Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act to abolish non-county boroughs as separate police areas; to provide for the amalgamation of county and county borough police areas; to provide for the purchase of land for police purposes by compulsory purchase order; to redefine the Metropolitan Police District; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid. |
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Citation | 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 46 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 15 April 1946 |
The Police Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 46) was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that provided for the amalgamation of smaller borough police forces with county constabularies in England and Wales, allowed for the merger of county forces in certain circumstances and changed the boundaries of the Metropolitan Police District.
The appointed day for the amalgamations was 1 April 1947. On that date forty-five non-county borough police forces were merged with those of the counties in which they were situated. In the case of fourteen of these boroughs, they had already been temporarily placed under the county police by the Defence (Amalgamation of Police Forces) Regulations 1942. Section 13 of the 1946 Act made these amalgamations permanent. One non-county borough force, Cambridge City Police, was allowed to continue, the city having a larger population than the surrounding county. The Act made similar provision for Peterborough City Police, although in the event it formed a combined force with the Soke of Peterborough. [1]
Following the 1947 mergers there were 133 police forces covering England and Wales: [2]
Section 3 of the Act allowed for the voluntary amalgamation of county and county borough forces, while Section 4 gave the Home Secretary the power to make amalgamation schemes of constabularies.
Section 16 provided for the "rectification" of the Metropolitan Police District, realigning it with contemporary local government boundaries.
Section 18 placed the Isles of Scilly under the Cornwall County Constabulary
The Home Secretary's powers under Section 4 of the Act were used on a number of occasions:
The counties of England are divisions of England. There are currently 48 ceremonial counties, which have their origin in the historic counties of England established in the Middle Ages. The current ceremonial counties are the result of the Lieutenancies Act 1997 and are based on the Local Government Act 1972 administrative counties which included a number of new counties such as Greater Manchester and Tyne and Wear. However, some counties introduced by the Local Government Act 1972, including Avon, Cleveland and Humberside no longer exist. The term "county", relating to any of its meanings, is used as the geographical basis for a number of institutions such as police and fire services, sports clubs and other non-government organisations.
Huntingdon and Peterborough was a short-lived administrative and geographical county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. It existed from 1965 to 1974, when it became part of Cambridgeshire.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary is the local territorial police force that covers the county of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough unitary authority. It provides law enforcement and security for an area of 1,311 square miles (3,400 km2) and population of 856,000 people, in a predominantly rural county. The force of Cambridgeshire includes the cities of Cambridge, Ely and Peterborough, the market towns of Chatteris, Huntingdon, March, Ramsey, St Ives, St Neots, Whittlesey, and town and Port of Wisbech. Its emblem is a crowned Brunswick star containing the heraldic badge of Cambridgeshire County Council.
Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are one of the four levels of subdivisions of England used for the purposes of local government outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly. As originally constituted, the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties each consisted of multiple districts, had a county council and were also the counties for the purposes of Lieutenancies. Later changes in legislation during the 1980s and 1990s have resulted in counties with no county council and 'unitary authority' counties with no districts. Counties for the purposes of Lieutenancies are now defined separately, based on the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties.
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in South East England.
Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the counties of Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire, Wales.
The Mid-Anglia Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in part of the East of England, from 1965 to 1974. It was created from the amalgamation of five forces. It was renamed Cambridgeshire Constabulary in 1974.
The Local Government Commission for England was established by the Local Government Act 1958 to review the organisation of local government, and make "such proposals as are hereinafter authorised for effecting changes appearing to the Commissions desirable in the interests of effective and convenient local government". Most of the commission's proposals failed to reach consensus and were not implemented, and the body was dissolved in 1967.
The Police Act 1964 (c.48) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that updated the legislation governing police forces in England and Wales, constituted new police authorities, gave the Home Secretary new powers to supervise local constabularies, and allowed for the amalgamation of existing forces into more efficient units.
Cornwall County Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Cornwall, England, until 1967.
Elections to the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark were held in 1949.
Elections to the Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey were held in 1949.
Elections to the Preston Municipal Borough Council were held in late 1949.
Winchester City Police was the police force of Winchester, Hampshire, England from 1832 to 1943.
The Isle of Wight Constabulary was a local police force on the Isle of Wight
Elections to Kesteven County Council were held on Saturday, 9 April 1949. Kesteven was one of three divisions of the historic county of Lincolnshire in England; it consisted of the ancient wapentakes of Aswardhurn, Aveland, Beltisloe, Boothby Graffoe, Flaxwell, Langoe, Loveden, Ness, and Winnibriggs and Threo. The Local Government Act 1888 established Kesteven as an administrative county, governed by a Council; elections were held every three years from 1889, until it was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972, which established Lincolnshire County Council in its place.
An election to the Carmarthenshire County Council was held in March 1949. It was preceded by the 1946 election and followed, by the 1952 election.
Elections to Stirlingshire County Council were held on 10 May 1949, the same day as the other county councils in Scotland. The election saw Labour lose its majority, with no party gaining an overall majority.
Elections to Fife County Council were held on 10 May 1949, the same day as the other county councils in Scotland. The election saw Labour win 18 of the 25 contested seats, with 5 going to the Moderates, and 2 to the Communists.