Subdivisions of England explained

Subdivisions of England
Map:	Subdivisions of England (as of 1 April 2023) that have a principal local authority: two-tier non-metropolitan counties and their non-metropolitan districts; metropolitan boroughs; unitary authorities; London boroughs; and the sui generis City of London and Isles of Scilly.
Territory:	England
Subdivision:	Class: nowrap Bodystyle: width:auto; Labelstyle: font-weight:normal;white-space:nowrap; Datastyle: text-align:right; Label1: Type Data1: Number Data2: 9 Data3: 48 Data4: 6 Data5: 21 Data7: 10,449

The subdivisions of England constitute a hierarchy of administrative divisions and non-administrative ceremonial areas.

Overall, England is divided into nine regions and 48 ceremonial counties, although these have only a limited role in public policy. For the purposes of local government, the country is divided into counties, districts and parishes. In some areas, counties and districts form a two-tier administrative structure, while in others they are combined under a unitary authority. Parishes cover only part of England.

The current system is the result of incremental reform which has its origins in legislation enacted in 1965 and 1972.^[1]

Administrative

England has a non-universal structure of local government subdivisions. There are two tiers of local government subdivision - (administrative) counties and districts (known as boroughs in London).^[2]

Different local divisions exist across England:

• Tier structure:
  • County tier
  • District tier
• Authority structure:
  • Combined authority and Greater London Authority
  • Unitary authority, Metropolitan borough and London borough

The authority structure is slowly replacing the tier structure and metropolitan boroughs with all the metropolitan boroughs in combined authorities and periodic abolitions of the tier structure councils into unitary authority councils.

Tiers

The 1974 reform of local government established the tier structure throughout England with county authorities in metropolitan and Greater London also existing, 1986 reform abolished these. From the 1996 reform the structure's use has been declining, 21 tiered areas remain out of the original 48. The county tier provides the majority of services, including education and social services while the 164 district-tier councils have a more limited role.

Authorities

As of April 2023, there are 62 unitary authorities. Unitary authorities have control of their areas functioning.^[3] There is a general push towards the reorganisation of English local government to the authority structure, often reorganisation is a condition of new devolution powers.^[4] 46 unitary authorities were created from the 1996 reform, nine more were created in 2009, followed by further changes in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023. The Greater London administrative area was created in 1965 with 32 boroughs, excluding the City of London. Six Metropolitan two-tiered areas were created in 1974, similar to the Greater London model. These county-tier councils had extra devolved powers to others. In 1986, the county-tier was abolished with the London boroughs, Metropolitan boroughs and combined boards remaining. Apart from status these boroughs have the same powers to unitary authorities.

Combined authorities operate the opposite way round to the county in a tier structure, the combined authority acts on what the unitary authorities have agreed upon to focus on and what powers have been given by central government. In 2000, the Greater London Authority was created with an elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.^[5] In 2010, the Greater Manchester Comined Authority was created with a similar modal to the GLA a with further combined authorities based on the GMCA created., 10 combined authorities and the Greater London Authority currently exist.

Other

Sui generis

The Isles of Scilly are governed by a sui generis local authority called the Council of the Isles of Scilly. The authority was established in 1890 as the Isles of Scilly Rural District Council. It was renamed but otherwise unreformed by the changes in local government that occurred in 1974 in the rest of England outside Greater London.^[6] Although effectively a unitary authority, for example it is an education authority,^[7] the Isles of Scilly are part of the Cornwall ceremonial county and combine with Cornwall Council for services such as health^[8] and economic development.^[9]

The ancient City of London forms a 33rd division and is governed by the City of London Corporation, a sui generis authority unlike any other in England^[5] that has largely avoided any of the reforms of local government in the 19th and 20th centuries.^[10]

Civil parishes

See main article: Civil parishes in England. The civil parish is the most local unit of government in England.^[1] A parish is governed by a parish council or parish meeting, which exercises a limited number of functions that would otherwise be delivered by the local authority. There is one civil parish in Greater London (Queen's Park, in the City of Westminster),^[11] and not all of the rest of England is parished. The number of parishes and total area parished is growing.

Non-administrative

Regions

See main article: Regions of England. At the highest level, all of England is divided into nine regions that are each made up of a number of counties and districts. These "government office regions" were created in 1994,^[12] and from the 1999 Euro-elections up until the UK's exit from the EU, they were used as the European Parliament constituencies in the United Kingdom and in England's European Parliament constituencies.

The regions vary greatly in their areas covered, populations and contributions to the national economy. All have the same status, except London which has substantive devolved powers.^[13]

There was a failed attempt to create elected regional assemblies outside London in 2004 and since then the structures of regional governance (regional assemblies, regional development agencies and local authority leaders' boards) have been subject to review. Following the change of government in 2010, these were scheduled for abolition by 2012.

