Little Thetford - Governance

Governance

In 1929, Stretham and Little Thetford were together one of the twelve parishes of the South Witchford Hundred, with a total area of 58 square miles (150 km2). The village of Little Thetford is coterminous with the civil parish of Thetford. The civil parish today is in the ward of Stretham, which comprises three civil parishes, Stretham, Thetford, and Wilburton, each of which has an elected council. Thetford seems to be the preferred administrative name used for the village, however it is easily confused with Thetford in Norfolk. Parish council services include bus shelters, cemeteries, shared equity housing, local planning consultation, play areas, village halls, and war memorials. Parish council meetings are held in the village hall situated in each civil parish. Little Thetford is also an ecclesiastical parish, although the church no longer has the same administrative responsibilities as it had until the early 19th century. A civil parish need not cover the same area as an ecclesiastical parish, but in the case of Little Thetford, they do.

The civil parish councils were governed by Ely Rural District council from 1894 until 1974. East Cambridgeshire District Council (ECDC) was formed in 1974 with administration buildings in Ely. The district council collects council tax, provides services such as building regulations and local planning, leisure and tourism, handles issues strategic to the district, and many other services. ECDC is in turn governed by Cambridgeshire County Council which has administration buildings in Cambridge. The county council provides county-wide services such as major road infrastructure, fire and rescue, libraries and heritage, and strategic planning. A mobile library visits the village every fortnight.

The parish is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of South East Cambridgeshire. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It is also part of the East of England constituency of the European Parliament which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.