A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a subdivision of England used for local government.
The non-metropolitan counties were originally created in 1974 as part of a reform of local government in England and Wales, and were the top tier of a two-tier system of counties and districts. 21 non-metropolitan counties still use a two-tier system; 56 are unitary authorities, in which the functions of a county and district council have been combined in a single body. Berkshire has a unique structure.
Non-metropolitan counties cover the majority of England with the exception of Greater London, the Isles of Scilly, and the six metropolitan counties: Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands and West Yorkshire.
The non-metropolitan counties are all part of ceremonial counties. Some ceremonial counties, such as Norfolk, contain a single non-metropolitan county, but many contain more than one and it is also common for ceremonial counties and non-metropolitan counties to share a name. Lancashire, for example, contains the non-metropolitan counties of Lancashire, Blackpool, and Blackburn with Darwen.
Origins Prior to 1974 local government had been divided between single-tier county boroughs (the largest towns and cities) and two-tier administrative counties which were subdivided into municipal boroughs and urban and rural districts. The Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect on 1 April 1974, divided England outside Greater London and the six largest conurbations into thirty-nine non-metropolitan counties. Each county was divided into anywhere between two and fourteen non-metropolitan districts. There was a uniform two-tier system of local government with county councils dealing with "wide-area" services such as education, fire services and the police, and district councils exercising more local powers over areas such as planning, housing and refuse collection.
As originally constituted, the non-metropolitan counties were largely based on existing counties, although they did include a number of innovations. Some counties were based on areas surrounding large county boroughs or were formed by the mergers of smaller counties. Examples of the first category are Avon (based on Bath and Bristol) and Cleveland (based on Teesside). An example of the second category is Cumbria, formed by the merger between Cumberland and Westmorland. The counties were adopted for all statutory purposes: a lord-lieutenant and high sheriff was appointed to each county, and they were also used for judicial administration, and definition of police force areas. The Royal Mail adopted the counties for postal purposes in most areas.
Changes 1995–1998 A Local Government Commission was appointed in 1992 to review the administrative structure of the non-metropolitan counties. It was anticipated that a system of unitary authorities would entirely replace the two-tier system. The Commission faced competing claims from former county boroughs wishing to regain unitary status and advocates for the restoration of such small counties as Herefordshire and Rutland.Davis, Howard (1997) 'Reviewing the review', Local Government Studies, 23:3, 5 - 17 The review led to the introduction of unitary local government in some areas but not in others. In the majority of unitary authorities an existing district council took over powers from the county council. The 1972 Act required that all areas outside Greater London form part of a non-metropolitan county, and that all such counties should contain at least one district.Local Government Act 1972 (c.70), S.1(1) Accordingly, the statutory instruments that effected the reorganisation separated the unitary districts from the county in which they were situated and constituted them as counties. The orders also provided that the provisions of the 1972 Act that every county should have a county council should not apply in the new counties, with the district council exercising the powers of the county council.
An exception was made in the case of Berkshire, which was retained with its existing boundaries in spite of the abolition of its county council and the creation of six unitary authorities. This was done in order to preserve its status as a royal county.Hansard, Written Answers, 31 March 1995, col.830
With the creation of numerous new non-metropolitan counties, the areas used for lieutenancy and shrievalty began to diverge from local government areas. This led to the development of ceremonial counties for these purposes, a fact recognised by the Lieutenancies Act 1997.
2009 A further wave of unitary authorities were created in 2009 under the terms of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. While a number of new counties were created, several of the new authorities (such as Cornwall or Northumberland) continued to have the boundaries set in 1974.
2019–2023 The 2019–2023 structural changes to local government in England have involved changes to the non-metropolitan county of Dorset (2019), and the abolition of the non-metropolitan counties Northamptonshire (2021) and Cumbria (2023). In addition, the non-metropolitan counties of Buckinghamshire (2020), North Yorkshire (2023), and Somerset (2023) are unchanged, but their councils became unitary authorities as the existing non-metropolitan districts in these areas were consolidated and the district councils abolished.
