The latest edition of "Shaw's Local Government Directory" is the most important issue of this directory for years as it contains full details of the eight new Unitary Authorities formed from 1st April 2009. The purpose of this Directory is to provide information for the authorities, solicitors (and other conveyancers) and commercial organisations whose work brings them into contact with local authorities. As usual, the book gives the names, postal and Document Exchange addresses, and telephone and fax numbers of the authorities, listing locations of chief officers. Entries in the Directory are designed to make it easy to find the department and person with responsibility for a specific function. This removes the confusion that often arises due to the varying of departmental names and groupings of responsibilities in different authorities. Included are Electoral Registration Officers and Scottish Assessors who themselves find this book, and the gazetteer of places in particular, invaluable for their work with rolling registration. It also contains those functions relevant to conveyancers, as well as the authority-specific information of conveyancing fees and charges and the companies to contact with drainage and water enquiries. County court listings and land registry offices complete this valuable book. Full details of all the new authorities are given, together with cross-referencing, to enable the user to identify which new authorities have taken over from those that have been disbanded. The book also includes a substantial gazetteer of nearly 20,000 places, showing the authority within which each falls.