Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England

Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are one of the four levels of subdivisions of England used for the purposes of local government outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly. As originally constituted, the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties each consisted of multiple districts, had a county council and were also the counties for the purposes of Lieutenancies. Later changes in legislation during the 1980s and 1990s have allowed counties without county councils and 'unitary authority' counties of a single district. Counties for the purposes of Lieutenancies are now defined separately, based on the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties.

Metropolitan and non-metropolitan county
CategoryAdministrative counties
LocationEngland
Found inRegion
Created byLocal Government Act 1972
Created1974
Number82 (as of 1 April 2019)
Possible types  Metropolitan (6)
  Non-metropolitan (76)
Possible statusMultiple districts with no county council (6 metropolitan counties and 1 non-metropolitan county)
Multiple districts with county council (25 non-metropolitan counties)
Single district with unitary authority (50 non-metropolitan counties)
Subdivisions36 metropolitan districts
244 non-metropolitan districts
England
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In 2009 and 2019, there were further structural changes in some areas, resulting in a total of 82 metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties. These 82 counties collectively consist of 283 districts or district-level subdivisions, i.e. 36 metropolitan boroughs and 247 non-metropolitan districts (192 of these are subdivisions of non-metropolitan counties with county councils; 6 are subdivisions (and also unitary authorities, but without non-metropolitan county status) of Berkshire, which is a non-metropolitan county with no county council; and the remaining 49 are unitary authorities that have non-metropolitan county status).

Current metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England
Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England
  1. Northumberland *
  2. Tyne and Wear †
  3. Durham *
  4. Cumbria **
  5. Lancashire **
  6. Blackpool *
  7. Blackburn with Darwen *
  8. West Yorkshire †
  9. North Yorkshire **
  10. Darlington *
  11. Stockton-on-Tees *
  12. Middlesbrough *
  13. Hartlepool *
  14. Redcar and Cleveland *
  15. York *
  16. East Riding of Yorkshire *
  17. Kingston upon Hull *
  18. North Lincolnshire *
  19. North East Lincolnshire *
  20. Lincolnshire **
  21. Nottinghamshire **
  22. Nottingham *
  23. South Yorkshire †
  24. Derbyshire **
  25. Derby *
  26. Greater Manchester †
  27. Merseyside †
  28. Halton *
  29. Warrington *
  30. Cheshire West and Chester *
  31. Cheshire East *
  32. Shropshire *
  33. Telford and Wrekin *
  34. Staffordshire **
  35. Stoke-on-Trent *
  36. West Midlands †
  37. Warwickshire **
  38. Leicestershire **
  39. Leicester *
  40. Rutland *
  41. Northamptonshire **
  42. Peterborough *
  43. Cambridgeshire **
  44. Norfolk **
  45. Suffolk **
  46. Essex **
  47. Southend-on-Sea *
  48. Thurrock *
  49. Hertfordshire **
  50. Bedford *
  51. Central Bedfordshire *
  52. Luton *
  53. Milton Keynes *
  54. Buckinghamshire *
  55. Oxfordshire **
  56. Gloucestershire **
  57. Worcestershire **
  58. Herefordshire *
  59. South Gloucestershire *
  60. Bristol *
  61. North Somerset *
  62. Bath and North East Somerset *
  63. Wiltshire *
  64. Swindon *
  65. Berkshire ‡
  66. Medway *
  67. Kent **
  68. East Sussex **
  69. Brighton and Hove *
  70. West Sussex **
  71. Surrey **
  72. Hampshire **
  73. Southampton *
  74. Portsmouth *
  75. Isle of Wight *
  76. Dorset * (without Christchurch
    → Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole *)
  77. Poole ( → BC&P *)
  78. Bournemouth ( → BC&P *)
  79. Somerset **
  80. Devon **
  81. Torbay *
  82. Plymouth *
  83. Cornwall *

GL: Greater London ¹

† Metropolitan county (no county council).
‡ Non-metropolitan county with no county council.
** Non-metropolitan county with county council.
* Non-metropolitan county that is also a unitary authority.
¹ Region with no counties.

Metropolitan counties
Main article: Metropolitan county

The metropolitan counties are Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands and West Yorkshire. The counties typically have populations of 1.2 to 2.8 million.[1]

The county councils of these were abolished in 1986, but the counties themselves still exist legally.[2] They are used for some administrative and geographic purposes, and are still ceremonial counties. Most of the powers that the former county councils had were devolved to their metropolitan boroughs, which are now in effect unitary authorities; however, some functions (such as emergency services, civil defence and public transport) are still run jointly on a metropolitan-county-wide basis.[3]

Non-metropolitan counties
Main article: Non-metropolitan county

Shire counties

A shire county is a non-metropolitan county that has multiple districts. Its name does not need to have shire in it. The term shire county is unofficial.

