23-576: Welwyn Hatfield is a local government district with borough status in the county of Hertfordshire , England. Its council is based in Welwyn Garden City . The borough borders Hertsmere , St Albans , North Hertfordshire , East Hertfordshire , Broxbourne , and the London Borough of Enfield . The borough includes the two towns of Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield , along with numerous smaller settlements from Woolmer Green in
46-543: A town council or city council , and are instead directly managed by a higher local authority such as a district or county council. Until the mid-nineteenth century there had been many areas that did not belong to any parish, known as extra-parochial areas . Acts of Parliament between 1858 and 1868 sought to abolish such areas, converting them into parishes or absorbing them into neighbouring parishes. After 1868 there were very few extra-parochial areas left; those remaining were mostly islands, such as Lundy , which did not have
69-519: A neighbouring parish into which they could be absorbed. Modern unparished areas (also termed "non-civil parish areas"), were created in 1965 in London and in 1974 elsewhere. They generally arose where former urban districts , municipal boroughs or county boroughs were abolished and where no successor parish was established. Parishes were not allowed in Greater London until the passing of
92-576: 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 now have no sub divisions so are a single Non-metropolitan district such as Cornwall. 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. Non-metropolitan districts are subdivisions of English non-metropolitan counties which have
115-461: 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: Many districts have borough status , which means the local council is called a borough council instead of district council and gives them
138-600: 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 ). Unparished area In England , an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish ). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparished. Many towns and some cities in otherwise rural districts are also unparished areas and therefore no longer have
161-516: The 2024 local elections the composition of the council is as follows: Since the 2023 local elections the council has been under no overall control . While at the time Conservatives were the largest party, the Liberal Democrats and Labour formed a coalition to take control of the council, with Liberal Democrat group leader Paul Zukowskyj becoming leader of the council and Labour group leader Lynn Chesterman becoming deputy leader of
184-604: 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." This is a list of two-tier non-metropolitan counties and their districts. All unitary authorities are also non-metropolitan districts, which, with
207-662: The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (which allows their formation in the London boroughs ) and it remained entirely unparished from 1965 until Queen's Park was created in 2014. Some cities and towns which are unparished areas in larger districts (i.e. not districts of themselves) have charter trustees to maintain a historic charter , such as city status (an example being in Bath ) or simply
230-503: The mayoralty of a town. Local authorities which are entirely parished are not listed. The ceremonial counties of Cornwall (apart from Wolf Rock ), Herefordshire , Isle of Wight , Northamptonshire , Northumberland , Rutland , Shropshire , and Wiltshire are entirely parished. Less parts from both included in parish of Ingol and Tanterton (created 2012). This is a list of unparished areas as they existed on 1 April 1974, noting changes which have happened since then to create
253-605: The parliamentary constituency of Hertsmere , whose current MP is Oliver Dowden of the Conservative Party . 51°46′00″N 0°11′30″W / 51.76667°N 0.19167°W / 51.76667; -0.19167 Non-metropolitan district 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
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#1732775413752276-454: 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 . In England most of the district councils are represented by
299-648: The chair of the council to take the title of mayor. The petition was agreed to by the Privy Council and a charter conferring borough status was issued which took effect on 22 May 2006, when John Hawkins was appointed the first mayor and the council's name changed to Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council. Opposition (12) Hertfordshire has a two-tier structure of local government, with the ten district councils (including Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council) providing district-level services, and Hertfordshire County Council providing county-level services. The first election to
322-513: The council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows: The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Welwyn Hatfield, and is usually held by a different councillor each year. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council . The leaders since 2005 have been: Following
345-505: The council. The joint administration continued after the 2024 local elections when Labour became the party with the most seats on the council. The next elections are due to be held in 2026, where a third of the council's seats will be up for election. The council is based at the Council Offices on The Campus in the centre of Welwyn Garden City, which it inherited from the old Welwyn Garden City Urban District Council. The building
368-568: The country, and is uniquely both a Garden City and a designated New Town . The University of Hertfordshire has its main campus at Hatfield. Welwyn Hatfield was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , covering the area of three former districts, which were all abolished at the same time: The new district was named Welwyn Hatfield. From 1974 to 2006 the council was called Welwyn Hatfield District Council. The council petitioned for borough status in 2005, allowing
391-487: 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 . 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
414-535: The fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections. The wards of the borough are: Most of Welwyn Hatfield borough is within Welwyn Hatfield parliamentary constituency , whose current MP for Welwyn Hatfield is Andrew Lewin of the Labour Party . The constituency's boundaries differ from the borough only by the single ward of Northaw and Cuffley being within the borough, but in
437-625: The north to Cuffley in the south. The borough has six railway stations on the Great Northern Railway ; five being on the main line and one on the Hertford loop line . The Digswell Viaduct is a local landmark. The A1 road passes through the borough. Much of the borough lies within the Metropolitan Green Belt which surrounds London . Welwyn Garden City is notable as being one of only two Garden Cities in
460-565: 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 . By 1899, England had been divided at district level into rural districts , urban districts , municipal boroughs , county boroughs and metropolitan boroughs . This system
483-526: 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. 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
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#1732775413752506-620: 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
529-451: Was completed in 1937. Welwyn Hatfield contains eight civil parishes . The town of Welwyn Garden City is an unparished area . The parishes are: Since the last boundary changes in 2016 the council has comprised 48 councillors representing 16 wards , each of which elects three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, electing one councillor from each ward each time. Elections to Hertfordshire County Council are held in
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