Local government in England broadly consists of three layers: civil parishes, local authority districts, and non-metropolitan counties. These districts and counties are known as principal areas and cover almost all of England. The local authorities for these areas are known as principal councils. The two exceptions are the City of London and the Isles of Scilly, which each have a unique form of local government (the Council of the Isles of Scilly and the City of London Corporation). Local government is not standardised across the country, with the last comprehensive reform taking place in 1974.
Civil parishes are the most local tier of local government, and primarily exist in rural and smaller urban areas. The responsibilities of parish councils are limited and generally consist of providing and maintaining public spaces and facilities.
Principal councils are responsible for services such as education, transport, planning applications, and waste collection and disposal. In most of England, there is a single level of local authority district known as a unitary authority. In other areas, a two-tier system of local government is used in which a non-metropolitan county council shares responsibility with a non-metropolitan district council for these services; this two-tier system has been phased out over time with the last remaining two-tier authorities scheduled to be replaced by unitary authorities by 2028 in the upcoming structural changes to local government in England.
Local authorities are considered statutory corporations and have no authority to act other than where they have been explicitly allowed by law. However, since the Localism Act 2011, local authorities have had a general power of competence meaning that 'a local authority has power to do anything that individuals generally may do.'
In addition to local authorities, England has 19 strategic authorities 29 police and crime commissioners, four police, fire and crime commissioners, and ten national park authorities with local responsibilities.
History
At a time when most parish affairs were dealt with by vestries, the Vestries Act 1831 and the Metropolis Management Act 1855 sought to establish the principle of vestries being elected by ratepayers, both men and women.
Before the Local Government Act 1888, most local government functions in England were carried out by parish vestries, Boards of Guardians, which operated workhouses and former poor law functions; elected school boards, created by the Elementary Education Act 1870, and the unelected county courts of quarter sessions. The Local Government Act 1888 created county councils, consisting of councillors, directly elected by electors, and aldermen, chosen by the councillors. There was to be one county alderman for every three councillors (but only one for every six in the new London County Council). The first elections to the councils were held in January 1889, and on 1 April they came into their powers, most of which were taken over from the quarter sessions. Elections of all councillors and half of the aldermen took place every three years thereafter. The councils' areas were designated as administrative counties. The county councils did not cover the whole country. The larger towns and some historic counties corporate were designated as county boroughs by the same act of 1888. The new system was a major modernisation, which reflected the increasing range of functions carried out by local government in late Victorian Britain. An accretion of powers took place when education was added to county council responsibilities in 1902. County councils were responsible for the more strategic services in a county or county borough.
The Local Government Act 1894 created parish councils, which replaced the vestries, and also urban district councils and rural district councils, responsible mostly for sanitation and locally-maintained highways.
The London Government Act 1899 created 28 metropolitan boroughs, replacing a larger number of vestries and district boards.
The Local Government Act 1929 increased the powers of county councils, which took over from the boards of guardians, which were abolished. County councils also took charge of highways in rural districts.
The London Government Act 1963 abolished, with effect from 1965, the London County Council and Middlesex County Council, creating the Greater London Council to replace them. The London Government Act 1963 also established 32 London borough councils.
In 1964, as recommended by the Local Government Commission for England, two pairs of administrative counties were merged to become Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely and Huntingdon and Peterborough.
The Local Government Act 1972 completely reorganised local authorities in England and Wales. In the six largest conurbations, metropolitan county councils, with increased powers, were created. Aldermen were abolished, and all councillors were to be elected every four years. Outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly, the Local Government Act 1972 divided England into metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties, which would have one county council and multiple district councils each. That meant that each area would be covered by two tiers of local authorities - both a county council and a district council, which would share local authority functions. In 1986 the six metropolitan county councils were abolished, with their functions transferred to the metropolitan boroughs and joint boards.
The Local Government Act 1992 established a new Local Government Commission, to review of the structure of local administration, and the introduction of some unitary authorities. The number of county councils was reduced: The counties of Avon, Berkshire, Cleveland, Hereford and Worcester, and Humberside were abolished, while Worcestershire County Council was re-established. The Isle of Wight County Council became a unitary authority, renamed as the "Isle of Wight Council".