There are 28 such counties:

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex, Worcestershire.

All, apart from Berkshire, have county councils. Sometimes shire county is used to exclude Berkshire, because it has no county council. The counties have populations of 109,000 to 1.4 million.[1] Under local government reforms coming into effect in 2009, the number of such counties was reduced. The non-metropolitan counties of Bedfordshire and Cheshire were split into two separate non-metropolitan counties respectively, while Cornwall, County Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire became unitary authorities each of a single district.

Unitary authorities
Main article: Unitary authorities of England

Unitary authorities are areas with only one council, and there are 55 in total.

49 are coterminous with a non-metropolitan county, 43 of which are defined as counties with a single district council and no county council: Bath and North East Somerset, Bedford, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Central Bedfordshire, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Darlington, Derby, East Riding of Yorkshire, Halton, Hartlepool, Herefordshire, Kingston upon Hull, Leicester, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, Borough of Milton Keynes, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North Somerset, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Poole, Portsmouth, Redcar and Cleveland, Rutland, South Gloucestershire, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent, Swindon, Telford and Wrekin, Thurrock, Torbay, Warrington, York. The other 6 are technically counties with a county council and no district councils, but the effect is the same: Isle of Wight, Cornwall, Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire

The remaining 6 unitary authorities (West Berkshire, Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Windsor and Maidenhead, Slough) are districts of Berkshire, however they are not non-metropolitan counties, as the non-metropolitan county of Berkshire still exists albeit without a county council; this is a unique situation.

Exceptions in England

The Local Government Act 1972 created the system of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties and districts, but specifically excluded two parts of England from the new system, a situation which exists to the present.

London

Greater London was created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963 as a sui generis administrative area,[4] with the Greater London Council functioning as an upper-tier local government. It consists of 33 local authority districts and spans the area which was prior made up of the County of London, most of Middlesex, and parts of other neighbouring administrative counties. In 1972, no metropolitan or non-metropolitan counties or districts were created in this area. However, the council was abolished along with the metropolitan county councils in 1986.

In 1994, Greater London was designated as one of nine regions of England, which each had a government office up until they were abolished 2011. Since 2000, Greater London has had an elected Assembly and Mayor responsible for strategic local government. In the other eight regions, plans for elected assemblies were abandoned (although they had regional chambers with limited functions between 1999 and 2010), leaving London as the only region with a conterminous authority.

The area does however include two counties for the purposes of lieutenancies: the county of Greater London (which covers the 32 London boroughs) and the City of London.

Isles of Scilly

The Isles of Scilly are, like Greater London, not covered by the system of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties. The Council of the Isles of Scilly remains a district council (constituted in 1890, by way of the Local Government Act 1888) with county council powers (granted by the Isles of Scilly Order 1930) and is therefore a sui generis unitary authority. Some functions, such as health and economic development, are shared with Cornwall Council, and the islands form part of the ceremonial county of Cornwall.

History

The current system of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties came into effect on 1 April 1974 and replaced the administrative counties and county boroughs, which were abolished at that time. Greater London was created in 1965 under separate legislation.

In the 1990s, a new type of non-metropolitan county was created: the unitary authority, which combines the functions and powers of county and district. The existing non-metropolitan counties became known as shire counties to distinguish them from the unitary authorities.

Local Government Act 1972
Main article: Local Government Act 1972

By the late 1960s, it had become obvious that the structure of local government in England and Wales needed reforming. Harold Wilson's Labour government set up the Redcliffe-Maud Commission to produce proposals for wholesale reform.

The report proposed that for most of England the two-tier structure be abolished, and replaced with a system of 58 unitary authorities, which would generally ignore the previous administrative boundaries in favour of changes that made geographic sense - a total redrawing of the map. In the South of Lancashire, North East of Cheshire and the Birmingham area, there would be 3 metropolitan areas, with 20 district authorities.

These proposals were opposed by the Conservative Party opposition led by Edward Heath. They won the 1970 general election, and set to work defining their own scheme. This scrapped the concept of unitary authorities (even for existing county boroughs) – the entire area of England and Wales was to be divided into uniform counties and districts. In England the new divisions were to be largely modelled on the existing counties with quite radical reforms put forward, even in some non-metropolitan areas.

Despite reassurances from the government that nobody's loyalties were expected to change as a result of the local government reform, many changes did incur significant local opposition. Most of the radical changes were withdrawn. One aspect the government stood firm on was the mergers of small counties. Campaigns for the continuation of Rutland and Herefordshire were unsuccessful, although due to its special geographic circumstances, the Isle of Wight was permitted to retain a separate county council, as opposed to being reunified with its historic county of Hampshire.

