Non-metropolitan district

Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they were all sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially shire counties) in a two-tier arrangement. Some non-metropolitan districts have had their functions merged with a non-metropolitan county to form a single tier of local government, in which case they are generally referred to as unitary authorities.

Non-metropolitan districts with borough status are known as boroughs, able to appoint a mayor. Some shire counties, for example Cornwall, now have no sub-divisions so are a single non-metropolitan district.

Typically, a district will consist of a market town and its more rural hinterland. However, districts are diverse, with some being mostly urban (such as Dartford) and others more polycentric (such as Thurrock).

Structure Non-metropolitan districts are subdivisions of English non-metropolitan counties which have a two-tier structure of local government. Two-tier non-metropolitan counties have a county council and several districts, each with a borough or district council. In these cases local government functions are divided between county and district councils, to the level where they can be practised most efficiently:

Borough/district councils are responsible for local planning and building control, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism. County councils are responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, fire services, Trading Standards, waste disposal and strategic planning. In the case where a non-metropolitan county consists of a single non-metropolitan district, there is a single council, a unitary authority, that is responsible for all functions.

Status Many districts have borough status, which means the local council is called a borough council instead of district council and gives them the right to appoint a mayor. Borough status is granted by royal charter and, in many cases, continues a style enjoyed by a predecessor authority, which can date back centuries. Some districts such as Oxford or Exeter have city status, granted by letters patent, but this does not give the local council any extra powers other than the right to call itself a city council.

History By 1899, England had been divided at district level into rural districts, urban districts, municipal boroughs, county boroughs and metropolitan boroughs. This system was abolished by the London Government Act 1963 and the Local Government Act 1972. Non-metropolitan districts were created by this act in 1974 when England outside Greater London was divided into metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan counties. Metropolitan counties were sub-divided into metropolitan districts and the non-metropolitan counties were sub-divided into non-metropolitan districts. The metropolitan districts had more powers than their non-metropolitan counterparts. Initially, there were 296 non-metropolitan districts in the two-tier structure, but reforms in the 1990s and 2009 reduced their number to 192. A further 55 non-metropolitan districts are now unitary authorities, which combine the functions of county and borough/district councils.

Scotland and Wales In Wales, an almost identical two-tier system of local government existed between 1974 and 1996 (see Districts of Wales). In 1996, this was abolished and replaced with an entirely unitary system of local government, with one level of local government responsible for all local services. Since the areas for Wales and England had been enacted separately and there were no Welsh metropolitan areas, the term 'non-metropolitan district' does not apply to Wales. A similar system existed in Scotland, which in 1975 was divided into regions and districts, this was also abolished in 1996 and replaced with a fully unitary system.

District Councils' Network In England most of the district councils are represented by the District Councils' Network, special interest group which sits within the Local Government Association. The network's purpose is to "act as an informed and representative advocate for districts to government and other national bodies, based on their unique position to deliver for local people." List of non-metropolitan districts Unitary This is a list of unitary authority non-metropolitan districts, which, with the exception of those of Berkshire, are coterminous with non-metropolitan counties.

+ District Region Land area Population () Density (km2) (mi2) (/km2) (/mi2) Bath and North East Somerset South West Bedford East Blackburn with Darwen North West Blackpool North West Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole South West Bracknell Forest South East Brighton & Hove South East Bristol South West Buckinghamshire South East Central Bedfordshire East Cheshire East North West Cheshire West and Chester North West Cornwall South West County Durham North East Cumberland North West Darlington North East Derby East Midlands Dorset South West East Riding of Yorkshire Yorkshire and the Humber Halton North West Hartlepool North East Herefordshire West Midlands Isle of Wight South East Kingston upon Hull Yorkshire and the Humber Leicester East Midlands Luton East Medway South East Middlesbrough North East Milton Keynes South East North East Lincolnshire Yorkshire and the Humber North Lincolnshire Yorkshire and the Humber North Northamptonshire East Midlands North Somerset South West North Yorkshire Yorkshire and the Humber Northumberland North East Nottingham East Midlands Peterborough East Plymouth South West Portsmouth South East Reading South East Redcar and Cleveland North East Rutland East Midlands Shropshire West Midlands Slough South East Somerset South West South Gloucestershire South West Southampton South East Southend-on-Sea East Stockton-on-Tees North East Stoke-on-Trent West Midlands Swindon South West Telford and Wrekin West Midlands Thurrock East Torbay South West Warrington North West West Berkshire South East West Northamptonshire East Midlands Westmorland and Furness North West Wiltshire South West Windsor and Maidenhead South East Wokingham South East York Yorkshire and the Humber

Two-tier This is a list of two-tier non-metropolitan counties and their districts.

