36-458: Gloucestershire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire , in England. The council was created in 1889. The council's principal functions are county roads and rights of way, social services, education and libraries, but it also provides many other local government services in the area it covers. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than
72-518: A unitary authority . Parishes cover only part of England. The current system is the result of incremental reform which has its origins in legislation enacted in 1965 and 1972 . England has a non-universal structure of local government subdivisions. There are two tiers of local government subdivision - (administrative) counties and districts (known as boroughs in London). Different local divisions exist across England: The authority structure
108-464: A courthouse and had served as the meeting place for the quarter sessions which preceded the county council. The county council then used the Shire Hall as its meeting place and built various extensions to accommodate its offices. Most of the building was demolished and rebuilt in the 1960s behind the retained façade of the 1816 building, with the reconstructed building being completed in 1970. Since
144-448: A hierarchy of administrative divisions and non-administrative ceremonial areas. Overall, England is divided into nine regions and 48 ceremonial counties , although these have only a limited role in public policy. For the purposes of local government , the country is divided into counties , districts and parishes . In some areas, counties and districts form a two-tier administrative structure, while in others they are combined under
180-489: A name. Lancashire, for example, contains the non-metropolitan counties of Lancashire , Blackpool , and Blackburn with Darwen . 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
216-399: 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. 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,
252-641: A royal county. 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 . 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
288-570: A unitary authority, for example it is an education authority, the Isles of Scilly are part of the Cornwall ceremonial county and combine with Cornwall Council for services such as health and economic development. The ancient City of London forms a 33rd division and is governed by the City of London Corporation , a sui generis authority unlike any other in England that has largely avoided any of
324-407: Is slowly replacing the tier structure and metropolitan boroughs with all the metropolitan boroughs in combined authorities and periodic abolitions of the tier structure councils into unitary authority councils. The 1974 reform of local government established the tier structure throughout England with county authorities in metropolitan and Greater London also existing, 1986 reform abolished these. From
360-547: The Local Government Act 1888 , taking over many administrative functions that had previously been performed by unelected magistrates at the Quarter Sessions . The cities of Bristol and Gloucester were both considered large enough to provide their own county-level services, so they became county boroughs , independent from the county council. The county council was elected by and provided services to
396-545: The ceremonial county , the latter additionally including South Gloucestershire . The council went under no overall control following a change of allegiance in May 2024, having previously been under Conservative majority control. It is based at Shire Hall in Gloucester . The area administered by the county council comprises 2,653 square kilometres (1,024 sq mi). Elected county councils were created in 1889 under
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#1732776028538432-407: The 1996 reform the structure's use has been declining, 21 tiered areas remain out of the original 48. The county tier provides the majority of services, including education and social services while the 164 district-tier councils have a more limited role. As of April 2023, there are 62 unitary authorities. Unitary authorities have control of their areas functioning. There is a general push towards
468-544: The Greater London Authority currently exist. The Isles of Scilly are governed by a sui generis local authority called the Council of the Isles of Scilly . The authority was established in 1890 as the Isles of Scilly Rural District Council. It was renamed but otherwise unreformed by the changes in local government that occurred in 1974 in the rest of England outside Greater London. Although effectively
504-531: The Greater London model. These county-tier councils had extra devolved powers to others. In 1986, the county-tier was abolished with the London boroughs , Metropolitan boroughs and combined boards remaining. Apart from status these boroughs have the same powers to unitary authorities. Combined authorities operate the opposite way round to the county in a tier structure, the combined authority acts on what
540-608: The United Kingdom and in England's European Parliament constituencies. The regions vary greatly in their areas covered, populations and contributions to the national economy. All have the same status, except London which has substantive devolved powers . There was a failed attempt to create elected regional assemblies outside London in 2004 and since then the structures of regional governance ( regional assemblies , regional development agencies and local authority leaders' boards ) have been subject to review. Following
576-450: 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. The review led to the introduction of unitary local government in some areas but not in others. In
