Council and democracy

The Council came into being on 1 April 1974 following the reform of the structure of local government put in place by the Local Government Act 1972.

Up to then, there were a number of different kinds of principal local authorities (i.e. those with wider powers and duties than parish councils): county councils, borough councils, urban district councils, rural district councils and county borough councils (the last named being "all purpose" authorities in terms of functions, covering larger towns and cities).

East Northamptonshire Council was an amalgamation of the following authorities:-

• Higham Ferrers Borough
• Irthlingborough Urban District
• Oundle and Thrapston Rural District
• Oundle Urban District
• Raunds Urban District
• Rushden Urban District

All the towns in the District except Rushden were granted successor parish status, with their own Town Council administering a number of minor functions at "grass roots" level. In April 2000 a Town Council was established for Rushden, the largest town in East Northamptonshire.

The arms of each of the former councils are displayed on shields in the Council Chamber at East Northamptonshire House, Thrapston. All Departments of the current Council are now located at Thrapston, although the Council also has Customer Service Centres in Rushden and Oundle.

The Council is not a unitary or "all purpose" authority, delivering the majority of local government services; other functions, such as education, social services and highways, are provided by Northamptonshire County Council. But the role and sphere of influence of the Council is considerable and to reflect this, the word "District" was dropped from the Council's title on 8 January 1996.

Find out what the council logo signifies.