17-526: Wansdyke was a non-metropolitan district within the County of Avon west of England from 1974 to 1996. The district was formed by the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974 as part of a reform of local authorities throughout England and Wales. Under the reorganisation, the area surrounding the cities of Bath and Bristol was formed into the new county of Avon, named after the river that passes through
34-434: 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
51-425: 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
68-457: 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
85-486: 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
102-559: 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 ). Metropolitan boroughs A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district ) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 , metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan counties . All of
119-584: 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
136-713: The area. The county was divided into six districts, one of which was formed from the areas of the Keynsham and Norton-Radstock urban districts , Bathavon Rural District and part of Clutton Rural District in Somerset . The district was named after the Wansdyke earthwork . Following a review by the Local Government Commission for England , both the County of Avon and District of Wansdyke were abolished on 1 April 1996. Wansdyke
153-449: 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
170-487: 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
187-519: The latter having a directly elected metropolitan mayor . The term "metropolitan borough" was first used for administrative subdivisions of the County of London between 1900 and 1965. There were 28 of these metropolitan boroughs, which were replaced by a new system of larger London boroughs in 1965, when the County of London was replaced by Greater London . The current metropolitan boroughs originated as metropolitan districts created in 1974 as subdivisions of new metropolitan counties, created to cover
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#1732858268975204-557: The metropolitan districts have been granted or regranted royal charters giving them borough status (and in some cases, they also have city status ). Metropolitan boroughs have been effectively unitary authority areas since the abolition of metropolitan county councils by the Local Government Act 1985 . Metropolitan boroughs pool much of their authority in joint boards and other arrangements that cover whole metropolitan counties, such as Local enterprise partnerships and Combined authorities and combined county authorities , with most of
221-468: The responsibility of county councils . Many metropolitan districts were boroughs from their establishment on 1 April 1974; others gained borough status later. In 1986 the metropolitan county councils were abolished under the Local Government Act 1985 and most of their functions were devolved to the metropolitan boroughs, making them, to a large extent, unitary authorities in all but name. At
238-627: The six largest urban areas in England outside Greater London. The new districts replaced the previous system of county boroughs , municipal boroughs , and urban and rural districts . Metropolitan districts were originally parts of a two-tier structure of local government, and shared power with metropolitan county councils. They differed from non-metropolitan districts in the division of powers between district and county councils. Metropolitan districts were local education authorities , and were also responsible for social services and libraries . In non-metropolitan counties these services were (and are)
255-526: 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
272-611: 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
289-614: Was merged with neighbouring City of Bath to form the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset . The Parliamentary constituency of Wansdyke , covering a similar but not identical area, was replaced at the 2010 general election when it was split and merged into the North East Somerset and Kingswood constituencies. 51°24′59″N 2°29′56″W / 51.4163°N 2.4988°W / 51.4163; -2.4988 Non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts , or colloquially " shire districts ", are
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