he districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to

distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the
purposes of local government.[1] As the structure of local government in England is not uniform, there
are currently four principal types of district-level subdivision. There are a total of 314 districts made
up of 36 metropolitan boroughs, 32 London boroughs, 188 non-metropolitan districts, and 56 unitary
authorities, as well as the City of London and the Isles of Scilly which are also districts, but do not
correspond to any of these categories. Some districts are styled as boroughs, cities, or royal
boroughs; these are purely honorific titles, and do not alter the status of the district. All boroughs and
cities, and a few districts, are led by a mayor who in most cases is a ceremonial figure elected by
the district council, but—after local government reform—is occasionally a directly elected mayor who
makes most of the policy decisions instead of the council.

History[edit]
Main article: Subdivisions of England
Prior to the establishment of districts in the 1890s, the basic unit of local government in England was
the parish, overseen by the parish church vestry committee. Vestries dealt with the administration of
both parochial and secular governmental matters. Parishes were the successors of the manorial
system and historically had been grouped into hundreds, which had exercised some supervising
administrative function. However, these powers ebbed away as more and more civic
and judicial powers were centred on county towns.[2] From 1834 these parishes were grouped
into Poor Law Unions, creating areas for administration of the Poor Law. These areas were later
used for census registration and as the basis for sanitary provision. In 1894, based on these earlier
subdivisions, the Local Government Act 1894 created urban districts and rural districts as sub-
divisions of administrative counties, which had been created in 1889. At the same time, parish-level
local government administration was transferred to civil parishes. Another reform in 1900 created
28 metropolitan boroughs as sub-divisions of the County of London.
The setting-down of the current structure of districts in England began in 1965, when Greater
London and its 32 London boroughs were created. They are the oldest type of district still in use. In
1974, metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan counties (also known as "shire counties") were
created across the rest of England and were split into metropolitan districts and non-metropolitan
districts.
The status of the London boroughs and metropolitan districts changed in 1986, when they absorbed
the functions and some of the powers of the metropolitan county councils and the Greater London
Council, which were abolished. Since 2000, powers are again shared (on a different basis) with
the Greater London Authority.
During the 1990s a further kind of district was created, the unitary authority, which combined the
functions and status of county and district.

Metropolitan boroughs[edit]
Main article: Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan boroughs are a subdivision of a metropolitan county. These are similar to unitary
authorities, as the metropolitan county councils were abolished in 1986. Most of the powers of the
county councils were devolved to the districts but some services are run by joint boards and
organisations. The districts typically have populations of 174,000 to 1.1 million.
Non-metropolitan districts (shire districts) [edit]
Main article: Non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts (also known as shire districts) are second-tier authorities, which share
power with county councils. They are subdivisions of shire counties and the most common type of
district. These districts typically have populations of 25,000 to 200,000.
In this two-tier system, county councils are responsible for some local services, such as education,
social services, and roads, while district councils run other services, such as waste collection, local
planning, and council housing.
The number of non-metropolitan districts has varied over time. Initially there were 296; after the
creation of unitary authorities in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, their numbers were reduced to 192.

Unitary authorities[edit]
Main article: Unitary authorities of England
These are single-tier districts which are responsible for running all local services in their areas,
combining both county and district functions. They were created in the mid-1990s out of non-
metropolitan districts, and often cover large towns and cities as this is deemed to be more efficient
than a two-tier structure. In addition, some of the smaller counties such
as Rutland, Herefordshire and the Isle of Wight are unitary authorities. There are a total of 56 unitary
authorities, including one introduced in 2020.
Unitary authorities are actually a slightly modified type of non-metropolitan district; most are
established as individual counties containing a single district, with a district council but no county
council. Berkshire is unusual, being a non-metropolitan county with no county council and six unitary
authority districts. Cornwall, Durham, the Isle of
Wight, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire were established as counties with a single district,
but have non-metropolitan county councils with no district council. In practice, these function in the
same way as other unitary authorities.

London boroughs[edit]
Main article: London boroughs
The London boroughs are sub-divisions of Greater London. They were established in 1965. Between
1965 and 1986 a two-tier structure of government existed in Greater London and the boroughs
shared power with the Greater London Council (GLC). When the GLC was abolished in 1986 they
gained similar status to the unitary authorities. In 2000 the Greater London Authority was established
and a two-tier structure was restored, albeit with a change to the balance of powers and
responsibilities.
Each London borough is responsible for many of the services within their area, such as schools,
waste management, planning applications, social services, libraries and others.

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