As Ashfield District Council celebrates its 50th birthday this month, changes are underway to the structure of local government in the region with the creation of a new East Midlands Combined Authority.
When it came into being on 1 April 1974, Ashfield District replaced three existing smaller district councils for Hucknall, Kirkby in Ashfield, and Sutton in Ashfield; and subsumed three wards from Basford district: Annesley, Felley and Selston.
The date also marks the re-constitution of Nottinghamshire County Council, which first came into being in 1889. The creation of Ashfield District and the re-constitution of Nottinghamshire County were part of local government changes brought about by the Local Government Act 1972.
The Act established two-tier local authorities in non-metropolitan areas like Nottinghamshire.
The lower-tier council, Ashfield, has responsibility for services including planning and building control, social housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, recycling and refuse collection, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure, parks, and tourism.
The upper-tier council, Nottinghamshire, has responsibility for wider services, including education, social services, libraries, roads and public transport, trading standards and waste disposal.
A new local government body has come into force this year: The East Midlands Combined County Authority brings together representatives from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire county councils, and the city councils for Nottingham and Derby. The new authority will be led by an Executive Mayor for the East Midlands, who will be elected on 2 May.
The East Midlands Combined County Authority will enable the four authorities to work together on issues including housing, jobs, transport and Net Zero, and provide local decision making in areas that were previously taken by the UK government. The devolution settlement also provides a guaranteed funding stream of £1.14 billion, or £38 million a year over the next 30 years from national government; as well as an extra £16.8 million for new homes on brownfield land.
“Devolution is an opportunity to bring decisions closer to where they have an impact, and to get a fairer share to help to close the gap in public investment in the East Midlands, so we can see more economic growth and new and better jobs”, the combined authority says on its website. “We can build on our region’s existing knowledge and expertise, for example in transport and green technology, promoting the growth of a future low carbon economy by investing in related skills training at colleges and other training facilities.”
The work of Ashfield District Council is unlikely to change with the creation of the combined authority, as the new body will work mainly in areas controlled by the two County and City local authorities in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
Celebrations of Ashfield’s golden jubilee are relatively muted. A temporary golden version of the Council’s logo has been produced for use on its website during this anniversary month and the next edition of Ashfield Matters, the printed information publication the council sends to all households in the district.
The celebratory golden version of Ashfield District Council’s logo, created to mark the 50th anniversary of its creation.
[Bullet] To vote in the election for an East Midlands Mayor on 2 May, you need to register to vote by 11.59 pm on Tuesday 16 April. You will also need an accepted form of photo identification to vote at a polling station. If you do not have any of the specified list, you can obtain a free Voter Authority Certificate. A full list of acceptable identification documents are available at the bottom of this article, which also lists the candidates.
Full details are available from the elections pages of Ashfield District Council’s website, or you can contact the helpful elections team by email or online form.