| Unitary authority area | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Category | Local authority districts |
| Location | England |
| Found in | Regions |
| Number | 62 (as of 2023) |
| Possible types |
|
| Possible status | |
| Populations | 40,000–600,000 |
| This article is part ofa series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the |
 |
|---|
UK General Elections in England |
In England, aunitary authority orunitary council[1][2] is a type oflocal authority responsible for alllocal government services in an area. They combine the functions of anon-metropolitan county council and anon-metropolitan district council, which elsewhere in England provide two tiers of local government.
The district that is governed by a unitary authority is commonly referred to as aunitary authority area[3][4] orunitary area.[2][5] The termsunitary district and, for those which are coterminous with a county,unitary county are also sometimes used.[6][7][8][9] The term unitary authority is also sometimes used to refer to the area governed, such as in theISO 3166-2:GB standard defining a taxonomy for subdivisions of the UK,[10] and in colloquial usage.[11][12][13][14]
Unitary authorities are constituted under theLocal Government Act 1992, which amended theLocal Government Act 1972 to allow the existence of non-metropolitan counties that do not have multiple districts. Most wereestablished during the 1990s, with morecreated in 2009 and2019–23. The size of the areas governed by unitary authorities varies greatly; the authorities created in the 1990s were generally created from single districts and covered a single large town or city, while those created since 2009 often cover entire non-metropolitan counties.
In addition to the authorities created under the 1992 act, the term unitary authority has also been used in a broader sense that is inclusive of all single-tier councils, such as those forLondon boroughs andmetropolitan boroughs.[15][11]
The term "unitary authority" was first used in theRedcliffe-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.[16] Strictly speaking, the term does not necessarily mean a single level of local government within an area, because in some cases there are alsoparish councils in the same area.
Although the term was not applied to them,county boroughs between 1889 and 1974 were effectively unitary authority areas, 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 ascounties corporate. Some smaller settlements also enjoyed some degree of autonomy from regular administration asboroughs orliberties.
TheLocal 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 theIsles 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 sixmetropolitan counties andGreater London, where the upper-tier authorities were abolished and their functions were split between central government, the borough councils and joint boards.[17]
A review in the 1990s was initiated to select non-metropolitan areas where new unitary authorities could be created.[18] 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 county administration of Berkshire was dissolved, though the county legally preserved to retain for its territory itsroyal designation, and each of its district councils became unitary; the counties ofAvon,Humberside andCleveland were broken up to create several unitary authorities; and a number of districts were split off from their associated counties.[17] The changes caused theceremonial counties to be defined separately, as they had been before 1974. The review caused 46 unitary authorities to be created.[17]
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 inCounty Durham,Shropshire andWiltshire covering the part of the county that was not already split off in the 1990s review; and divided the remainder ofBedfordshire andCheshire into two unitary authority areas. The review caused nine unitary authorities to be created.
In 2017, it was proposed that two unitary authority areas be formed to cover the ceremonial county ofDorset. One of the authorities would consist of the existing unitary authorities ofBournemouth,Poole and the non-metropolitan district ofChristchurch, the other would be composed of the remainder of the county.[19] 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 namedBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council andDorset Council, have been made and shadow authorities for the new council areas were formed ahead of theircreation on 1 April 2019.[20][21]
Buckinghamshire County Council and the non-metropolitan districts ofAylesbury Vale,Chiltern,South Bucks, andWycombe inBuckinghamshire were replaced by a single unitary authority known asBuckinghamshire Council on 1 April 2020. The existing unitary authority ofMilton Keynes was not affected; from 1 April 2020, therefore, the ceremonial county ofBuckinghamshire has been composed of two unitary authority areas.[22][23]
In March 2018, an independent report commissioned by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, proposed structural changes to local government inNorthamptonshire. These changes would see the existing county council and district councils abolished and two new unitary authorities created in their place.[24] One authority,West Northamptonshire, would consist of the existing districts ofDaventry,Northampton andSouth Northamptonshire and the other authority,North Northamptonshire would consist ofCorby,East Northamptonshire,Kettering andWellingborough districts.[25] This was confirmed in May 2019, with the new councils being created in April 2021.
In July 2021 theMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that in April 2023, the non-metropolitan counties ofCumbria,North Yorkshire andSomerset would be reorganised into unitary authority areas.[26] The new authorities,Cumberland,Westmorland and Furness,North Yorkshire Council andSomerset Council were first elected in May 2022 and formally assumed their powers on 1 April 2023.
TheLabour Party returned to power following the2024 general election, and in herAutumn budget statement, Chancellor of the ExchequerRachel Reeves outlined that a forthcomingEnglish Devolution Bill would include plans for "working with councils to move to simpler structures that make sense for their local areas", suggesting that a new round of local government reorganisation could be likely.[27][28]
In February 2025Jim McMahon, the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution, wrote to all two-tier and unitary councils in England stating that all local government will move to a unitary system with new council areas having a target population of at least 500,000. Councils were invited to work together and submit an interim plan by 21 March 2025 and a final proposal for reorganisation by 28 November 2025.[29] Local elections in East Sussex, West Sussex, Essex, Thurrock, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Suffolk and Surrey were delayed inMay 2025, to accommodate local reorganization[30] as well as the inaugural mayoral elections of newCombined authorities of Norfolk and Suffolk, Greater Essex, Sussex and Brighton, and Hampshire and the Solent, inMay 2026, and Cumbria, and Cheshire & Warrington, in 2027.
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.[31]
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:[32]
| Service | Non-metropolitan county | Non-metropolitan district | Unitary authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education |  Y | Y | |
| Transport | Y | Y | |
| Housing | Y | Y | |
| Planning | Y | Y | |
| Planning applications | Y | Y | |
| Fire and public safety | Y | Y | |
| Social care | Y | Y | |
| Libraries | Y | Y | |
| Waste management | Y | Y | |
| Rubbish collection | Y | Y | |
| Recycling | Y | Y | |
| Trading standards | Y | Y | |
| Council Tax collections | Y | Y |
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.[33]
Most unitary authority areas are divided into a number of multiple memberwards 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.[34]
Districts are usually named after a town, city, geographical area or county (historic and or ceremonial). With no effect on powers or functions, districts can have the status ofroyal borough,borough orcity. A district having a charter is dependent on the charter's wording: as acharter trustee to a place in the district; having joint charter to the place and district or to the district itself.
| Area | Authority | Created | Dissolved | Ceremonial County | Replaced by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bournemouth | Bournemouth Borough Council | 1997 | 2019 | Dorset | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole |
| Poole | Poole Borough Council |
TheCouncil of the Isles of Scilly is asui generis single-tier authority, created in 1890 and since 1930 has held the "powers, duties and liabilities" of a county council.[71] It thus does not fit the narrower definition of unitary authority as those authorities created under theLocal Government Act 1992. The 36metropolitan 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 withjoint boards and arrangements. On the other hand, theCity of London Corporation and the 32London borough councils, although they have a high degree of autonomy, share strategic functions with the directly electedMayor of London andLondon Assembly.
Unitary authorities should not be confused with another formation in English local government, thecombined authority.
I live in a unitary authority—a London borough—and if I were given the choice, I, personally, would vote to move to a unitary authority.
...not a single court will remain in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire
The delayed start of term at the school in the unitary authority of Windsor and Maidenhead, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire
Swansea used to be in a county called 'west Glamorgan' but this hasn't existed since 1996 when the old counties were replaced by 22 unitary authorities. Swansea is currently in the unitary authority of 'Swansea'.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| Region | |
|---|---|
| County | |
| District andcivil parish | |