Charter trustees
In England and Wales, charter trustees are set up to maintain the continuity of a town charter or city charter after a district with the status of a borough or city has been abolished, until such time as a parish council is established. Duties are limited to ceremonial activities such as the election of a mayor, and various other functions depending upon local customs and laws.
The charter trustees are made up of local councillors in the district representing wards within the boundaries of the town/city. In the event that there are fewer than three district councillors for the former borough, qualified local electors may be co-opted to make the number up to three.
Charter trustees must hold an annual meeting within twenty-one days of the annual meeting of the district council. The first item of business is the election of a town or city mayor and deputy mayor for the next year. The charter trustees of Lowestoft failed to nominate any candidate for the office of town mayor for several years until a change of political control in 2003, the trustees being effectively in abeyance. The charter trustees of Worksop are also effectively in abeyance, having not elected a town mayor for over 30 years.
History
Local Government Act 1972
The original bodies of charter trustees were set up in 1974, under section 246 of the Local Government Act 1972. The concept was introduced into the Bill by a government amendment in September 1972.Section 245 of the Local Government Act 1972 allowed the 'shadow' district councils to make a petition to the Queen for borough status, before their coming into effect on 1 April 1974. In this case, if "it is signified on behalf of Her Majesty before that date that She proposes to accede" to the request then, the style of borough could be used immediately from 1 April 1974, despite the fact that the charter would be presented only later.
For the new districts which made no such petition, for each former municipal borough in the district, which was not to become a successor parish, a body corporate styled the charter trustees of the town or city, were established, under section 246 of the Act.
In the original legislation, charter trustees could also be formed in Welsh Districts, but the Charter Trustees Order 1974, which provided for the establishment of the trustees, stated that the section "shall not apply to the area consisting of the counties established by section 20 of the Act ", and "there will be no charter trustees in Wales."
Charter Trustees Act 1985
Originally, under section 246, when the district in which a town for which charter trustees had been established gained the status of a borough, the trustees would be immediately dissolved. Some new district councils petitioned for borough status soon after 1 April 1974, quickly dissolving the charter trustees.This was changed by the Charter Trustees Act 1985, which provided that charter trustees would cease to exist only when a parish council was formed for the area of the former borough.
Local Government Act 1992
Legislation passed in 1992 led to the establishment of Local Government Commission whose remit was to review the system created in 1974. As a result there was a partial reorganisation, with a number of districts with borough or city status being abolished. The mechanism of creating charter trustees to preserve civic traditions was again used. However, trustees were created only where an outgoing council requested their establishment. The failure of the extinguished City of Rochester-upon-Medway council to appoint charter trustees for Rochester or to apply for Rochester's city status to be transferred to the replacement unitary authority of Medway led to Rochester losing its city status.Some abolished boroughs such as Beverley included a large rural area. In such cases, the charter trustees were not established for the entire area of the former borough, but were limited to that part of the new authority which was unparished: the area identifiable as the town.
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007
A further wave of reorganisations came into effect in some areas of England on 1 April 2009, under the terms of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. The reforms saw the creation of new unitary authorities and the abolition of a number of districts with city or borough status. The Charter Trustees Regulations 2009 allow for the creation of trustees to preserve civic traditions in those areas where there is no obvious successor parish council. In the case of the cities of Chester and Durham the charter trustees area are identical to the entire abolished district, which includes not only the central unparished area but also the surrounding parishes.List
Changes in April 2009
The structural changes to local government in 2009 affected charter trustees. Trustees were formed in a number of new unitary authorities to preserve the mayoralty and civic traditions of abolished boroughs. At the same time, the charter trustees of Salisbury were dissolved on the parishing of the area.| New Authority | Boroughs or cities abolished | Charter trustees formed |
| Cheshire East | Borough of Congleton | Borough is completely parished. Charters and civic property likely to pass to Congleton Town Council. |
| Cheshire East | Borough of Crewe and Nantwich | Charter Trustees for Crewe. |
| Cheshire East | Borough of Macclesfield | Charter Trustees for Macclesfield. . |
| Cheshire West and Chester | City of Chester | Charter Trustees for the City of Chester, with lord mayoralty preserved. |
| Cheshire West and Chester | Borough of Ellesmere Port and Neston | Charter Trustees for Ellesmere Port formed as a temporary measure before creation of town council. |
| Cheshire West and Chester | Borough of Vale Royal | Borough is entirely parished. |
| Cornwall | Borough of Restormel | No action was taken, and borough status ceased on 31 March 2009 |
| County Durham | City of Durham | Charter trustees for the City of Durham |
| County Durham | Borough of Sedgefield | Privileges and rights relating to the borough charter transferred to Sedgefield Town Council. |
| Northumberland | Borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed | Civic functions of the Mayoralty and Shrievalty and all associated regalia were transferred to Berwick-upon-Tweed Town Council. |
| Northumberland | Borough of Blyth Valley | Area divided into three parishes of Blyth, Cramlington and Seaton Valley. |
| Northumberland | Borough of Castle Morpeth | The borough is entirely parished. |
| Shropshire | Borough of Oswestry | The borough is entirely parished. |
| Shropshire | Borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham | Shrewsbury Town Council formed 1 April 2009 |
| Wiltshire | Salisbury District | Existing charter trustees of the City of New Sarum will be dissolved with the creation of civil parish and Salisbury City Council in June 2009. |