In May 2022, 21 non-metropolitan county councils and 164 non-metropolitan district councils remain. As of December 2021 there are 10,475 parishes in England, but they do not cover the whole of the country as many urban parishes were abolished in 1974.
The only specific statutory function of parish councils, which they must do, is establishing allotments. However, there are a number of other functions given by powers in the relevant legislation, which they can do, such as providing litter bins and building bus shelters. Their statutory functions are few, but they may provide other services with the agreement of the relevant local authorities, To be eligible for this a parish council must meet certain conditions of quality.
Civil parishes developed in the nineteenth century, based on the Church of England's parishes, which had both ecclesiastical and local government functions; parish councils were created by the Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), replacing the previous vestries. The ecclesiastical parishes continue to exist, but neither they nor their parochial church councils now have any local government role.
Local authority districts
thumb|377x377px|The local authority districts of England consisting of two-tier non-metropolitan districts and counties (green); the unitary authorities consisting of metropolitan districts (purple) London boroughs (orange), and other unitary authorities (pink); and the unique City of London and Isles of Scilly authorities (brown).
there are 296 local authority districts covering the whole of England. These are responsible for services such as education, transport, planning applications, and waste collection and disposal.
There are two main types of local authority districts: 130 unitary authorities and 164 two-tier non-metropolitan district councils.
The two-tier non-metropolitan districts have a two-tier governance system in which their powers are shared with larger two-tier non-metropolitan counties. Aside from that, the differences in naming of local authority district types is largely stylistic and they all have similar powers.
All local authorities are made up of councillors, who represent geographical wards and divisions. There are 7,026 wards Local authorities run on four-year cycles and councillors may be elected all at once, by halves or by thirds;
Local authorities have a choice of executive arrangements under the Local Government Act 2000: mayor and cabinet executive, leader and cabinet executive, a committee system or bespoke arrangements approved by the Secretary of State. Some functions are just the responsibility of the executive of a local authority, but local authorities must also have at least one overview and scrutiny committee to hold the executive to account.
33% of budgeted service expenditure across local government as a whole was set to be on education, 19% on adult social care, 13% on police, 11% on children's social care and 24% on all other services.
Cornwall Council has been subject to a devolution deal, which are usually reserved to strategic authorities for additional functions and funding. Like some strategic authorities and parish councils, local authorities have a general power of competence. Separate to strategic authorities, two or more local authorities can also work together through joint boards (for legally-required services: fire, public transport and waste disposal), joint committees (voluntarily) or through contracting out and agency arrangements.
The City of London contains the liberties of the Middle Temple and the Inner Temple, which have some powers similar to local authorities.
Funding
Local authorities have three main sources of funding: UK Government grants, council tax and business rates. In the financial year 2019/20, local authorities received 22% of their funding from grants, 52% from council tax and 27% from retained business rates. The Information Commissioner's Office has ruled that there is a public interest in disclosing information about local government investments which will generally outweigh any concerns about whether disclosure could affect an investment's performance or be protected by confidentiality requirements.
Local authorities cannot borrow money to finance day-to-day spending and so must rely on yearly income or reserves for this type of expenditure, although they can borrow to fund capital expenditure. As of May 2026, 14 out of the 16 strategic authorities are led by mayors. The budget and functions of each strategic authority can be vastly different, but possible functions include responsibility for the relevant police force and/or fire brigade, bus franchising and spatial strategy.
The first strategic authority to be established was the Greater London Authority, as the Greater London Authority Act 1999 established a Mayor of London and 25-member London Assembly. The first mayoral and assembly elections took place in 2000. The former Leader of the Greater London Council, Ken Livingstone, served as the inaugural Mayor, until he was defeated by future Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2008. holding the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and London Fire Commissioner to account and keeping strategies up to date, including the London Plan. Meanwhile, it is the Assembly's role to regularly hold the Mayor and their key advisers to account and it can also amend the budget or a strategy by a two-thirds majority, though this has not ever happened as of March 2022. Each combined authority's executive consists of a representative from each of its constituent local authorities, plus (if applicable) the mayor. The umbrella term strategic authority covering the Greater London authority, combined authorities, and combined county authorities was first legally introduced with the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026.
