Volume 15: Government and Public Administration
9. Local government
Functions

9.7 The main services for which counties were responsible were social services, education, transport, land use planning at a strategic level, and refuse disposal. Among their smaller services was Trading Standards and, although it was up to each authority to decide how to organise its staff and work, almost invariably the Trading Standards Department would be responsible for functions under the Animal Health Act 1981 relating to animal feedstuffs, and for consumer protection functions under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968. There was very little overlap in functions between counties and districts and none significant or relevant to the BSE story.

9.8 The main district services were housing, local land use planning (such as decisions on applications for planning permission), and refuse collection. Among the smaller services provided by District Councils was Environmental Health. They were therefore responsible for action under the Food Act 1984 and later the Food Safety Act 1990, including enforcement in abattoirs of the Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations and, later, the Specified Bovine Offal Regulations.

9.9 In Northern Ireland, the District Councils were responsible for food hygiene (like districts in Great Britain), but also for consumer protection (like counties in Great Britain). They were not responsible for the enforcement of meat hygiene legislation in abattoirs, which fell to the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland, but were responsible for this in certain meat products and plants producing meat preparations. ¹

9.10 Across the United Kingdom, a majority of local authorities were involved with BSE in one way or another. Those functions and responsibilities of local authorities that are relevant to the BSE story are described in more detail in vol. 14: Responsibilities for Human and Animal Health. In exercising their responsibilities, local authorities worked with central Departments; for example, with MAFF administrators or staff of the State Veterinary Service.