Tiers

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 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.^[1]

Authorities

As of April 2023, there are 62 unitary authorities.^[2] Unitary authorities have control of their areas functioning.^[3] There is a general push towards the reorganisation of English local government to the authority structure, often reorganisation is a condition of new devolution powers.^[4] 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.^[5] Six Metropolitan two-tiered areas were created in 1974, similar to 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 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.^[5] In 2010, the Greater Manchester Comined 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 the Greater London Authority currently exist.

Other

Regions

East of
England

London

South East

South West

East
Midlands

West
Midlands

Yorkshire and
the Humber

North
East

North
West

Regions of England

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,^[12] and from the 1999 Euro-elections up until the UK's exit from the EU, they were used as the European Parliament constituencies in 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.^[12] All have the same status, except London which has substantive devolved powers.^[13]

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 the change of government in 2010, these were scheduled for abolition by 2012.

Ceremonial and historic counties

For non-administrative purposes, England is wholly divided into 48 ceremonial counties.^[14] These are used for the purposes of appointing Lords Lieutenant^[14] 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, the ceremonial county acts as an in between for the administrative boundaries and long established areas used in fields such as sport.

Titles, non-metropolitan and metropolitan counties

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 the title of Royal county, in the same way the metropolitan county remained when the county-tier councils were abolished.^[15] Each correspond to an administrative body.

Non-metropolitan districts can also be a borough, city or district. Unitary authority areas are joint non-metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts.