The Local Government Act was passed in 1972, and defined the English counties and metropolitan districts, but not the non-metropolitan districts. These were set by a Boundary Commission that had already begun work.[5]

The metropolitan counties were composed as follows:

Other significant changes were:

The changes were adopted by the Royal Mail for the purposes of postal addresses wherever they were able, with the notable exceptions of Hereford and Worcester and Greater Manchester. Humberside was divided for this purpose into North Humberside and South Humberside.

Map 1974–1996
Counties of England from 1974 to 1996
  1. Northumberland
  2. Tyne and Wear
  3. Durham
  4. Cleveland
  5. North Yorkshire
  6. Cumbria
  7. Lancashire
  8. Merseyside
  9. Greater Manchester
  10. West Yorkshire
  11. South Yorkshire
  12. Humberside
  13. Lincolnshire
  14. Nottinghamshire
  15. Derbyshire
  16. Cheshire
  17. Shropshire
  18. Staffordshire
  19. West Midlands
  20. Warwickshire
  21. Leicestershire
  22. Northamptonshire
  23. Cambridgeshire
  24. Norfolk
  25. Suffolk
  26. Essex
  27. Hertfordshire
  28. Bedfordshire
  29. Buckinghamshire
  30. Oxfordshire
  31. Gloucestershire
  32. Hereford and Worcester
  33. Avon
  34. Wiltshire
  35. Berkshire
  36. Greater London
  37. Kent
  38. East Sussex
  39. West Sussex
  40. Surrey
  41. Hampshire
  42. Isle of Wight
  43. Dorset
  44. Somerset
  45. Devon
  46. Cornwall

Abolition of metropolitan county councils
Main article: Local Government Act 1985

In 1986, the county councils of the metropolitan counties and the Greater London Council were abolished by Margaret Thatcher's government following disputes with central government, but the counties themselves remained legally in existence.

Local Government Act 1992
Main article: Local Government Commission for England (1992)
1 April 1996 to 31 March 1997
1 April 1997 to 31 March 1998
1 April 1998 to 31 March 2009

The 1990s led to the restoration of county boroughs under a new name, unitary authorities, which radically changed the administrative map of England. The changes were carried out in several waves.

On 1 April 1995, the Isle of Wight became a single unitary authority. It had previously had a two-tier structure with an Isle of Wight County Council, Medina Borough Council and South Wight Borough Council. Also on this day, two small areas were ceded from Surrey and Buckinghamshire to Berkshire, giving it a border with Greater London.

On 1 April 1996, the unpopular counties of Avon, Humberside and Cleveland were abolished and their former area divided into unitary districts. Also at this time, the city of York was expanded and separated from North Yorkshire.

On 1 April 1997, the districts of Bournemouth, Darlington, Derby, Leicester, Luton, Milton Keynes, Poole, Portsmouth, Rutland, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent and Swindon (based on the former Thamesdown district) became unitary authorities. Also, the districts of Brighton and Hove were merged to form the new unitary authority of Brighton and Hove.

On 1 April 1998, Blackburn with Darwen (based on the former Blackburn district), Blackpool, Halton, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Southend-on-Sea, Telford and Wrekin (based on the former Wrekin district), Torbay, Thurrock and Warrington became unitary authorities. Also, the districts of Rochester-upon-Medway and Gillingham were merged to form the new unitary authority of Medway, and the county of Hereford and Worcester was abolished and replaced by the unitary authority of Herefordshire and the shire county of Worcestershire. Berkshire was split into six unitary authorities, but not formally abolished.

2009 structural changes
Main article: 2009 structural changes to local government in England

In April 2009, the following changes were made to the non-metropolitan counties:

Non-metropolitan countyAction
Borough of BedfordDistrict became a non-metropolitan county[6]
BedfordshireAbolished[6]
Central BedfordshireNew non-metropolitan county[6]
CheshireAbolished[7]
Cheshire EastNew non-metropolitan county[7]
Cheshire West and ChesterNew non-metropolitan county[7]

The effect was that Bedfordshire and Cheshire became ceremonial counties that do not correspond to a non-metropolitan county of the same name.

2019/2020 changes
  • 2019/2020 structural changes to local government in England — affecting the non-metropolitan counties in Dorset, Buckinghamshire and (proposed, 2021) in Northamptonshire.
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See also

References
  1. Jones, B. et al., Politics UK (2004)
  2. Elcock, H, Local Government (1994)
  3. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Aspects of Britain: Local Government (1996)
  4. Bryne, T., Local Government in Britain (1994)
  5. Arnold-Baker, C., Local Government Act 1972 (1973)
  6. Office of Public Sector Information - Bedfordshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008 (Draft)
  7. Office of Public Sector Information - Cheshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008 (Draft)
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