List of non-metropolitan counties The following list shows the original thirty-nine counties formed in 1974, subsequent changes in the 1990s, and further changes since then. Current Planned abolition Abolished non-metropolitan county Abolished non-metropolitan county and associated ceremonial county Non-metropolitan county 1974Local Government Act 1972 (c.70), Schedule I, Part IIChanges 1995–1998 Changes 2009Changes 2019 and 2020s Avon (6 districts) 1996: North West Somerset (unitary)2005: Renamed North Somerset NoneNone 1996: Bath and North East Somerset (unitary) NoneNone 1996: South Gloucestershire (unitary) NoneNone 1996: City of Bristol (unitary) NoneNoneBedfordshire (4 districts) 1997: Bedfordshire (3 districts) Bedford (unitary)None Central Bedfordshire (unitary)None 1997: Luton (unitary) NoneNone Berkshire (Royal County)Non-metropolitan county of Berkshire was granted royal status by letters patent in 1974 (6 districts) 1998: The county council was abolished, with each of the six district councils in the county becoming unitary authorities. The Royal County of Berkshire was not abolished.NoneNone Buckinghamshire (5 districts) 1997: BuckinghamshireThe Buckinghamshire (Borough of Milton Keynes) (Structural Changes) Order 1995 (4 districts) None 2020: Buckinghamshire (unitary) 1997: Milton Keynes (unitary)NoneNone Cambridgeshire (6 districts) 1998: Cambridgeshire (5 districts) NoneNone 1998: Peterborough (unitary) None Cheshire (8 districts) 1998: Cheshire (6 districts)Cheshire East (unitary)NoneCheshire West and Chester (unitary)None 1998: Halton (unitary) NoneNone 1998: Warrington (unitary) NoneNone Cleveland (4 districts) 1996: Hartlepool (unitary) NoneNone 1996: Middlesbrough (unitary) NoneNone 1996: Redcar and Cleveland (unitary) NoneNone 1996: Stockton-on-Tees (unitary) NoneNone Cornwall (6 districts) None Became unitaryNoneCumbria (6 districts) None None 2023: Cumberland (unitary) 2023: Westmorland and Furness (unitary) Derbyshire (9 districts) 1997: Derby (unitary) NoneNone 1997: Derbyshire (8 districts) NoneNone Devon (10 districts) 1998: DevonThe Devon (City of Plymouth and Borough of Torbay) (Structural Change) Order 1996 (8 districts) NoneNone 1998: Torbay (unitary) NoneNone 1998: Plymouth (unitary) NoneNone Dorset (8 districts) 1997: Dorset (6 districts)None 2019: Dorset (a unitary from 5 districts)1997: Bournemouth (unitary)None 2019: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (unitary from 2 unitaries and Christchurch district) 1997: Poole (unitary)None Durham (8 districts) 1997: Durham (7 districts) Became unitary None 1997: Darlington (unitary) None None East Sussex (7 districts)1997: East Sussex (5 districts) NoneNone 1997: Brighton and Hove (unitary) NoneNone Essex (14 districts)1998: Essex (12 districts) NoneNone 1998: Southend-on-Sea (unitary) NoneNone 1998: Thurrock (unitary) NoneNoneGloucestershire (6 districts) None NoneNone Hampshire (13 districts)1997: Hampshire (11 districts) NoneNone 1997: Portsmouth (unitary) NoneNone 1997: Southampton (unitary) NoneNone Hereford and Worcester (9 districts) 1998: Herefordshire (unitary) NoneNone 1998: Worcestershire (6 districts) NoneNoneHertfordshire (10 districts) None NoneNone Humberside (9 districts) 1996: East Riding of Yorkshire (unitary) NoneNone 1996: City of Kingston upon Hull (unitary) NoneNone 1996: North Lincolnshire (unitary) NoneNone 1996: North East Lincolnshire (unitary) NoneNone Isle of Wight (2 districts) 1995: Became unitary NoneNone Kent (14 districts)1998: Kent (12 districts) NoneNone 1998: The Medway Towns (unitary)1998: renamed Medway NoneNone Lancashire (14 districts)1998: Lancashire (12 districts) NoneNone 1998: Blackburn with Darwen (unitary) NoneNone 1998: Blackpool (unitary) NoneNone Leicestershire (9 districts)1997: Leicestershire (7 districts) NoneNone 1997: Leicester (unitary) NoneNone 1997: Rutland (unitary) NoneNone Lincolnshire (7 districts) None NoneNoneNorfolk (7 districts) None NoneNone North Yorkshire (8 districts) 1996: North Yorkshire (7 districts) None 2023: North Yorkshire (unitary) 1996: York (unitary) NoneNone Northamptonshire (7 districts) None None 2021: North Northamptonshire (unitary) 2021: West Northamptonshire (unitary) Northumberland (6 districts) None Became unitaryNone Nottinghamshire (8 districts)1998: Nottinghamshire (7 districts) NoneNone 1998: Nottingham (unitary) NoneNone Oxfordshire (5 districts) None NoneNone Salop (6 districts) 1980: renamed Shropshire 1998: Shropshire (5 districts) Became unitaryNone 1998: The Wrekin (unitary) 1998: Renamed Telford and Wrekin NoneNone Somerset (5 districts) None None 2019: Somerset (4 districts through merger)2023: Somerset (unitary) Staffordshire (9 districts)1997: Staffordshire (8 districts) NoneNone 1997: Stoke-on-Trent (unitary) NoneNoneSuffolk (7 districts) None None 2019: Suffolk (5 districts through mergers) Surrey (11 districts) None None 2027: East Surrey (unitary) 2027: West Surrey (unitary)Warwickshire (5 districts) None NoneNoneWest Sussex (7 districts) None NoneNone Wiltshire (5 districts) 1997: Wiltshire (4 districts) Became unitaryNone 1997: Thamesdown (unitary)1997: Renamed Swindon NoneNone
Wales In Wales there was no distinction between metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties: all upper tier areas were designated "counties".Arnold-Baker, C., Local Government Act 1972, (1973) The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 amended the 1972 Act, abolishing the Welsh counties and creating instead new Welsh principal areas, some of which are also designated "counties". For the purposes of lieutenancy the counties constituted in 1974 were preserved.
See also ISO 3166-2:GB, subdivision codes for the United Kingdom Political make-up of local councils in the United Kingdom#County councils
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References
External links Map of the UK counties and unitary administrations Map of all UK local authorities