Regions

Two-tier non-metropolitan counties

Metropolitan counties

London

Unitary authorities

Civil parishes

• List of civil parishes in England

Hierarchical list of regions, strategic authorities, counties and districts

Region	Strategic authority	Ceremonial county	Metropolitan or non-metropolitan county	Districts May also hold borough and/or city status
East of England		Essex	1. Thurrock U.A.
			2. Southend-on-Sea U.A.
			3. Essex †	a) Harlow, b) Epping Forest, c) Brentwood, d) Basildon, e) Castle Point, f) Rochford, g) Maldon, h) Chelmsford, i) Uttlesford, j) Braintree, k) Colchester, l) Tendring
		4. Hertfordshire †		a) Three Rivers, b) Watford, c) Hertsmere, d) Welwyn Hatfield, e) Broxbourne, f) East Hertfordshire, g) Stevenage, h) North Hertfordshire, i) St Albans, j) Dacorum
		Bedfordshire	5. Luton U.A.
			6. Bedford U.A.
			7. Central Bedfordshire U.A.
	Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	Cambridgeshire	8. Cambridgeshire †	a) Cambridge, b) South Cambridgeshire, c) Huntingdonshire, d) Fenland, e) East Cambridgeshire
			9. Peterborough U.A.
		10. Norfolk †		a) Norwich, b) South Norfolk, c) Great Yarmouth, d) Broadland, e) North Norfolk, f) Breckland, g) King's Lynn and West Norfolk
		11. Suffolk †		a) Ipswich, b) East Suffolk, c) Babergh, d) Mid Suffolk, e) West Suffolk
East Midlands	East Midlands (proposed; the four county-level councils only, excluding 2nd-tier district councils)	Derbyshire	1. Derbyshire †	a) High Peak, b) Derbyshire Dales, c) South Derbyshire, d) Erewash, e) Amber Valley, f)  North East Derbyshire, g) Chesterfield, h) Bolsover
			2. Derby U.A.
		Nottinghamshire	3. Nottinghamshire †	a) Rushcliffe, b) Broxtowe, c) Ashfield, d) Gedling, e) Newark and Sherwood, f) Mansfield, g) Bassetlaw
			4. Nottingham U.A.
		Lincolnshire (part only)	5. Lincolnshire †	a) Lincoln, b) North Kesteven, c) South Kesteven, d) South Holland, e) Boston, f) East Lindsey, g) West Lindsey
		Leicestershire	6. Leicestershire †	a) Charnwood, b) Melton, c) Harborough, d) Oadby and Wigston, e) Blaby, f) Hinckley and Bosworth, g) North West Leicestershire
			7. Leicester U.A.
		8. Rutland U.A.
		Northamptonshire	9. West Northamptonshire U.A.
			10. North Northamptonshire U.A.
London	Greater London Authority	1. Greater London	none	a) City of Westminster, b) Kensington and Chelsea, c) Hammersmith and Fulham, d) Wandsworth, e) Lambeth, f) Southwark, g) Tower Hamlets, h) Hackney, i) Islington, j) Camden, k) Brent, l) Ealing, m) Hounslow, n) Richmond, o) Kingston upon Thames, p) Merton, q) Sutton, r) Croydon, s) Bromley, t) Lewisham, u) Greenwich, v) Bexley, w) Havering, x) Barking and Dagenham, y) Redbridge, z) Newham, aa) Waltham Forest, ab) Haringey, ac) Enfield, ad) Barnet, ae) Harrow, af) Hillingdon
		2. City of London	none	City of London
North East	North of Tyne	1. Northumberland U.A.
		2. Tyne and Wear *		a) Newcastle upon Tyne, c) North Tyneside
	North East			b) Gateshead, d) South Tyneside, e) Sunderland
		Durham	3. County Durham U.A.
	Tees Valley		4. Darlington U.A.
			5. Hartlepool U.A.
			6. Stockton-on-Tees U.A.
		North Yorkshire (part only)
			7. Redcar and Cleveland U.A.
			8. Middlesbrough U.A.
North West
		Cumbria	1. Cumberland U.A.
			2. Westmorland and Furness U.A
		Lancashire	3. Lancashire †	a) West Lancashire, b) Chorley, c) South Ribble, d) Fylde, e) Preston, f) Wyre, g) Lancaster, h) Ribble Valley, i) Pendle, j) Burnley, k) Rossendale, l) Hyndburn
			4. Blackpool U.A.
			5. Blackburn with Darwen U.A.
	Greater Manchester	6. Greater Manchester *		a) Bolton, b) Bury, c) Manchester, d) Oldham, e) Rochdale, f) Salford, g) Stockport, h) Tameside, i) Trafford, j) Wigan
	Liverpool City Region	7. Merseyside *		a) Knowsley, b) Liverpool, c) St. Helens, d) Sefton, e) Wirral
		Cheshire	8. Halton U.A.
			9. Warrington U.A.
			10. Cheshire West and Chester U.A.
			11. Cheshire East U.A.
South East		1. Berkshire ‡		a) West Berkshire U.A., b) Reading U.A., c) Wokingham U.A., d) Bracknell Forest U.A., e) Windsor and Maidenhead U.A., f) Slough U.A.
		Buckinghamshire	2. Buckinghamshire U.A.
			3. Milton Keynes U.A.
		East Sussex	4. East Sussex †	a) Hastings, b) Rother, c) Wealden, d) Eastbourne, e) Lewes
			5. Brighton & Hove U.A.
		Kent	6. Kent †	a) Dartford, b) Gravesham, c) Sevenoaks, d) Tonbridge and Malling, e) Tunbridge Wells, f) Maidstone, g) Swale, h) Ashford, i) Folkestone and Hythe, j) Canterbury, k) Dover, l) Thanet
			7. Medway U.A.
		8. Oxfordshire †		a) Oxford, b) Cherwell, c) South Oxfordshire, d) Vale of White Horse, e) West Oxfordshire
		9. Surrey †		a) Spelthorne, b) Runnymede, c) Surrey Heath, d) Woking, e) Elmbridge, f) Guildford, g) Waverley, h) Mole Valley, i) Epsom and Ewell, j) Reigate and Banstead, k) Tandridge
		10. West Sussex †		a) Worthing, b) Arun, c) Chichester, d) Horsham, e) Crawley, f) Mid Sussex, g) Adur
		Hampshire	11. Hampshire †	a) Fareham, b) Gosport, c) Winchester, d) Havant, e) East Hampshire, f) Hart, g) Rushmoor, h) Basingstoke and Deane, i) Test Valley, j) Eastleigh, k) New Forest
			12. Southampton U.A.
			13. Portsmouth U.A.
		14. Isle of Wight U.A.
South West		Dorset	1. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole U.A.
			2. Dorset U.A.
		Somerset	3. North Somerset U.A.
			4. Somerset U.A.
	West of England		5. Bath and North East Somerset U.A
		6. Bristol U.A.
		Gloucestershire	7. South Gloucestershire U.A.
			8. Gloucestershire †	a) Gloucester, b) Tewkesbury, c) Cheltenham, d) Cotswold, e) Stroud, f) Forest of Dean
		Wiltshire	9. Swindon U.A.
			10. Wiltshire U.A.
		Devon	11. Devon †	a) Exeter, b) East Devon, c) Mid Devon, d) North Devon, e) Torridge, f) West Devon, g) South Hams, h) Teignbridge
			12. Torbay U.A.
			13. Plymouth U.A.
		Cornwall	none	14. Isles of Scilly sui generis U.A.
			15. Cornwall U.A.
West Midlands		1. Herefordshire U.A.
		Shropshire	2. Shropshire U.A.
			3. Telford and Wrekin U.A.
		Staffordshire	4. Staffordshire †	a) Cannock Chase, b) East Staffordshire, c) Lichfield, d) Newcastle-under-Lyme, e) South Staffordshire, f) Stafford, g) Staffordshire Moorlands, h) Tamworth
			5. Stoke-on-Trent U.A.
		6. Warwickshire †		a) North Warwickshire, b) Nuneaton and Bedworth, c) Rugby, d) Stratford-on-Avon, e) Warwick
	West Midlands	7. West Midlands *		a) Birmingham, b) Coventry, c) Dudley, d) Sandwell, e) Solihull, f) Walsall, g) Wolverhampton
		8. Worcestershire †		a) Bromsgrove, b) Malvern Hills, c) Redditch, d) Worcester, e) Wychavon, f) Wyre Forest
Yorkshire and the Humber	South Yorkshire	1. South Yorkshire *		a) Sheffield, b) Rotherham, c) Barnsley, d) Doncaster
	West Yorkshire	2. West Yorkshire *		a) Wakefield, b) Kirklees, c) Calderdale, d) Bradford, e) Leeds
		North Yorkshire (part only)	3. North Yorkshire U.A.
			4. York U.A.
		East Riding of Yorkshire	5. East Riding of Yorkshire U.A.
			6. Kingston upon Hull U.A.
		Lincolnshire (part only)	7. North Lincolnshire U.A.
			8. North East Lincolnshire U.A.
	Combined authority	† Two-tier non-metropolitan county		Non-metropolitan district
		‡ Royal non-metropolitan county        (no county council)		Unitary authority district that is not a county
		U.A. Unitary authority area (non-metropolitan county and district)
		* Metropolitan county        (no county council)		Metropolitan district
	Greater London Authority			London borough or City of London