Unitary authorities of England

The unitary authorities of England are those local authorities which are responsible for the provision of all local government services within a district. They are constituted under the Local Government Act 1992, which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to allow the existence of counties that do not have multiple districts. They typically allow large towns to have separate local authorities from the less urbanised parts of their counties and originally provided a single authority for small counties where division into districts would be impractical. However, the UK government has more recently proposed the formation of much larger unitary authorities, including a single authority for North Yorkshire, the largest non-metropolitan county in England, at present divided into seven districts.^[1]

Unitary authority
Category	Local authority districts
Location	England
Found in	Regions
Number	58 (as of 2021)
Possible status	Coterminous non-metropolitan county and non-metropolitan district (52) Non-metropolitan district of Berkshire (6)
Populations	40,000–550,000

Unitary authorities do not cover all of England. Most were established during the 1990s, though further tranches were created in 2009 and 2019–21. Unitary authorities have the powers and functions that are elsewhere separately administered by councils of non-metropolitan counties and the non-metropolitan districts within them.

History

Background

The term "unitary authority" was first used in the Redcliffe-Maud Report in 1969 in its current sense of a local government authority which combines the functions of a county council and a district council.^[2] Strictly speaking, the term does not necessarily mean a single level of local government within an area, because in some cases there are also parish councils in the same area.

Although the term was not applied to them, county boroughs between 1889 and 1974 were effectively unitary authorities, that is, single-tier administrative units. Before 1889, local government authorities had different powers and functions, but from medieval times some cities and towns had a high degree of autonomy as counties corporate. Some smaller settlements also enjoyed some degree of autonomy from regular administration as boroughs or liberties.

The Local Government Act 1972 created areas for local government where large towns and their rural hinterlands were administered together. The concept of unitary units was abandoned with a two-tier arrangement of county and district councils in all areas of England, except the Isles of Scilly where the small size and distance from the mainland made it impractical. In 1986 a broadly unitary system of local government was introduced in the six metropolitan counties and Greater London, where the upper-tier authorities were abolished and their functions were split between central government, the borough councils and joint boards.^[3]

1990s reform

Main article: Local Government Commission for England (1992)

A review in the 1990s was initiated to select non-metropolitan areas where new unitary authorities could be created.^[4] The resulting structural changes were implemented between 1995 and 1998. Bristol, Herefordshire, the Isle of Wight and Rutland were established as counties of a single district; the district councils of Berkshire became unitary; the counties of Avon, Humberside and Cleveland were broken up to create several unitary authorities; and a number of districts were split off from their associated counties.^[3] The changes caused the ceremonial counties to be defined separately, as they had been before 1974. The review caused 46 unitary authorities to be created.^[3]

2009 changes

Main article: 2009 structural changes to local government in England

A further review was initiated in 2007 and was enacted in 2009. The review established Cornwall and Northumberland as counties of a single district; established unitary authorities in County Durham, Shropshire and Wiltshire covering the part of the county that was not already split off in the 1990s review; and divided the remainder of Bedfordshire and Cheshire into two unitary authorities. The review caused nine unitary authorities to be created.

Further reform

See also: 2019–2023 structural changes to local government in England

In 2016, Oxfordshire County Council put forward a 'One Oxfordshire' proposal which would see Oxford City Council and the four other district councils in Oxfordshire abolished and replaced with a single unitary county council for Oxfordshire. In 2017, Oxford City Council voiced their opposition to the proposal. A decision on whether the proposal will go ahead was to have been announced in March 2017.^{[citation needed]}

In 2017, it was proposed that two unitary authorities be formed to cover the ceremonial county of Dorset. One of the authorities would consist of the existing unitary authorities of Bournemouth, Poole and the non-metropolitan district of Christchurch, the other would be composed of the remainder of the county.^[5] In November 2017, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid stated that he was "minded to approve the proposals" and a final decision to implement the two unitary authority model was confirmed in February 2018. Statutory instruments for the creation of two unitary authorities, to be named Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council and Dorset Council, have been made and shadow authorities for the new council areas were formed ahead of their creation on 1 April 2019.^[6][7]

Buckinghamshire County Council and the non-metropolitan districts of Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, South Bucks, and Wycombe in Buckinghamshire were replaced by a single unitary authority known as Buckinghamshire Council on 1 April 2020. The existing unitary authority of Milton Keynes was not affected; from 1 April 2020, therefore, the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire has been composed of two unitary authorities.^[8][9]

In March 2018, an independent report commissioned by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, proposed structural changes to local government in Northamptonshire. These changes would see the existing county council and district councils abolished and two new unitary authorities created in their place.^[10] One authority, West Northamptonshire, would consist of the existing districts of Daventry, Northampton and South Northamptonshire and the other authority, North Northamptonshire would consist of Corby, East Northamptonshire, Kettering and Wellingborough districts.^[11] This was confirmed in May 2019, with the new councils being created in April 2021.

