Westmorland and Furness | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Kendal Town Hall, part of the headquarters ofWestmorland and Furness Council | |
 Westmorland and Furness shown withinCumbria | |
| Coordinates:54°19′34″N2°44′42″W / 54.326°N 2.745°W /54.326; -2.745 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | England |
| Region | North West |
| Ceremonial county | Cumbria |
| Historic county |
|
| Incorporated | 1 April 2023 |
| Named after | Westmorland andFurness |
| Administrative HQ | Kendal |
| Government | |
| • Type | Unitary authority |
| • Body | Westmorland and Furness Council |
| • Executive | Leader and cabinet |
| • Control | Liberal Democrats |
| • Leader | Jonathan Brook (LD) |
| • Chairman | Matt Severn |
| • MPs | |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,450 sq mi (3,756 km2) |
| • Rank | 3rd |
| Population (2024)[3] | |
• Total | 230,185 |
| • Rank | 84th |
| • Density | 160/sq mi (61/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| Postcode areas | |
| GSS code | E06000064 |
| Website | westmorlandandfurness |
Westmorland and Furness is aunitary authority area in theceremonial county ofCumbria, England. It coversWestmorland, theFurness peninsula, and the areas aroundPenrith andSedbergh. It is bordered byCumberland to the north and west,Northumberland,County Durham andNorth Yorkshire to the east, and theCity of Lancaster district ofLancashire to the south. Its largest town isBarrow-in-Furness and its administrative centre isKendal.
The unitary authority area was formed on 1 April 2023 duringlocal government restructuring which saw the abolition of the formernon-metropolitan county of Cumbria and its sixdistricts; Westmorland and Furness has the same area as the former districts ofBarrow-in-Furness,Eden, andSouth Lakeland. It remains part of Cumbria forceremonial purposes. Prior to thelocal government reforms of 1974, the area was split between the counties ofWestmorland,Cumberland, Lancashire andYorkshire.
Westmorland and Furness is a single-tier local government area, being both a non-metropolitan county and district. Its sole local authority isWestmorland and Furness Council, which provides the services of both a county council and a district council. Thefirst elections to the new authority took place in May 2022, with Westmorland and Furness Council acting as a "shadow authority" until the abolition of Cumbria County Council and the three district councils on 1 April 2023.
The economy is mainly focused ontourism around both theLake District andCumbria Coast,shipbuilding and theRoyal Port of Barrow, andagriculture in the rural parts of the area.
Elections toCumbria County Council were due to take place in May 2021; however, they were postponed for one year by theSecretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government due to a consultation on local government reorganisation in the area.[4] In July 2021, the government announced that the current authorities in Cumbria would be abolished and replaced with two unitary authorities, with an east/west split of the county.[5]
Opponents of the reorganisation claimed that the proposal was being pursued to benefit the electoral prospects of theConservative Party. Cumbria County Council, which would be abolished under the plans, soughtjudicial review to prevent the reorganisation from taking place.[6] The judicial review was refused by the High Court in January 2022.[7] Draft statutory instruments to bring about local government reorganisation in Cumbria were subsequently laid before parliament.[8] The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022 (2022 No. 331) was made on 17 March 2022, and came into force the following day.[9]
The name of the unitary authority derives from the county ofWestmorland and thepeninsula ofFurness.[10] Westmorland was previously an administrative county until it was abolished by theLocal Government Act 1972 and became part of the new county of Cumbria. Furness was part of theadministrative county ofLancashire until 1974; together with theCartmel Peninsula, it formed anexclave of that county, historically part of the Lonsdale Hundred of Lancashire known asNorth Lonsdale or Lancashire North of the Sands.[11] In addition to those areas, the district includes part of the historic county ofCumberland in thePenrith area and an area centred onSedbergh, which was part of theWest Riding of Yorkshire.
The territory of Westmorland and Furness includes parts of theLake District National Park and theYorkshire Dales andits national park.
The major settlements and civil parishes within the boundaries of Westmorland and Furness are:
| Local authority | In relation to the district |
|---|---|
| Cumberland | North |
| Northumberland | North east |
| County Durham | East |
| North Yorkshire | South east |
| Lancaster | South |
Theplanning system of England applies to Westmorland and Furness. As of October 2025, thelocal plans in force remain those prepared by the former districts of the area, except in the national parks, which have separate local plans.[12] In 2024, Westmorland and Furness Council commenced preparing a new district-wide local plan to replace the three previous local plans.[13]
Westmorland and Furness was established by The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022. It is both anon-metropolitan county andnon-metropolitan district.[14]
Westmorland and Furness Council has 65 councillors,[15] and thefirst election to the local authority was in May 2022. At that election theLiberal Democrats secured a majority on the incoming council with 36 out of 65 councillors.Labour have 15 councillors, theConservatives have 11 councillors, theGreen Party have 1 councillor and 2 councillors were elected as independents.[16][17]
| Affiliation | Members | |
|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | 36 | |
| Labour Party | 15 | |
| Conservative Party | 11 | |
| Independent | 2 | |
| Green Party | 1 | |
Westmorland and Furness, together with neighbouringCumberland, constitute aceremonial county named Cumbria for the purpose oflieutenancy andshrievalties, being presided over by aLord Lieutenant of Cumbria and aHigh Sheriff of Cumbria. Ceremonial counties do not discharge any administrative function.[14][18] The Government consulted on establishing aCumbria Combined Authority in 2025, which would comprise Westmorland and Furness Council alongside Cumberland Council.[19]
Police services are provided byCumbria Constabulary and fire services byCumbria Fire and Rescue Service. These are both overseen by theCumbria Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.[20]
| Settlement | Twinned settlement |
|---|---|
| Dalton-in-Furness | Dalton, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Kendal | |
| Penrith | Penrith, New South Wales, Australia |
| Sedbergh | Zreče, Slovenia |
| Ulverston | Albert, France |
| Windermere | Diessen am Ammersee, Germany |
TheWest Coast Main Railway Line runs through the district, with stations atPenrith andOxenholme. Services on the line are provided byAvanti West Coast andTransPennine Express. TheNorthernSettle–Carlisle line also runs through, with stations atArmathwaite,Lazonby,Langwathby,Appleby,Kirkby Stephen,Garsdale andDent. Other lines in the district include theCumbrian Coast (the line terminates atBarrow-in-Furness),Furness (toLancaster) andLakes (which runs throughKendal).
Roads through the district include theM6 motorway, theA6 and theA66.
In terms of television, the area is covered byBBC North West andITV Granada which both broadcast fromSalford andBBC North East and Cumbria broadcasting fromNewcastle andITV Border that broadcast fromGateshead.
Radio stations for the area areBBC Radio Cumbria,BBC Radio Lancashire can also be received,Heart North West,Smooth Lake District,Greatest Hits Radio Cumbria & South West Scotland and community based stations:Eden FM Radio, Lake District Radio,[30] and Bay Trust Radio.[31]
The district's local newspapers are theCumberland and Westmorland Herald,The Westmorland Gazette andNorth West Evening Mail.[32]
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