History of local government in Yorkshire
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The history of local government in Yorkshire is unique and complex.
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
is the largest
historic History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...
Vision of Britain
Yorkshire ancient countyhistoric map
and consists of a diverse mix of urban and rural development with a heritage in
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
,
manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...
, and
mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
. After a long period with little change, it has been subject to a number of reforms of local government structures in modern times, some of which were controversial.HMSO, ''Aspects of Britain: Local Government'', (1996) The most significant of these were 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 ...
,Arnold-Baker, C., ''Local Government Act 1972'', (1973) the
1990s UK local government reform The structure of local government in the United Kingdom underwent large changes in the 1990s. The system of two-tier local government introduced in the 1970s by the Local Government Act 1972 and the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 was abolish ...
, and the
Localism Act 2011 The Localism Act 2011 (c. 20) is an Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom, Act of Parliament that changes the powers of local government in England. The aim of the act is to facilitate the devolution of decision-making powers from central gov ...
. The historic area currently corresponds to several counties and districts and is mostly contained within the
Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The population in 2011 was 5,284,000 with its largest settlements being Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Hull, and York. It is ...
region.


Ancient divisions

Yorkshire originated in antiquity as the Kingdom of Jórvík. It was traditionally divided into
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
,
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
and
East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
ridings. The term originates from
Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
''þriðing'', "third part", a legacy of the area's 9th century
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n settlers. Each of the ridings was then further subdivided into smaller units called
wapentakes A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek ...
, which were administered by an early form of democratic representation termed a "
Thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuses ...
". Later the wapentakes were used as the basis for administration. In about 1823 the wapentakes were: Apart from these was the Ainsty wapentake to the west of the
City of York The City of York is a unitary authority area with city status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. The district's main settlement is York, and it extends to the surrounding area including the town of Haxby and the villages of E ...
.


Modern local government

The borough corporations of Beverley, Doncaster, Kingston upon Hull, Leeds, Pontefract, Richmond, Ripon, Scarborough and York were reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. In 1889, as part of the
Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
, Yorkshire was divided into three administrative counties (each with a
county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...
) and county boroughs. The administrative counties closely followed the three ancient ridings, with the exclusion of the large towns of Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Kingston upon Hull, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Sheffield and York. Yorkshire continued to be classed as a single county under the act, although each of the ridings retained their own lieutenancies and shrievalties. York became associated with the West Riding for this purpose. Yorkshire was of unwieldy size to have a single county council, lieutenancy and shrievalty for the whole of it. In 1894 the remainder of the county, that was not a county borough or municipal ('non-county') borough, was divided into urban and rural districts by the
Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...
. Several new county boroughs were created from 1889 to 1974: The North Riding gained from
County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly â€About North East E ...
when the Teesside county borough was created in 1968.


Distribution of population in 1971

With the creation and growth of county boroughs, and a movement of people from the country to the towns and cities, the population in the county boroughs began to outnumber those in the administrative counties. By 1971, 53% of the population of Yorkshire were living in the county boroughs. The division of population in 1971 was as follows:


Changes in 1974

Local government in England was reformed in 1974 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 ...
.Elcock, H, ''Local Government'', (1994) Under the act, the ridings lost their lieutenancies and shrievalties and the administrative counties, county boroughs and their councils were abolished. The area of Yorkshire was divided between a number of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties:Redcliffe-Maud & Wood, B., ''English Local Government Reformed'', (1974) The reform sought to amalgamate the urbanised parts of the West Riding in the South and West Yorkshire
metropolitan counties The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, with populations between 1 and 3 million. They were created in 1974 and are each di ...
.Jones, B. et al., ''Politics UK'', (2004) The other counties, known as ''non-metropolitan'' or shire counties, recognised the urbanised areas that had developed around the
River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...
and the
Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...
, leaving
North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
as a predominantly rural county. The metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties also became counties for purposes such as lieutenancy.


Royal Mail reaction

The Royal Mail adopted South, North and West Yorkshire as postal counties in 1974. It also recognised the transfers from Yorkshire to Cumbria, Durham and Lancashire and the creation of Cleveland. In Humberside, the part from Yorkshire became the North Humberside postal county. Greater Manchester could not be adopted as a postal county, so Saddleworth (which was part of the Oldham
post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...
) was included in the Lancashire postal county. Postal counties are no longer in official use.