Ceremonial and historic counties

See main article: Ceremonial counties of England and Historic counties of England. For non-administrative purposes, England is wholly divided into 48 ceremonial counties.^[14] These are used for the purposes of appointing Lords Lieutenant who are the Crown's representatives in those areas as well as a way of grouping non-metropolitan counties. They are taken into consideration when drawing up Parliamentary constituency boundaries. Ceremonial counties are commonly named after historic counties, the ceremonial county acts as an in between for the administrative boundaries and long established areas used in fields such as sport.

Titles, non-metropolitan and metropolitan counties

See main article: Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England and Districts of England. County-tier councils and each unitary authority are separate non-metropolitan counties, each non-metropolitan county can be known as a district, city or borough. Berkshire is an anomaly in this arrangement whereby its districts became unitary authorities, the non-metropolitan county remain to keep the title of Royal county, in the same way the metropolitan county remained when the county-tier councils were abolished.^[15] Each correspond to an administrative body.

Non-metropolitan districts can also be a borough, city or district. Unitary authority areas are joint non-metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts.

Lists

See also: List of county councils in England.

See also: List of English districts.

Regions

Type	Region
Set up	1994
	9
Units	East of England East Midlands London North East North West South East South West West Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber

Non-metropolitan (two-tier)

Type	Non-metropolitan county	Non-metropolitan district
Set up	1974	1974
	21	164
Units	Cambridgeshire Derbyshire Devon East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Hampshire Hertfordshire Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Norfolk Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Warwickshire West Sussex Worcestershire	List of districts

Metropolitan

Type	County	Borough
Set up	1974	1974
	6	36
Units	Greater Manchester	Bolton Bury Manchester Oldham Rochdale Salford Stockport Tameside Trafford Wigan
	Merseyside	Knowsley Liverpool Sefton St Helens Wirral
	South Yorkshire	Barnsley Doncaster Rotherham Sheffield
	Tyne and Wear	Gateshead Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside South Tyneside Sunderland
	West Midlands	Birmingham Coventry Dudley Sandwell Solihull Walsall Wolverhampton
	West Yorkshire	Bradford Calderdale Kirklees Leeds Wakefield

London

Type	London borough	Sui generis
Set up	1965	in antiquity
	32	1
Units	Barking and Dagenham Barnet Bexley Brent Bromley Camden City of Westminster Croydon Ealing Enfield Greenwich Hackney Hammersmith and Fulham Haringey Harrow Havering Hillingdon Hounslow Islington Kensington and Chelsea Kingston upon Thames Lambeth Lewisham Merton Newham Redbridge Richmond upon Thames Southwark Sutton Tower Hamlets Waltham Forest Wandsworth	City of London
Total	33

Unitary authorities

Type	Set up		Units
County gained district functions	2023	2	North Yorkshire Somerset
District(s) gained county functions	2023	2	Cumberland Westmorland and Furness
District(s) gained county functions	2021	2	North Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire
District(s) gained county functions	2020	1	Buckinghamshire
District(s) gained county functions	2019	2	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Dorset
County gained district functions	2009	5	Cornwall Durham Northumberland Shropshire Wiltshire
District(s) gained county functions	2009	4	Bedford Central Bedfordshire Cheshire East Cheshire West and Chester
District(s) gained county functions	1998	21	Blackburn with Darwen Blackpool Bracknell Forest Halton Herefordshire Medway Nottingham Peterborough Plymouth Reading Slough Southend-on-Sea Stoke-on-Trent Swindon Telford and Wrekin Thurrock Torbay Warrington West Berkshire Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham
District(s) gained county functions	1997	11 9	Bournemouth Brighton and Hove Derby Darlington Leicester Luton Milton Keynes Poole Portsmouth Rutland Southampton
District gained county functions	1996	13	Bath and North East Somerset Bristol East Riding of Yorkshire Hartlepool Kingston upon Hull Middlesbrough North East Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire North Somerset Redcar and Cleveland South Gloucestershire Stockton-on-Tees York
County gained district functions	1995	1	Isle of Wight
Sui generis	1890	1	Isles of Scilly
Total		63

