Cumberland is a future

unitary Unitary may refer to: Mathematics * Unitary divisor * Unitary element * Unitary group * Unitary matrix * Unitary morphism * Unitary operator * Unitary transformation * Unitary representation * Unitarity (physics) * ''E''-unitary inverse semigrou ...

local government area in north-west

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Together with

Westmorland and Furness Westmorland and Furness is a future unitary authority area in north-west England, which will come into being on 1 April 2023 on the abolition of Cumbria County Council, together with Cumberland. The council will cover the areas currently served ...

, it will be formally established on 1 April 2023 when Cumbria County Council is abolished. The district will consist of the areas covered by the current districts of Allerdale,

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

and Copeland, which will also cease to function. It will cover 77% of the area of, and 90% of the population of, the historic county of

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

. The authority will sit within the ceremonial county of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, which will no longer have any administrative function. The authority is named after the historic county of

, which was abolished for administrative purposes in 1974. Penrith and the surrounding area is the part of the historic county which is excluded from the new council area. Penrith will instead fall within

Governance

The first

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

Cumberland Council Cumberland Council is the local authority for Cumberland in England. It is a unitary authority, the structural change order names the new Cumberland Council as only a district council. It will operate as a shadow authority until taking up its pow ...

took place in May 2022, with the council acting as a 'shadow authority' until the abolition of the three former district councils and

Cumbria County Council Cumbria County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Cumbria in the North West of England. Established in April 1974, following its first elections held the previous year, it is an elected local government body respon ...

on 1 April 2023.

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

won a majority of 30 seats. Conservatives have 7 seats, Liberal Democrats 4 seats, Independents 3 seats and Green Party 2 seats. Turnout was 36.1%.

Name

The district will cover broadly the same area as the historic county of

, except for the Penrith area which will be in

. Cumberland was previously an administrative county until it was abolished by the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

and replaced with Cumbria.

History

Elections to

were due to take place in May 2021 but were postponed by the

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government The secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, also referred to as the levelling up secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the overall leadership and strategic direction o ...

for one year due to a consultation on local government reorganisation in the area. In July 2021, the government announced that the current authorities in Cumbria would be abolished and replaced with two unitary authorities in the form of an 'east/west split' of the county. Opponents of the reorganisation claimed that the proposal was pursued to benefit the electoral prospects of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. Cumbria County Council, which would be abolished under the plans, sought

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...

to prevent the reorganisation from taking place. The judicial review was refused by the High Court in January 2022. Draft statutory instruments to bring about local government reorganisation in Cumbria were subsequently laid before parliament. The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022 (2022 No. 331) was made on 17 March 2022 and came into force the following day. Cumberland, together with neighbouring

, will continue to constitute a

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

named "Cumbria" for the purpose of lieutenancy and shrievalties, being presided over by a

Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria This is a list of those who have held the position of Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria. Cumbria was formed on 1 April 1974 by combining Cumberland and Westmorland and the area of Lancashire North of the Sands part of the Lonsdale Hundred. History The ...

and a

High Sheriff of Cumbria The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the high sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred e ...

. Police services is be provided by

Cumbria Constabulary Cumbria Constabulary is the territorial police force in England covering Cumbria. As of September 2017, the force had 1,108 police officers, 535 police staff, 93 police community support officers, and 86 special constables. The force serves a ...

overseen by the

Cumbria Police and Crime Commissioner The Cumbria Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner is the police, fire and crime commissioner, an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by Cumbria Police in the England, English ceremonial county of Cumbria. The post was ...

, High Sheriffs pay attention to the work of such statutory bodies as the Police, the Prison Service and the Probation Service.

References

External links

Cumberland Shadow AuthorityCumberland Joint CommitteeTwo New Councils for Cumbria
{{Unitary authorities of England Local government in Cumbria Unitary authority districts of England Local government districts of Cumbria

Governance

Name

History

See also

References

External links