| Description | Papers re the Clay Cross rent rebellion
The documents in this collection are the personal papers of David Skinner, one of the eleven "rebel" councillors surcharged and barred from taking office. They include letters written to Mr Skinner by members of the public and political associations, as well as notes prepared for giving speeches at rallies and demonstrations up and down the country. There are also some essays written in 1974 by Mr Skinner while studying at Ruskin College, Oxford (an institution founded in 1899 to provide university-standard education for adults without formal qualifications). The collection includes a large amount of political ephemera and newspaper cuttings, and legal and administrative papers, largely relating to the audit and subsequent appeal. |
| Administrative History | Clay Cross, in the North-east of Derbyshire, found itself at the centre of one of the major political battles of the 1970s, when its Urban District Council refused to implement the provisions of the 1972 Housing Finance Act. The Act, passed by Edward Heath's Conservative government, increased the amount which councils were to charge for housing rent by £1 per week, from October of that year. The Labour-led UDC had been elected after promising to oppose the Act.
The dispute over housing was one of several conflicts between the UDC and the central government. The council had also made decisions to issue free television licences to Old Age Pensioners (claiming back the cost from Whitehall under the 1948 Socal Welfare Act) and to award a pay increase to some groups of employees in excess of that stipulated by the Pay Board.
An audit of the UDC's accounts was carried out in 1973. The District Auditor found that the councillors had failed in their legal duty to carry out the provisions of the Housing Finance Act and ordered them to pay a surcharge amounting to £635 each. After an appeal to the high court was rejected, the councillors continued to refuse to pay and were made bankrupt; they were also banned from holding public office for five years. |
| Custodial History | Donated to Derbyshire Record Office in September 2006. |