of abolition in 1894, there were 572 rural sanitary districts.
Therural sanitary authority consisted of the existing poor law guardians for the rural parishes involved.
TheLocal Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) brought an end to sanitary districts in England and Wales. In boroughs, the corporation was already the sanitary authority. All other urban sanitary districts were renamed asurban districts, governed by an urban district council. Rural sanitary districts were replaced byrural districts, for the first time with a directly elected council. It was a requirement that whenever possible a rural district should be within a singleadministrative county, which led to many districts being split into smaller areas along county lines. A few rural districts with parishes in two or three different counties persisted until the 1930s.
TheLocal Government Act 1972 made district councils,London borough councils, theCity of London Corporation, andInner Temple andMiddle Temple sanitary authorities.
A system of sanitary districts was established in Ireland by thePublic Health (Ireland) Act 1878, modelled on that in England and Wales.[3]
Urban sanitary districts were established in the following categories of towns:
The existing corporation or commissioners became the urban sanitary authority. TheLocal Government Board for Ireland, created by the same act, could designate other towns with commissioners as urban sanitary districts.
Rural sanitary districts were formed in the same way as those in England and Wales, fromthe poor law unions with the boards of guardians as the rural sanitary authorities.
The urban and rural sanitary districts were superseded in 1899, under theLocal Government (Ireland) Act 1898, byurban and rural districts.[4] Unlike rural sanitary districts, rural districts could not cross county boundaries: so for instance, Ballyshannon rural sanitary district was split into Ballyshannon No. 1, Ballyshannon No. 2 and Ballyshannon No. 3 rural districts in Counties Donegal, Fermanagh and Leitrim respectively. The Local Government Act 1925 abolished rural districts in theIrish Free State, creating a single rural sanitary district for the non-urban portion of each county, called the "county health district".[5] The Local Government (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1934 allowed this district to be split on request of the county council;[6] this happened only inCounty Cork, the largest county, which was split into three health districts.[7]
| Public Health (Scotland) Act 1867 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act to consolidate and amend the Law relating to the Public Health in Scotland. |
| Citation | 30 & 31 Vict. c. 101 |
| Territorial extent | Scotland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 15 August 1867 |
Sanitary districts were not formed in Scotland. By thePublic Health (Scotland) Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c. 101) public health duties were given to the town councils, commissioners or trustees ofburghs, and toparochial boards. In 1890 the public health duties of parochial boards were allocated to the newly createdcounty councils, administered by district committees.
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The Public Health Bill having received royal assent on the 10th of August 1872, the provisions with regard to the constitution of the several sanitary districts and authorities took effect from that day.