Civil parishes

• List of civil parishes in England

Hierarchical list of regions, strategic authorities, counties and districts

Region	Strategic authority	Ceremonial county	Metropolitan or non-metropolitan county	Districts
East of England			1. Thurrock U.A.
			2. Southend-on-Sea U.A.
			3. Essex †	a) Harlow, b) Epping Forest, c) Brentwood, d) Basildon, e) Castle Point, f) Rochford, g) Maldon, h) Chelmsford, i) Uttlesford, j) Braintree, k) Colchester, l) Tendring
		4. Hertfordshire †		a) Three Rivers, b) Watford, c) Hertsmere, d) Welwyn Hatfield, e) Broxbourne, f) East Hertfordshire, g) Stevenage, h) North Hertfordshire, i) St Albans, j) Dacorum
			5. Luton U.A.
			6. Bedford U.A.
			7. Central Bedfordshire U.A.
			8. Cambridgeshire †	a) Cambridge, b) South Cambridgeshire, c) Huntingdonshire, d) Fenland, e) East Cambridgeshire
			9. Peterborough U.A.
		10. Norfolk †		a) Norwich, b) South Norfolk, c) Great Yarmouth, d) Broadland, e) North Norfolk, f) Breckland, g) King's Lynn and West Norfolk
		11. Suffolk †
East Midlands			1. Derbyshire †	a) High Peak, b) Derbyshire Dales, c) South Derbyshire, d) Erewash, e) Amber Valley, f)  North East Derbyshire, g) Chesterfield, h) Bolsover
			2. Derby U.A.
			3. Nottinghamshire †	a) Rushcliffe, b) Broxtowe, c) Ashfield, d) Gedling, e) Newark and Sherwood, f) Mansfield, g) Bassetlaw
			4. Nottingham U.A.
		Lincolnshire	5. Lincolnshire †	a) Lincoln, b) North Kesteven, c) South Kesteven, d) South Holland, e) Boston, f) East Lindsey, g) West Lindsey
			6. Leicestershire †	a) Charnwood, b) Melton, c) Harborough, d) Oadby and Wigston, e) Blaby, f) Hinckley and Bosworth, g) North West Leicestershire
			7. Leicester U.A.
		8. Rutland U.A.
			9. West Northamptonshire U.A.
			10. North Northamptonshire U.A.
London			none	a) City of Westminster, b) Kensington and Chelsea,c) Hammersmith and Fulham,d) Wandsworth,e) Lambeth,f) Southwark,g) Tower Hamlets,h) Hackney,i) Islington,j) Camden,k) Brent,l) Ealing,m) Hounslow,n) Richmond,o) Kingston upon Thames,p) Merton,q) Sutton,r) Croydon,s) Bromley,t) Lewisham,u) Greenwich,v) Bexley,w) Havering,x) Barking and Dagenham,y) Redbridge,z) Newham,aa) Waltham Forest,ab) Haringey,ac) Enfield,ad) Barnet,ae) Harrow,af) Hillingdon
			none
North East		1. Northumberland U.A.
		2. Tyne and Wear *		a) Newcastle upon Tyne, c) North Tyneside
				b) Gateshead, d) South Tyneside, e) Sunderland
			3. County Durham U.A.
			4. Darlington U.A.
			5. Hartlepool U.A.
			6. Stockton-on-Tees U.A.
		North Yorkshire
			7. Redcar and Cleveland U.A.
			8. Middlesbrough U.A.
North West
			1. Cumberland U.A.
			2. Westmorland and Furness U.A
			3. Lancashire †	a) West Lancashire, b) Chorley, c) South Ribble, d) Fylde, e) Preston, f) Wyre, g) Lancaster, h) Ribble Valley, i) Pendle, j) Burnley, k) Rossendale, l) Hyndburn
			4. Blackpool U.A.
			5. Blackburn with Darwen U.A.
		6. Greater Manchester *		a) Bolton, b) Bury, c) Manchester, d) Oldham, e) Rochdale, f) Salford, g) Stockport, h) Tameside, i) Trafford, j) Wigan
		7. Merseyside *		a) Knowsley, b) Liverpool, c) St. Helens, d) Sefton, e) Wirral
			8. Halton U.A.
			9. Warrington U.A.
			10. Cheshire West and Chester U.A.
			11. Cheshire East U.A.
South East		1. Berkshire ‡		a) West Berkshire U.A., b) Reading U.A., c) Wokingham U.A., d) Bracknell Forest U.A., e) Windsor and Maidenhead U.A., f) Slough U.A.
			2. Buckinghamshire U.A.
			3. Milton Keynes U.A.
			4. East Sussex †
			5. Brighton & Hove U.A.
			6. Kent †	a) Dartford, b) Gravesham, c) Sevenoaks, d) Tonbridge and Malling, e) Tunbridge Wells, f) Maidstone, g) Swale, h) Ashford, i) Folkestone and Hythe, j) Canterbury, k) Dover, l) Thanet
			7. Medway U.A.
		8. Oxfordshire †		a) Oxford, b) Cherwell, c) South Oxfordshire, d) Vale of White Horse, e) West Oxfordshire
		9. Surrey †		a) Spelthorne, b) Runnymede, c) Surrey Heath, d) Woking, e) Elmbridge, f) Guildford, g) Waverley, h) Mole Valley, i) Epsom and Ewell, j) Reigate and Banstead, k) Tandridge
		10. West Sussex †		a) Worthing, b) Arun, c) Chichester, d) Horsham, e) Crawley, f) Mid Sussex, g) Adur
			11. Hampshire †	a) Fareham, b) Gosport, c) Winchester, d) Havant, e) East Hampshire, f) Hart, g) Rushmoor, h) Basingstoke and Deane, i) Test Valley, j) Eastleigh, k) New Forest
			12. Southampton U.A.
			13. Portsmouth U.A.
		14. Isle of Wight U.A.
South West			1. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole U.A.
			2. Dorset U.A.
			3. North Somerset U.A.
			4. Somerset U.A.
			5. Bath and North East Somerset U.A
		6. Bristol U.A.
			7. South Gloucestershire U.A.
			8. Gloucestershire †	a) Gloucester, b) Tewkesbury, c) Cheltenham, d) Cotswold, e) Stroud, f) Forest of Dean
			9. Swindon U.A.
			10. Wiltshire U.A.
		Devon	11. Devon †	a) Exeter, b) East Devon, c) Mid Devon, d) North Devon, e) Torridge, f) West Devon, g) South Hams, h) Teignbridge
			12. Torbay U.A.
			13. Plymouth U.A.
			none	14. Isles of Scilly sui generis U.A.
			15. Cornwall U.A.
West Midlands		1. Herefordshire U.A.
			2. Shropshire U.A.
			3. Telford and Wrekin U.A.
			4. Staffordshire †	a) Cannock Chase, b) East Staffordshire, c) Lichfield, d) Newcastle-under-Lyme, e) South Staffordshire, f) Stafford, g) Staffordshire Moorlands, h) Tamworth
			5. Stoke-on-Trent U.A.
		6. Warwickshire †		a) North Warwickshire, b) Nuneaton and Bedworth, c) Rugby, d) Stratford-on-Avon, e) Warwick
		7. West Midlands *		a) Birmingham, b) Coventry, c) Dudley, d) Sandwell, e) Solihull, f) Walsall, g) Wolverhampton
		8. Worcestershire †		a) Bromsgrove, b) Malvern Hills, c) Redditch, d) Worcester, e) Wychavon, f) Wyre Forest
Yorkshire and the Humber		1. South Yorkshire *		a) Sheffield, b) Rotherham, c) Barnsley, d) Doncaster
		2. West Yorkshire *		a) Wakefield, b) Kirklees, c) Calderdale, d) Bradford, e) Leeds
		North Yorkshire	3. North Yorkshire U.A.
			4. York U.A.
			5. East Riding of Yorkshire U.A.
			6. Kingston upon Hull U.A.
		Lincolnshire	7. North Lincolnshire U.A.
			8. North East Lincolnshire U.A.

