30-498: Rochford is a local government district in Essex , England. It is named after one of its main settlements, Rochford , where the council is based. The largest town in the district is Rayleigh . Other places in the district include Hockley , Ashingdon , Great Wakering , Canewdon and Hullbridge . The district borders Maldon District to the north, the City of Chelmsford to the north-west,
60-434: 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 the right to appoint a mayor . Borough status is granted by royal charter and, in many cases, continues
90-425: 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 a two-tier structure of local government. Two-tier non-metropolitan counties have a county council and several districts, each with
120-457: 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. Berkshire is unusual, being the only non-metropolitan county, with no county council, that has more than one unitary authority district within it, each of which is not a county. The 32 London boroughs are sub-divisions of Greater London . They were established in 1965. Between 1965 and 1986
150-457: 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
180-485: A third of the council at a time. Elections to Essex County Council are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no district council elections. The district is divided into 14 civil parishes . The parish council for Rayleigh takes the style "town council". 51°34′54″N 0°42′30″E / 51.5817°N 0.7082°E / 51.5817; 0.7082 Non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts , or colloquially " shire districts ", are
210-471: A third tier of local government. The council has been under no overall control since 2023. Following the 2024 election a coalition of the Liberal Democrats , Green Party and independents formed to run the council, led by Liberal Democrat councillor James Newport. The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until
240-638: 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
270-486: A type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially shire counties ) in 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
300-421: 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 ). Districts of England The districts of England (officially, local authority districts , abbreviated LADs ) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government . As
330-565: Is due in May 2026. The council has its main offices on South Street in Rochford. When the council was created it inherited the former Rochford Rural District Council's offices at Roche House, 7 South Street, Rochford and the former Rayleigh Urban District Council's offices at Barringtons, 2 Hockley Road, Rayleigh. Both buildings were converted houses. The council acquired other properties along South Street in Rochford and combined them with Roche House to form
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#1732845628166360-581: The Borough of Basildon to the west, the Borough of Castle Point to the south-west, and the City of Southend-on-Sea to the south. To the east, it has a stretch of coast at Foulness Island . Most of the built-up areas are in the western part of the district, along the railway line from Shenfield to Southend Victoria . Southend Airport straddles the district's border with the City of Southend-on-Sea. The eastern part of
390-499: 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
420-584: 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
450-607: 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
480-455: 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
510-449: 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
540-529: The council's headquarters. The civic suite wing of Barringtons in Rayleigh, including the council chamber, was retained by the council and serves as the council's main meeting place. It closed in 2020 but reopened in 2024 after a period of uncertainty about its future. Since the last boundary changes in 2016 the council has comprised 39 councillors representing 13 wards , with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four for
570-435: The creation of single-tier unitary authorities in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s, their numbers were reduced to 164 by 2023. These single-tier non-metropolitan districts are responsible for running all local services in their areas, combining county and district functions. They were created in the mid-1990s, and often cover large towns and cities as this is deemed more efficient than a two-tier structure. In addition, some of
600-407: The district is more sparsely populated. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , covering the whole area of two former districts, which were abolished at the same time: Rochford District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Essex County Council . The district is also entirely covered by civil parishes , which form
630-487: 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
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#1732845628166660-573: The functions and status of county and district. 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 are second-tier authorities, which share power with county councils . They are subdivisions of shire counties and
690-479: 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 two-tier non-metropolitan districts (also known as shire districts ) has varied over time. Initially, there were 296; after
720-466: The new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: The leaders of the council since 2004 have been: Following the 2024 election , the composition of the council was: The Green councillor sits with the independents as the "non-aligned group", which forms the council's administration with the Liberal Democrats. The next election
750-543: The smaller counties such as Rutland , Herefordshire and the Isle of Wight are unitary authorities. There are a total of 62 unitary authorities, the latest ones introduced in 2023. Unitary authority areas are a type of non-metropolitan district; most are established as individual counties containing a single district, with a district council but no county council. Cornwall , Durham , the Isle of Wight , Northumberland , Shropshire and Wiltshire were established as counties with
780-440: The status of the district or the powers of their councils. 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. Before the establishment of districts in the 1890s, the basic unit of local government in England
810-608: 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 296 districts made up of 36 metropolitan boroughs , 32 London boroughs , 164 two-tier non-metropolitan districts and 62 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 other categories. Some districts are styled as cities , boroughs or royal boroughs ; these are purely honorific titles and do not alter
840-526: 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
870-611: 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
900-537: 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 . From 1834 these parishes were grouped into Poor Law Unions , creating areas for administration of
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