Current administrative hierarchy
As of 2026, the strategic authorities, non-metropolitan counties, and local authority districts formed an administrative hierarchy as shown in the table below. In much of the country there is also a more local tier of local authority area, civil parishes. This administrative hierarchy differs from the ceremonial hierarchy.
The districts consist of non-metropolitan districts, metropolitan districts, unitary authorities, London boroughs, the City of London, and the Isles of Scilly. In two-tier non-metropolitan areas, there are two-tiers of local government at the county and district level.
{| class="wikitable sticky-header"
!Strategic authority!!Two-tier county!!District
|-
|rowspan=6|Cambridgeshire and Peterborough||rowspan=5|Cambridgeshire||Cambridge
|-
|East Cambridgeshire
|-
|Fenland
|-
|Huntingdonshire
|-
|South Cambridgeshire
|-
|rowspan=1
|Peterborough
|-
|rowspan=9|Devon and Torbay||rowspan=8|Devon||East Devon
|-
|Exeter
|-
|Mid Devon
|-
|North Devon
|-
|South Hams
|-
|Teignbridge
|-
|Torridge
|-
|West Devon
|-
|rowspan=1
|Torbay
|-
|rowspan=17|East Midlands
|rowspan=1
|Derby
|-
|rowspan=8|Derbyshire||Amber Valley
|-
|Bolsover
|-
|Chesterfield
|-
|Derbyshire Dales
|-
|Erewash
|-
|High Peak
|-
|North East Derbyshire
|-
|South Derbyshire
|-
|rowspan=1
|Nottingham
|-
|rowspan=7|Nottinghamshire||Ashfield
|-
|Bassetlaw
|-
|Broxtowe
|-
|Gedling
|-
|Mansfield
|-
|Newark and Sherwood
|-
|Rushcliffe
|-
|rowspan=9|Greater Lincolnshire||rowspan=7|Lincolnshire||Boston
|-
|Lincoln
|-
|East Lindsey
|-
|North Kesteven
|-
|South Holland
|-
|South Kesteven
|-
|West Lindsey
|-
|rowspan=16
|North Lincolnshire
|-
|North East Lincolnshire
|-
|rowspan=10|Greater Manchester||Bolton
|-
|Bury
|-
|Manchester
|-
|Oldham
|-
|Rochdale
|-
|Salford
|-
|Stockport
|-
|Tameside
|-
|Trafford
|-
|Wigan
|-
|rowspan=2|Hull and East Yorkshire||Hull
|-
|East Riding of Yorkshire
|-
|rowspan=14|Lancashire||Blackburn with Darwen
|-
|Blackpool
|-
|rowspan=12|Lancashire||Burnley
|-
|Chorley
|-
|Fylde
|-
|Hyndburn
|-
|Lancaster
|-
|Pendle
|-
|Preston
|-
|Ribble Valley
|-
|Rossendale
|-
|South Ribble
|-
|West Lancashire
|-
|Wyre
|-
|rowspan=6|Liverpool City Region
|rowspan=83
|Halton
|-
|Knowsley
|-
|Liverpool
|-
|St Helens
|-
|Sefton
|-
|Wirral
|-
|rowspan=33|London||Barking and Dagenham
|-
|Barnet
|-
|Bexley
|-
|Brent
|-
|Bromley
|-
|Camden
|-
|Croydon
|-
|Ealing
|-
|Enfield
|-
|Greenwich
|-
|Hackney
|-
|Hammersmith and Fulham
|-
|Haringey
|-
|Harrow
|-
|Havering
|-
|Hillingdon
|-
|Hounslow
|-
|Islington
|-
|Kensington and Chelsea
|-
|Kingston upon Thames
|-
|Lambeth
|-
|Lewisham
|-
|London (City)
|-
|Merton
|-
|Newham
|-
|Redbridge
|-
|Richmond upon Thames
|-
|Southwark
|-
|Sutton
|-
|Tower Hamlets
|-
|Waltham Forest
|-
|Wandsworth
|-
|Westminster
|-
|rowspan=7|North East||Durham
|-
|Gateshead
|-
|Newcastle upon Tyne
|-
|North Tyneside
|-
|Northumberland
|-
|South Tyneside
|-
|Sunderland
|-
|rowspan=4|South Yorkshire||Barnsley
|-
|Doncaster
|-
|Rotherham
|-
|Sheffield
|-
|rowspan=5|Tees Valley||Darlington
|-
|Hartlepool
|-
|Middlesbrough
|-
|Redcar and Cleveland
|-
|Stockton-on-Tees
|-
|rowspan=7|West Midlands||Birmingham
|-
|Coventry
|-
|Dudley
|-
|Sandwell
|-
|Solihull
|-
|Walsall
|-
|Wolverhampton
|-
|rowspan=3|West of England||Bath and North East Somerset
|-
|Bristol
|-
|South Gloucestershire
|-
|rowspan=5|West Yorkshire||Bradford