See also

• Combined authority

External links

• Map of the UK counties and unitary administrations
• Map of all UK local authorities

Notes and References

1. Jones, B., Kavanagh, D., Moran, M. & Norton, P., Politics UK, (2004), Pearson Longman.
2. Web site: Local government structure and elections . 2022-02-27 . GOV.UK . en.
3. Web site: 1992 . Local Government Act 1992 . 8 August 2010 . Office of Public Sector Information.
4. Web site: The political and governance implications of unitary reorganisation Local Government Association . 2022-02-27 . www.local.gov.uk . en.
5. Travers, T., The Politics of London, (2004), Palgrave
6. Web site: 1972 . Local Government Act 1972 . 9 August 2010 . Office of Public Sector Information.
7. Web site: Education and Learning . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090604165157/http://www.scilly.gov.uk/education/ . 4 June 2009 . 9 August 2010 . Council of the Isles of Scilly.
8. Web site: About Us . 9 August 2010 . Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust.
9. Web site: 30 July 2010 . The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Enterprise Partnership . 9 August 2010 . Cornwall Council.
10. Book: Hebbert, Michael . London: More by fortune than design . John Wiley & Sons . 1998.
11. News: Queen's Park parish council gets go-ahead . 2 August 2014 . 29 May 2012 . BBC News London .
12. Book: Atkinson, H. . Wilks-Heeg, S. . amp . Local Government from Thatcher to Blair . 2000 . Polity.
13. Collins, S., Colville, I & Pengelly, S., A Guide to the Greater London Authority, (2000), Sweet and Maxwell
14. Web site: 1997 . Lieutenancies Act 1997 . 8 August 2010 . Office of Public Sector Information.
15. Web site: 1996 . The Berkshire (Structural Change) Order 1996 . 13 September 2012 . National Archives(legislation.gov.uk).