Non-metropolitan district

Non-metropolitan district
Also known as: Shire district
Category	Local authority districts
Location	England
Found in	Non-metropolitan county
Created by	Local Government Act 1972
Created	1 April 1974
Number	226 (as of 2023)
Possible types	Two-tier (164)   Unitary authority (62)
Possible status	City Royal borough Borough

Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially shire counties) in a two-tier arrangement. Non-metropolitan districts with borough status are known as boroughs, able to appoint a mayor and refer to itself as a borough council. 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.

Service	Non-metropolitan county	Non-metropolitan district	Unitary authority
Education	Y		Y
Housing		Y	Y
Planning applications		Y	Y
Strategic planning	Y		Y
Transport planning	Y		Y
Passenger transport	Y		Y
Highways	Y		Y
Fire	Y		Y
Social services	Y		Y
Libraries	Y		Y
Leisure and recreation		Y	Y
Waste collection		Y	Y
Waste disposal	Y		Y
Environmental health		Y	Y
Revenue collection		Y	Y

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 counties and districts

This is a list of two-tier non-metropolitan counties and their districts. All unitary authorities are also non-metropolitan districts, which, with the exception of those of Berkshire, are coterminous with non-metropolitan counties.

For a full list of districts of all types including unitary authorities, metropolitan districts and London boroughs, see Districts of England.

Non-metropolitan county (excluding unitary authorities)	Non-metropolitan districts (excluding unitary authorities)	Number
Cambridgeshire	Cambridge – South Cambridgeshire – Huntingdonshire – Fenland – East Cambridgeshire	005
Derbyshire	High Peak – Derbyshire Dales – South Derbyshire – Erewash – Amber Valley – North East Derbyshire – Chesterfield – Bolsover	008
Devon	Exeter – East Devon – Mid Devon – North Devon – Torridge – West Devon – South Hams – Teignbridge	008
East Sussex	Hastings – Rother – Wealden – Eastbourne – Lewes	005
Essex	Harlow – Epping Forest – Brentwood – Basildon – Castle Point – Rochford – Maldon – Chelmsford – Uttlesford – Braintree – Colchester – Tendring	012
Gloucestershire	Gloucester – Tewkesbury – Cheltenham – Cotswold – Stroud – Forest of Dean	006
Hampshire	Gosport – Fareham – Winchester – Havant – East Hampshire – Hart – Rushmoor – Basingstoke and Deane – Test Valley – Eastleigh – New Forest	011
Hertfordshire	Three Rivers – Watford – Hertsmere – Welwyn Hatfield – Broxbourne – East Hertfordshire – Stevenage – North Hertfordshire – St Albans – Dacorum	010
Kent	Dartford – Gravesham – Sevenoaks – Tonbridge and Malling – Tunbridge Wells – Maidstone – Swale – Ashford – Folkestone and Hythe – Canterbury – Dover – Thanet	012
Lancashire	West Lancashire – Chorley – South Ribble – Fylde – Preston – Wyre – Lancaster – Ribble Valley – Pendle – Burnley – Rossendale – Hyndburn	012
Leicestershire	Charnwood – Melton – Harborough – Oadby and Wigston – Blaby – Hinckley and Bosworth – North West Leicestershire	007
Lincolnshire	Lincoln – North Kesteven – South Kesteven – South Holland – Boston – East Lindsey – West Lindsey	007
Norfolk	Norwich – South Norfolk – Great Yarmouth – Broadland – North Norfolk – King's Lynn and West Norfolk – Breckland	007
Nottinghamshire	Rushcliffe – Broxtowe – Ashfield – Gedling – Newark and Sherwood – Mansfield – Bassetlaw	007
Oxfordshire	Oxford – Cherwell – South Oxfordshire – Vale of White Horse – West Oxfordshire	005
Staffordshire	Tamworth – Lichfield – Cannock Chase – South Staffordshire – Stafford – Newcastle-under-Lyme – Staffordshire Moorlands – East Staffordshire	008
Suffolk	Ipswich – Babergh – East Suffolk – Mid Suffolk – West Suffolk	005
Surrey	Spelthorne – Runnymede – Surrey Heath – Woking – Elmbridge – Guildford – Waverley – Mole Valley – Epsom and Ewell – Reigate and Banstead – Tandridge	011
Warwickshire	North Warwickshire – Nuneaton and Bedworth – Rugby – Stratford-on-Avon – Warwick	005
West Sussex	Worthing – Arun – Chichester – Horsham – Crawley – Mid Sussex – Adur	007
Worcestershire	Worcester – Malvern Hills – Wyre Forest – Bromsgrove – Redditch – Wychavon	006
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	Number
Avon	Bath – Kingswood – Northavon – Wansdyke	04
Bedfordshire	Mid Bedfordshire – South Bedfordshire	02
Buckinghamshire	South Bucks – Chiltern – Wycombe – Aylesbury Vale	04
Cheshire	Chester – Congleton – Crewe and Nantwich – Ellesmere Port and Neston – Macclesfield – Vale Royal	06
Cornwall	Caradon – Carrick – Kerrier – North Cornwall – Penwith – Restormel	06
Cumbria	Barrow-in-Furness – South Lakeland – Copeland – Allerdale – Eden – Carlisle	06
Dorset	Weymouth and Portland – West Dorset – North Dorset – Purbeck – East Dorset – Christchurch	06
Durham	Durham – Easington – Sedgefield – Chester-le-Street – Derwentside – Wear Valley – Teesdale	07
East Sussex	Brighton – Hove	02
Hereford and Worcester	Hereford – Leominster – Malvern Hills – South Herefordshire	03
Humberside	East Yorkshire Borough of Beverley – Boothferry – Cleethorpes – East Yorkshire – Glanford – Great Grimsby – Holderness – Scunthorpe	08
Isle of Wight	Medina – South Wight	02
Kent	Gillingham – Rochester-upon-Medway	02
Northamptonshire	South Northamptonshire – Northampton – Daventry – Wellingborough – Kettering – Corby – East Northamptonshire	07
North Yorkshire	York – Selby – Harrogate – Craven – Richmondshire – Hambleton – Ryedale – Scarborough	08
Northumberland	Blyth Valley – Wansbeck – Castle Morpeth – Tynedale – Alnwick – Berwick-upon-Tweed	06
Shropshire	Bridgnorth – North Shropshire – Oswestry – Shrewsbury and Atcham – South Shropshire	05
Somerset	Taunton Deane – West Somerset – South Somerset – Somerset West and Taunton – Sedgemoor – Mendip	06
Suffolk	Forest Heath – St Edmundsbury – Suffolk Coastal – Waveney	04
Wiltshire	Kennet – North Wiltshire – Salisbury – West Wiltshire	04
Total		98

See also

• List of local governments in the United Kingdom
• District Councils' Network
• 2019–2023 structural changes to local government in England

External links

• Map of the UK counties and unitary administrations
• Map of all UK local authorities