|-
|Calderdale
|-
|Kirklees
|-
|Leeds
|-
|Wakefield
|-
|rowspan=2|York and North Yorkshire||North Yorkshire
|-
|York
|-
|rowspan=191 || colspan="2" |Bedford
|-
|Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
|-
|Bracknell Forest
|-
|Brighton and Hove
|-
|Buckinghamshire
|-
|Central Bedfordshire
|-
|Cheshire East
|-
|Cheshire West and Chester
|-
|Cornwall
|-
|Cumberland
|-
|Dorset
|-
|rowspan=5|East Sussex||Eastbourne
|-
|Hastings
|-
|Lewes
|-
|Rother
|-
|Wealden
|-
|rowspan=12|Essex||Basildon
|-
|Braintree
|-
|Brentwood
|-
|Castle Point
|-
|Chelmsford
|-
|Colchester
|-
|Epping Forest
|-
|Harlow
|-
|Maldon
|-
|Rochford
|-
|Tendring
|-
|Uttlesford
|-
|rowspan=6|Gloucestershire||Cheltenham
|-
|Cotswold
|-
|Forest of Dean
|-
|Gloucester
|-
|Stroud
|-
|Tewkesbury
|-
|rowspan=11|Hampshire||Basingstoke and Deane
|-
|East Hampshire
|-
|Eastleigh
|-
|Fareham
|-
|Gosport
|-
|Hart
|-
|Havant
|-
|New Forest
|-
|Rushmoor
|-
|Test Valley
|-
|Winchester
|-
|rowspan=1
|Herefordshire
|-
|rowspan=10|Hertfordshire||Broxbourne
|-
|Dacorum
|-
|East Hertfordshire
|-
|Hertsmere
|-
|North Hertfordshire
|-
|St Albans
|-
|Stevenage
|-
|Three Rivers
|-
|Watford
|-
|Welwyn Hatfield
|-
|rowspan=2
|Isle of Wight
|-
|Isles of Scilly
|-
|rowspan=12|Kent||Ashford
|-
|Canterbury
|-
|Dartford
|-
|Dover
|-
|Folkestone and Hythe
|-
|Gravesham
|-
|Maidstone
|-
|Sevenoaks
|-
|Swale
|-
|Thanet
|-
|Tonbridge and Malling
|-
|Tunbridge Wells
|-
|rowspan=1
|Leicester
|-
|rowspan=7|Leicestershire||Blaby
|-
|Charnwood
|-
|Harborough
|-
|Hinckley and Bosworth
|-
|Melton
|-
|North West Leicestershire
|-
|Oadby and Wigston
|-
|rowspan=3
|Luton
|-
|Medway
|-
|Milton Keynes
|-
|rowspan=7|Norfolk||Breckland
|-
|Broadland
|-
|Great Yarmouth
|-
|King's Lynn and West Norfolk
|-
|North Norfolk
|-
|Norwich
|-
|South Norfolk
|-
|rowspan=2
|North Northamptonshire
|-
|North Somerset
|-
|rowspan=5|Oxfordshire||Cherwell
|-
|Oxford
|-
|South Oxfordshire
|-
|Vale of White Horse
|-
|West Oxfordshire
|-
|rowspan=9
|Plymouth
|-
|Portsmouth
|-
|Reading
|-
|Rutland
|-
|Shropshire
|-
|Slough
|-
|Somerset
|-
|Southampton
|-
|Southend-on-Sea
|-
|rowspan=8|Staffordshire||Cannock Chase
|-
|East Staffordshire
|-
|Lichfield
|-
|Newcastle-under-Lyme
|-
|South Staffordshire
|-
|Stafford
|-
|Staffordshire Moorlands
|-
|Tamworth
|-
|rowspan=1
|Stoke-on-Trent
|-
|rowspan=5|Suffolk||Babergh
|-
|East Suffolk
|-
|Ipswich
|-
|Mid Suffolk
|-
|West Suffolk
|-
|rowspan=11|Surrey||Elmbridge
|-
|Epsom and Ewell
|-
|Guildford
|-
|Mole Valley
|-
|Reigate and Banstead
|-
|Runnymede
|-
|Spelthorne
|-
|Surrey Heath
|-
|Tandridge
|-
|Waverley
|-
|Woking
|-
|rowspan=4
|Swindon
|-
|Telford and Wrekin
|-
|Thurrock
|-
|Warrington
|-
|rowspan=5|Warwickshire||North Warwickshire
|-
|Nuneaton and Bedworth
|-
|Rugby
|-
|Stratford-on-Avon
|-
|Warwick
|-
|rowspan=2
|West Berkshire
|-
|West Northamptonshire
|-
|rowspan=7|West Sussex||Adur
|-
|Arun
|-
|Chichester
|-
|Crawley
|-
|Horsham
|-
|Mid Sussex
|-
|Worthing
|-
|rowspan=4
|Westmorland and Furness
|-
|Wiltshire
|-
|Windsor and Maidenhead
|-
|Wokingham
|-
|rowspan=6|Worcestershire||Bromsgrove
|-
|Malvern Hills
|-
|Redditch
|-
|Worcester
|-
|Wychavon
|-
|Wyre Forest
|}
Summary table of authority types
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Type
!Notes
!Example(s)
|-
!Civil parish council