612-439: The ceremonial county acts as an in between for the administrative boundaries and long established areas used in fields such as sport. County-tier councils and each unitary authority are separate non-metropolitan counties , each non-metropolitan county can be known as a district, city or borough. Berkshire is an anomaly in this arrangement whereby its districts became unitary authorities, the non-metropolitan county remain to keep
648-550: The change of government in 2010, these were scheduled for abolition by 2012. For non-administrative purposes, England is wholly divided into 48 ceremonial counties . These are used for the purposes of appointing Lords Lieutenant who are the Crown's representatives in those areas as well as a way of grouping non-metropolitan counties. They are taken into consideration when drawing up Parliamentary constituency boundaries. Ceremonial counties are commonly named after historic counties,
684-653: The council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows: The leaders of the council since 2001 have been: Following the 2021 election and changes of allegiance in February 2022 and May 2024, the composition of the council was: The independent councillor describes themselves as an "independent Conservative", having been elected in 2021 as a Conservative. The next election is due in 2025. The county council has its headquarters at Shire Hall on Westgate Street in Gloucester. The building had originally been built in 1816 as
720-506: The last boundary changes in 2013 the council has comprised 53 councillors , each representing an electoral division . Elections are held every four years. Non-metropolitan county 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
756-486: 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. 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
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#1732776028538792-405: 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. A Local Government Commission was appointed in 1992 to review
828-552: 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. The following list shows the original thirty-nine counties formed in 1974, subsequent changes in the 1990s, and further changes since then. 1980: renamed Shropshire 1998: Renamed Telford and Wrekin In Wales there
864-403: 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
900-428: 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
936-410: The reforms of local government in the 19th and 20th centuries. The civil parish is the most local unit of government in England. A parish is governed by a parish council or parish meeting , which exercises a limited number of functions that would otherwise be delivered by the local authority. There is one civil parish in Greater London ( Queen's Park , in the City of Westminster ), and not all of
972-531: The remainder of the county outside those two boroughs, which area was termed the administrative county . The first elections were held in January 1889, and the council formally came into being on 1 April 1889, on which day it held its first official meeting at Shire Hall in Gloucester. The first chairman of the council was John Dorington , a Conservative , who was also the Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury at
1008-470: The reorganisation of English local government to the authority structure, often reorganisation is a condition of new devolution powers. 46 unitary authorities were created from the 1996 reform , nine more were created in 2009 , followed by further changes in 2019 , 2020, 2021 and 2023. The Greater London administrative area was created in 1965 with 32 boroughs, excluding the City of London . Six Metropolitan two-tiered areas were created in 1974, similar to
1044-575: The rest of England is parished. The number of parishes and total area parished is growing. At the highest level, all of England is divided into nine regions that are each made up of a number of counties and districts. These "government office regions" were created in 1994, and from the 1999 Euro-elections up until the UK's exit from the EU, they were used as the European Parliament constituencies in
1080-416: 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
1116-467: 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,
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1152-441: The time. Local government was reformed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , which made Gloucestershire a non-metropolitan county . As part of the 1974 reforms it ceded an area in the south of the county to the new county of Avon , but gained the former county borough of Gloucester. The lower tier of local government was rearranged at the same time, with the county being divided into six non-metropolitan districts . Avon
1188-455: 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
1224-761: The unitary authorities have agreed upon to focus on and what powers have been given by central government. In 2000, the Greater London Authority was created with an elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly . In 2010, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority was created with a similar modal to the GLA a with further combined authorities based on the GMCA created. As of June 2023 , 10 combined authorities and
1260-498: Was abolished in 1996 and a new unitary authority called South Gloucestershire created covering the area which had been ceded from the old administrative county of Gloucestershire to Avon in 1974. As a unitary authority South Gloucestershire is independent from Gloucestershire County Council, although it is classed as part of the wider ceremonial county of Gloucestershire for the purposes of lieutenancy . The council has been under no overall control since 2024. Political control of
1296-519: Was no distinction between metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties: all upper tier areas were designated "counties". 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. Subdivisions of England The subdivisions of England constitute
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