In July 2021 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that in April 2023, the non-metropolitan counties of Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Somerset will be reorganised into unitary authorities.^[12] The new authorities, Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness, North Yorkshire Council and Somerset Council were first elected in May 2022 and will formally assume their powers on 1 April 2023.

Restructuring

The process of changing from a two-tier local government to a structure based on unitary authorities is called 'restructuring'. The Secretary of State responsible for local government invites proposals from local areas to restructure into unitary authorities, and the Secretary decides whether or not the change should be implemented. The restructuring is carried out by an Order. There are no examples in the UK of councils restructuring back into a two-tier system.^[13]

Functions

Unitary authorities combine the powers and functions that are normally delivered separately by the councils of non-metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts. These functions are housing, waste management, waste collection, council tax collection, education, libraries, social services, transport, planning, consumer protection, licensing, cemeteries and crematoria. The breakdown of these services is as follows:^[14]

Service	Non-metropolitan county	Non-metropolitan district	Unitary authority
Education	Y		Y
Housing		Y	Y
Planning applications		Y	Y
Strategic planning	Y		Y
Transport planning	Y		Y
Passenger transport	Y		Y
Highways	Y		Y
Fire	Y		Y
Social services	Y		Y
Libraries	Y		Y
Leisure and recreation		Y	Y
Waste collection		Y	Y
Waste disposal	Y		Y
Environmental health		Y	Y
Revenue collection		Y	Y

Criticism

Unitary government has been criticised for damaging local democracy. Opponents to unitary authority criticise the 'bigger is better' assumption and highlight that larger councils breed mistrust of councillors and reduction in public engagement and voter turnout. Outside the UK, multi-level local government is the prevailing system, with major towns normally having a local authority. The average size of a local authority in England is 170,000, three times that of Europe.^[15]

Electoral arrangements

Most unitary authorities are divided into a number of multiple member wards from which councillors are elected in the same way as in two-tier district council elections. The exceptions, which are divided into electoral divisions as in county council elections, are Cornwall, County Durham, the Isle of Wight, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire.^[16]

Current unitary authorities

Most unitary authorities are legally defined as being coterminous non-metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts run by a single council. While it makes no difference, they can either be run by a county council that additionally has district powers and functions, or a district council that additionally has county powers and functions. If there is a county council, the district has no council, and vice versa. Districts can additionally have the status of borough or city, although this has no effect on their powers or functions.

Unitary Authority	Council	Created	Run by	Ceremonial County
Bath and North East Somerset^[17]	Bath and North East Somerset Council	1996	District	Somerset
Bedford^[18]	Bedford Borough Council	2009	District	Bedfordshire
Blackburn with Darwen^[19]	Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council	1998	District	Lancashire
Blackpool^[19]	Blackpool Council	1998	District	Lancashire
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole^[20]	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council	2019	District	Dorset
Bracknell Forest^[21]	Bracknell Forest Borough Council	1998	District^[a]	Berkshire
Brighton and Hove^[22]	Brighton and Hove City Council	1997	District	East Sussex
Bristol^[17]	Bristol City Council	1996	District	Bristol
Buckinghamshire^[23]	Buckinghamshire Council	2020	County	Buckinghamshire
Central Bedfordshire^[18]	Central Bedfordshire Council	2009	District	Bedfordshire
Cheshire East^[24]	Cheshire East Council	2009	District	Cheshire
Cheshire West and Chester^[24]	Cheshire West and Chester Council	2009	District	Cheshire
Cornwall^[25]	Cornwall Council	2009	County	Cornwall
County Durham^[26]	Durham County Council	2009	County	County Durham
Darlington^[27]	Darlington Borough Council	1997	District	County Durham
Derby^[28]	Derby City Council	1997	District	Derbyshire
Dorset^[20]	Dorset Council	2019	County	Dorset
East Riding of Yorkshire^[29]	East Riding of Yorkshire Council	1996	District	East Riding of Yorkshire
Halton^[30]	Halton Borough Council	1998	District	Cheshire
Hartlepool^[31]	Hartlepool Borough Council	1996	District	County Durham
Herefordshire^[32]	Herefordshire Council	1998	District	Herefordshire
Isle of Wight^[33]	Isle of Wight Council	1995	County	Isle of Wight
Kingston upon Hull^[29]	Hull City Council	1996	District	East Riding of Yorkshire
Leicester^[34]	Leicester City Council	1997	District	Leicestershire
Luton^[35]	Luton Borough Council	1997	District	Bedfordshire
Medway^[36]	Medway Council	1998	District	Kent
Middlesbrough^[31]	Middlesbrough Council	1996	District	North Yorkshire
Milton Keynes^[37]	Milton Keynes Council	1997	District	Buckinghamshire
North East Lincolnshire^[29]	North East Lincolnshire Council	1996	District	Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire^[29]	North Lincolnshire Council	1996	District	Lincolnshire
North Northamptonshire	North Northamptonshire Council	2021	District	Northamptonshire
North Somerset^[17]	North Somerset Council	1996	District	Somerset
Northumberland^[38]	Northumberland County Council	2009	County	Northumberland
Nottingham^[39]	Nottingham City Council	1998	District	Nottinghamshire
Peterborough^[40]	Peterborough City Council	1998	District	Cambridgeshire
Plymouth^[41]	Plymouth City Council	1998	District	Devon
Portsmouth^[42]	Portsmouth City Council	1997	District	Hampshire
Reading^[21]	Reading Borough Council	1998	District^[a]	Berkshire
Redcar and Cleveland^[31]	Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council	1996	District	North Yorkshire
Rutland^[34]	Rutland County Council District Council	1997	District	Rutland
Shropshire^[43]	Shropshire Council	2009	County	Shropshire
Slough^[21]	Slough Borough Council	1998	District^[a]	Berkshire
Southampton^[42]	Southampton City Council	1997	District	Hampshire
Southend-on-Sea^[44]	Southend-on-Sea City Council	1998	District	Essex
South Gloucestershire^[17]	South Gloucestershire Council	1996	District	Gloucestershire
Stockton-on-Tees^[31]	Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council	1996	District	County Durham and North Yorkshire
Stoke-on-Trent^[45]	Stoke-on-Trent City Council	1998	District	Staffordshire
Swindon^[46]	Swindon Borough Council	1998	District	Wiltshire
Telford and Wrekin^[47]	Telford and Wrekin Borough Council	1998	District	Shropshire
Thurrock^[44]	Thurrock Council	1998	District	Essex
Torbay^[41]	Torbay Council	1998	District	Devon
Warrington^[30]	Warrington Borough Council	1998	District	Cheshire
West Berkshire^[21]	West Berkshire Council	1998	District^[a]	Berkshire
West Northamptonshire	West Northamptonshire Council	2021	District	Northamptonshire
Wiltshire^[48]	Wiltshire Council	2009	County	Wiltshire
Windsor and Maidenhead^[21]	Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council	1998	District^[a]	Berkshire
Wokingham^[21]	Wokingham Borough Council	1998	District^[a]	Berkshire
York^[49]	City of York Council	1996	District	North Yorkshire

