Subdivisions of England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The subdivisions of England consists of as many as four levels of subnational division and at some levels there are a variety of types of administrative entity. They have been created for the purposes of local government in England.
Some units combine the functions of two levels of local government, for example the Greater London administrative area is also the London region and unitary authorities are often counted as both county and district level entities.
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[edit] Region level
At the top level England is divided into nine regions each containing one or more county-level entities. The regions were created in 1994 and since the 1999 Euro-elections have been used as England's European Parliament constituencies. All have the same status. However London is the only region with any substantial devolved power in the form of an elected mayor and the Greater London Authority. The regions also vary greatly in size, both in their areas covered and their populations.
| Type | Created[1] | Number | Units |
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | 1994 | 9 | East of England · East Midlands · London · North East England · North West England · South East England · South West England · West Midlands · Yorkshire and the Humber |
[edit] County level
England is divided by the Lieutenancies Act 1997 into areas for the appointment of Lord Lieutenants, who are historically the Crown's representative in a county. Although not actually defined as such, these areas have become known as ceremonial counties. These counties are sometimes used by people when describing where they live in England. However, many are not used as local government areas themselves, as many are too large or include large urban areas. They are taken into consideration though when drawing up Parliamentary constituency boundaries for example. England is divided into four types of county-level subnational entities used for local governance:
The Isles of Scilly have a sui generis local authority, the Isles of Scilly Council, which is similar to a unitary authority found in the rest of England.
[edit] District level
Districts in England may also have the status of borough, city or royal borough.
[edit] Parish level
The civil parish is the most local unit of government in England. There are no civil parishes in Greater London. Not all of the rest of England is parished, though the number of parishes and total area parished is growing.
[edit] Changes proposed in 2004
A referendum was held in North East England on November 4, 2004 to see whether people there wished to have an elected regional assembly. As part of the referendum, voters were to have been asked to choose which system of unitary authorities they would like to see in the existing county council areas if the regional assembly was approved. In the event, the vote in the North East was a decisive "no", making the proposed local government changes moot. Similar referendums in North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber were postponed indefinitely: on 8 November 2004 the Deputy Prime Minister announced "I will not therefore be bringing forward orders for referendums in either the North West, or Yorkshire and the Humber".[2]
Most of the proposed changes would have required no change in the county level entities, as they could have been be implemented by merging districts and abolition of the county council. Where borders were crossed, however, changes would have been needed. This impacted Lancashire, where various parts were proposed for combination with Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen (both unitaries), Sefton (in Merseyside), Wigan (in Greater Manchester), and southern Cumbria; it also affects one proposal for North Yorkshire, which would have merged the district of Selby with the East Riding of Yorkshire. Few of the boundary changes would have involved creating new borders - only the proposals to combine Blackpool with parts of Wyre, and to split West Lancashire between Wigan and Sefton would do this.
[edit] 2009 structural changes
- Further information: 2009 structural changes to local government in England
In 2006, the white paper Strong and Prosperous Communities invited local authorities in England to submit their own consensus-based proposals for new unitary authority arrangements, to be submitted before 25 January 2007. Selected submissions went to a public consultation from March until June, with successful proposals announced in July. Elections to the new authorities are planned to take place in 2008, with them taking up their powers on 1 April 2009.[3]
[edit] Notes and references
| This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007) |
- ^ a b c Date when the unit type was first created, not necessarily the same date that all the individual units listed were created
- ^ Statement by Deputy Prime Minister
- ^ "Invitation to councils in England", Department for Communities and Local Government, October 26, 2006.
| Region level: | Region | Region | Region | Region |
| County level: | Metropolitan county | Shire county | Unitary authority | Greater London |
| District level: | Metropolitan district | Shire district | n/a | London borough |
| Parish level: | (Civil parish) | (Civil parish) | (Civil parish) | n/a |
Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Local government and subdivisions of the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | History • Subdivisions |
| England | History • Subdivisions: Lieutenancy areas • Regions • Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties • Districts • Civil parish |
| Scotland | History • Subdivisions: Lieutenancy areas • Sheriffdoms • Council areas • Community council |
| Wales | History • Subdivisions: Lieutenancy areas • Principal areas • Community council |
| Northern Ireland | History • Subdivisions: Lieutenancy areas • Counties • Districts |
de:Verwaltungsgliederung Englands es:Subdivisiones de Inglaterra fr:Subdivisions de l'Angleterre ko:잉글랜드의 행정 구역 it:Suddivisioni dell'Inghilterra ja:イングランドの行政区画 lv:Anglijas administratīvais iedalījums hu:Anglia közigazgatása pl:Podział administracyjny Anglii pt:Subdivisões da Inglaterra ro:Subdiviziunile Angliei simple:Local government in England sv:Lista över Englands grevskap zh:英格兰行政区划