|Lowest level of local government. According to the Localism Act 2011 eligible parish councils can be granted "general power of competence" (GPC) which allows them, within certain limits, the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it is not prohibited by other legislation.
|-
!Non-metropolitan district council in a two-tier system
|Type of local authority.
Lower-tier of a two-tier system.
|Epping Forest District council, Gosport Borough Council, Woking Borough Council
|-
|colspan=3|Responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism in a two-tier system.
|-
!Unitary authority
|Type of local authority.
|Plymouth City Council, Durham County Council, North Somerset Council, Slough Borough Council
|-
|colspan=3| Unitary authorities combine the powers and functions that are normally delivered separately by the councils of non-metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts.
|-
!Combined authority
|Combined authorities assume the role of an integrated transport authority and economic prosperity board on behalf of its member local authorities.
|Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Tees Valley Combined Authority
|-
|colspan=3| Combined authorities are created voluntarily and allow a group of local authorities to pool appropriate responsibility and receive certain delegated functions from central government in order to deliver transport and economic policy more effectively over a wider area.
|-
!Greater London Authority (GLA)
|London only.
|Greater London Authority
|-
|colspan=3| The GLA has responsibility for transport, policing, fire and rescue, development and strategic planning. The GLA does not directly provide any services itself. Instead, its work is carried out by functional bodies which, together with the GLA itself, form the GLA Group and work under the policy direction of the mayor and assembly.
|-
!Police and crime commissioner (PCC)
|Replaced police authorities.
|Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner
|-
|colspan=3| PCCs are responsible for ensuring an effective police force within their area, and to hold the chief constable to account for the delivery of the police and crime plan. Police and crime commissioners are hold the police fund (from which all policing of the area is financed) and are able to raise the local policing precept from council tax. Police and crime commissioners are also responsible for the appointment, suspension and dismissal of the Chief Constable.
|-
!Police, fire and crime commissioner (PFCC)
|Replaced police authorities and fire authorities.
Some combined and regional authorities may assume responsibility for policing, e.g. Greater Manchester.
|-
!National park authority
|Established by the Environment Act 1995.
|Peak District National Park Authority
|-
|colspan=3| Responsible for maintenance of a national park.
|-
!City of London Corporation
|
|
|-
|colspan=3| Sui generis body for the City of London.<blockquote>If the people within government are unsure at times where powers and responsibility, and hence accountability, rest, this lack of clarity is magnified for individuals who have little knowledge or experience of the structures. This has the potential to leave individuals less likely to be able to access what they need from government, leaving them often unable to know who is responsible, and as a result are not properly able to hold their democratic representatives to account.