District name changes

Some changes were unpopular, and a provision of the 1972 act allowed district councils to change the names of their districts. Within Humberside, the Borough of Beverley was changed to ''East Yorkshire Borough of Beverley'' and North Wolds district was changed to ''East Yorkshire'' in 1981, reflecting their historic association with Yorkshire.


Abolition of county councils

In 1986 the county councils of South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire were abolished and their functions transferred to district councils.


1990s UK local government reform

A review of local government took place during the 1990s which made a number of changes to the counties created in 1974. As part of the review, Cleveland and Humberside were abolished in 1996 and their districts were reconstituted as
unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
. In addition to becoming a unitary authority, the
East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...
was reintroduced as a county for the purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty (also including Hull) and
North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
gained territory for this purpose; the changes to the
ceremonial counties 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 ...
were reconfirmed by the
Lieutenancies Act 1997 The Lieutenancies Act 1997 (c. 23) is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that defines areas that lord-lieutenants are appointed to in Great Britain. It came into force on 1 July 1997. Creation of modern local government Prior to the Loca ...
. The unitary districts created are as follows:


2000s possible North Yorkshire reorganisation

In 2003 the government put forward further proposals to restructure local government in North Yorkshire as part of proposals for regional assemblies. This was to replace the two-tier North Yorkshire council structure with a single tier of unitary authorities within a directly elected regional assembly, and would also address the drastic loss of population of Ryedale council where 50% of its population had been absorbed into an enlarged York.


Proposed options

With the proposals for larger unitary district councils Selby council would have been merged with the unitary East Riding of Yorkshire council. The City of York council had become an expanded unitary council in 1996. In the first stage of consultations, North Yorkshire County Council supported the unitary county option, with the districts all arguing for the status quo, though with Scarborough acknowledging strengths of merging with Ryedale. After initial consultation, the government adopted the single unitary county council option for second stage consultation. In part due to the unpopularity of the regional assembly that would also go with any reorganisation, the proposals were dropped. The proposals were revived in 2007, but after consultation were again dropped.


2020s North Yorkshire reorganisation

In 2020 the government instructed the councils in North Yorkshire to put forward options for reorganisation into unitary areas.


Proposed options

North Yorkshire County Council put forward essentially the same option that they had proposed in 2007 and 2003, a unitary North Yorkshire and the existing unitary City of York. This option was supported by the City of York. Six of the seven districts (all but Hambleton) jointly put forward a proposal to split the county east/west and merge York into the eastern council. Consultation on the two options started on 22 March 2021 with the normal May 2021 county council elections (and district council elections in Craven) abolished.


Government decision

On 21 July 2021, the
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of Government of the United King ...
announced that in April 2023, the non-metropolitan county will be reorganised into a
unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
. The county council and the seven district councils are to be abolished and their functions transferred to a single authority. The existing unitary authority for the City of York will not be altered.


Combined authorities

To recreate strategic authorities lost when metropolitan county councils were abolished in 1986, combined authorities have been created since 2014. The combined authority for South Yorkshire, formed in 2014, was initially known as Sheffield City Region Combined Authority and was renamed
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority is the combined authority for South Yorkshire in England, with powers over transport (public transport and major trunk roads only), economic development and regeneration. It covers a total area of 3 ...
in 2021.
West Yorkshire Combined Authority The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) is the combined authority for West Yorkshire in England. It was established by statutory instrument under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 on 1 April 2014. It is a s ...
was formed in 2014.
Tees Valley Combined Authority The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is the combined authority for the Tees Valley urban area in England consisting of the following five unitary authorities: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-T ...
was established in 2016. In 2022 the government proposed that a combined authority should be established for York and North Yorkshire, covering all the area of North Yorkshire outside the area of Tees Valley Combined Authority.


Demography

The total area and population of Yorkshire from 1831 to 1991 is as follows. The area corresponds to the three ridings until 1971 and to West, North and South Yorkshire from 1981.National Statistics
200 years of the Census in Yorkshire
/ref> From 1831 to 1991 there was a rise in population density from 0.4 to 1.4 people per acre.


See also

*
History of local government in the United Kingdom The history of local government in the United Kingdom covers the development of local government in the United Kingdom since its formation in 1707.