+ Non-metropolitan counties and their districts (excluding unitary authorities) Non-metropolitan county Non-metropolitan districts NumberCambridgeshireCambridge – South Cambridgeshire – Huntingdonshire – Fenland – East Cambridgeshire 5DerbyshireHigh Peak – Derbyshire Dales – South Derbyshire – Erewash – Amber Valley – North East Derbyshire – Chesterfield – Bolsover 8DevonExeter – East Devon – Mid Devon – North Devon – Torridge – West Devon – South Hams – Teignbridge 8East SussexHastings – Rother – Wealden – Eastbourne – Lewes 5EssexHarlow – Epping Forest – Brentwood – Basildon – Castle Point – Rochford – Maldon – Chelmsford – Uttlesford – Braintree – Colchester – Tendring 12GloucestershireGloucester – Tewkesbury – Cheltenham – Cotswold – Stroud – Forest of Dean 6HampshireGosport – Fareham – Winchester – Havant – East Hampshire – Hart – Rushmoor – Basingstoke and Deane – Test Valley – Eastleigh – New Forest 11HertfordshireThree Rivers – Watford – Hertsmere – Welwyn Hatfield – Broxbourne – East Hertfordshire – Stevenage – North Hertfordshire – St Albans – Dacorum 10KentDartford – Gravesham – Sevenoaks – Tonbridge and Malling – Tunbridge Wells – Maidstone – Swale – Ashford – Folkestone and Hythe – Canterbury – Dover – Thanet 12LancashireWest Lancashire – Chorley – South Ribble – Fylde – Preston – Wyre – Lancaster – Ribble Valley – Pendle – Burnley – Rossendale – Hyndburn 12LeicestershireCharnwood – Melton – Harborough – Oadby and Wigston – Blaby – Hinckley and Bosworth – North West Leicestershire 7LincolnshireLincoln – North Kesteven – South Kesteven – South Holland – Boston – East Lindsey – West Lindsey 7NorfolkNorwich – South Norfolk – Great Yarmouth – Broadland – North Norfolk – King's Lynn and West Norfolk – Breckland 7NottinghamshireRushcliffe – Broxtowe – Ashfield – Gedling – Newark and Sherwood – Mansfield – Bassetlaw 7OxfordshireOxford – Cherwell – South Oxfordshire – Vale of White Horse – West Oxfordshire 5StaffordshireTamworth – Lichfield – Cannock Chase – South Staffordshire – Stafford – Newcastle-under-Lyme – Staffordshire Moorlands – East Staffordshire 8SuffolkIpswich – Babergh – East Suffolk – Mid Suffolk – West Suffolk 5SurreySpelthorne – Runnymede – Surrey Heath – Woking – Elmbridge – Guildford – Waverley – Mole Valley – Epsom and Ewell – Reigate and Banstead – Tandridge 11WarwickshireNorth Warwickshire – Nuneaton and Bedworth – Rugby – Stratford-on-Avon – Warwick 5West SussexWorthing – Arun – Chichester – Horsham – Crawley – Mid Sussex – Adur 7WorcestershireWorcester – Malvern Hills – Wyre Forest – Bromsgrove – Redditch – Wychavon 6 Total 164

List of abolished non-metropolitan districts This is a list of former two-tier districts in England which have been abolished, by local government reorganisations such as the 2009 structural changes to local government in England. It does not include districts that still exist after becoming a unitary authority or those that transferred from one county to another, including those that changed name. Nor does it include unitary authorities that have been abolished (Bournemouth and Poole).

Non-metropolitan county (at time of abolition) Abolished two-tier non-metropolitan districts NumberAvonBath – Kingswood – Northavon – Wansdyke4BedfordshireMid Bedfordshire – South Bedfordshire2BuckinghamshireSouth Bucks – Chiltern – Wycombe – Aylesbury Vale4CheshireChester – Congleton – Crewe and Nantwich – Ellesmere Port and Neston – Macclesfield – Vale Royal6CornwallCaradon – Carrick – Kerrier – North Cornwall – Penwith – Restormel6CumbriaBarrow-in-Furness – South Lakeland – Copeland – Allerdale – Eden – Carlisle6DorsetWeymouth and Portland – West Dorset – North Dorset – Purbeck – East Dorset – Christchurch6DurhamDurham – Easington – Sedgefield – Chester-le-Street – Derwentside – Wear Valley – Teesdale7East SussexBrighton – Hove2Hereford and WorcesterHereford – Leominster – Malvern Hills – South Herefordshire 3HumbersideEast Yorkshire Borough of Beverley – Boothferry – Cleethorpes – East Yorkshire – Glanford – Great Grimsby – Holderness – Scunthorpe8Isle of WightMedina – South Wight2KentGillingham – Rochester-upon-Medway2NorthamptonshireSouth Northamptonshire – Northampton – Daventry – Wellingborough – Kettering – Corby – East Northamptonshire7North YorkshireYork – Selby – Harrogate – Craven – Richmondshire – Hambleton – Ryedale – Scarborough8NorthumberlandBlyth Valley – Wansbeck – Castle Morpeth – Tynedale – Alnwick – Berwick-upon-Tweed6ShropshireBridgnorth – North Shropshire – Oswestry – Shrewsbury and Atcham – South Shropshire 5SomersetTaunton Deane – West Somerset – South Somerset – Somerset West and Taunton – Sedgemoor – Mendip6SuffolkForest Heath – St Edmundsbury – Suffolk Coastal – Waveney 4 WiltshireKennet – North Wiltshire – Salisbury – West Wiltshire 4 Total 98

Non-metropolitan district

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