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Municipal Corporations Act
The Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 allowed local councils to become corporations. This would give the council the right to levy taxes and oversee the spending of these rates on local services. However, in 1835 only established towns were granted this privilege, so many of the new towns in which the population was soaring were not granted corporation status at this time. This was sill the case in 1848, when 62 large towns still had no council.
The main terms of the act were:
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Borough councils were to be elected by all male ratepayers who had lived in the town for three years
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Councillors were elected for three years at a time and one-third of the council was to be elected annually
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Councillors would choose the mayor, who would hold office for one year
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Councillors would choose a group of Aldermen who would hold office for six years
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Each borough was to have a paid town clerk and treasurer. Accounts were to be properly audited
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Councils were required to form a police force
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Councils, if they so wished, could take over social improvements such as proper drainage and street cleaning
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Towns and cities that had no council could apply for incorporation if they so wished
Source: http://www.dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/adw03/peel/politics/municip.htm
Bradford was granted a Borough Charter in 1847, from which date the local council was empowered under the terms noted above.