Notes

1. The non-metropolitan county of Berkshire was not abolished. Its council was abolished with districts taking on its functions. Unlike most unitary authorities, Berkshire's districts are not non-metropolitan counties.

Future unitary authorities

Four new unitary authorities will come into operation in 2023:

Unitary Authority	Council	Created	Run by	Ceremonial County
Cumberland^[50]	Cumberland Council	2023	District	Cumbria
North Yorkshire^[51]	North Yorkshire Council	2023	County	North Yorkshire
Somerset^[52]	Somerset Council	2023	County	Somerset
Westmorland and Furness^[50]	Westmorland and Furness Council	2023	District	Cumbria

Former unitary authorities

Unit	Authority	Formed	Reformed	Ceremonial County	Replacement
Bournemouth	Bournemouth Borough Council	1997	2019	Dorset	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Poole	Poole Borough Council

Similar authorities

The Council of the Isles of Scilly is a sui generis single-tier authority, created in 1890 and since 1930 has held the "powers, duties and liabilities" of a county council.^[53] It thus is not a unitary authority as those are such authorities created under the Local Government Act 1992. The 36 metropolitan borough councils are also the sole elected local government units in their areas (except for parish councils in a few locations), but share strategic functions with joint boards and arrangements. On the other hand, the City of London Corporation and the 32 London borough councils, although they have a high degree of autonomy, share strategic functions with the directly elected Mayor of London and London Assembly.

Combined authorities

Unitary authorities should not be confused with another formation in English local government, the combined authority.

See also

• Local government in England
• History of local government in England
• List of unitary authorities of England by population
• List of county councils in England
• Political make-up of unitary authorities in England

References

1. "Next steps for new unitary councils in Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Somerset". GOV.UK. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
2. Redcliffe-Maud Report I. vi 73, cited in Oxford English Dictionary Online, draft addendum February 2003, s.v. unitary. An earlier citation, in 1936, uses the term for the London County Council in the sense of an elected council for the whole of London.
3. Atkinson, H. & Wilks-Heeg, S. (2000). Local Government from Thatcher to Blair. Polity.
4. Jones, Kavanagh, Moran & Norton (2004). Politics UK (5th ed.). Pearson.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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6. "The Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole (Structural Changes) Order 2018". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
7. "Shadow Dorset Council". Shadow Dorset Council. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
8. Buckinghamshire unitary council plan gets go-ahead from BBC News
9. The Buckinghamshire (Structural Changes) Order 2019
10. "Troubled council 'should be scrapped'". BBC News. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
11. "Northamptonshire County Council 'should be split up', finds damning report". itv.com. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
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13. Sandford, Mark (22 July 2021). Unitary local government (Report). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
14. Frequently Asked Questions on the structural reviews of Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk, Boundary Commission for England
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