A unitary authority is a
local authority
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...
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 government.
Typically unitary authorities cover
towns or
cities
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...
which are large enough to function independently of a
council
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nat ...
or other authority. An authority can be a unit of a
county or
combined authority
A combined authority is a type of local government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. Combined authorities are created voluntarily and allow a group ...
.
Canada
In Canada, each province creates its own system of local government, so terminology varies substantially.
In certain provinces (e.g.
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Terri ...
,
Nova Scotia) there is ''only'' one level of local government in that province, so no special term is used to describe the situation.
British Columbia has only one such municipality,
Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, which was established in 2009.
In
Ontario the term single-tier municipalities is used, for a similar concept. Their character varies, and while most function as cities with no upper level of government, some function as counties or
regional municipalities with no lower municipal subdivisions below them. They exist as individual
census divisions
Census divisions, in Canada and the United States, are areas delineated for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government in and of themselves. The census divisions of Canada are second-level census geographic unit ...
, as well as
separated municipalities.
Central Europe
In Germany,
kreisfreie Stadt
In all German states, except for the three city states, the primary administrative subdivision higher than a '' Gemeinde'' (municipality) is the (official term in all but two states) or (official term in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia ...
(literally ''circle-free city'') is the equivalent term for a city with the competences of both the
Gemeinde
Gemeinde (; plural: Gemeinden) is a German word translating to "community", "town", "parish", or "municipality".
Gemeinde may refer to:
* An administrative division encompassing a single village, town, or city:
** Gemeinde (Austria)
** Gemeinde ( ...
(municipality) and the
Kreis (district, literally ''circle'') administrative level. The directly elected chief executive officer of a ''kreisfreie Stadt'' is called ''Oberbürgermeister'' (literally ''Superior Burgomaster'', in English "Chief Mayor" or "Lord Mayor").
The British counties have no directly corresponding counterpart in Germany. This German system corresponds to
statutory cities in Austria and
in the Czech Republic.
Denmark
Until 1 January 2007, the municipalities of
Copenhagen,
Frederiksberg and
Bornholm
Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland.
Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled b ...
were not a part of a Danish
county.
France
The city of
Paris works like a department council and a municipal council. Administratively at state level, it is both a department with a single departmental arrondissement (not to be confused with the 20 city districts of Paris, or ''arrondissements municipaux'', which are local subdivisions existing in very populated municipalities, including Paris, Lyon and Marseille, with their own arrondissement councils and arrondissement mayors also elected during municipal elections), however the prefecture of Paris is split between the prefecture of police of Paris (which covers the 3 other surrounding departments in the first ring) and the department prefecture (which is also the region prefecture, whose competence on police does not cover the 4 departments of Paris and the small ring). As the department of Paris has no department council elected during departmental elections, it is not subdivided into ''cantons'', but its 20 districts are considered equivalent.
The department councils of the two departments of
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast o ...
and of the region merged into a unitary authority, officially a ''collectivité territoriale''. Its area of competence covers the whole administrative region and the two administrative departments (which were kept at state level with their two prefectures and their respective subprefectures for state-managed services).
The overseas departements and regions were all proposed to merge their single departmental council (''conseil départemental'') coexisting with their regional council (''conseil régional'') on the same territory (at state level they are unified as ''DROM'' for their prefectures) into a ''collectivité unique''. The proposal was rejected by local referendum in
Guadeloupe and in
Réunion
Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island o ...
, but this occurred in
Martinique and
French Guiana whose former departemental and regional councils were merged into a single unitary authority named ''assemblée'', elected during departmental elections.
Mayotte with its newer status of department chose to keep this designation for its unitary authority, named departmental council (no regional council was ever created), but which also has the competence of a regional council (plus a few specific competences transferred from the state like other French overseas).
The
Métropole de Lyon
The Metropolis of Lyon (french: Métropole de Lyon), also known as ("Greater Lyon"), is a French territorial collectivity located in the east-central region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is a directly elected metropolitan authority encompassing t ...
was created as a metropole from an earlier EPCI (
public establishment of intercommunal cooperation
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
) but gained the competences of the departmental council. The departmental council of Rhône only covers the rest of the administrative department (which is still subdivided into two subprefectures, one of which includes the métropole). So the metropole is not a unitary authority, and no longer an EPCI (like other French metropoles), but it has a specific status, considered equivalent to a department council, except that its seats are elected during the municipal French elections (at the same time as its municipal councils in each member ''commune''), and that (like departments and regions, but unlike other French EPCI's including other metropoles) it is a territorial collectivity, with legal personality and fiscal autonomy.
New Zealand
In
New Zealand, a unitary authority is a
territorial authority (district, city or metropolitan area) that also performs the functions of a
regional council
Regional Council may refer to:
* Regional Council (Hong Kong), disbanded in 1999
** Regional Council (constituency)
Regional council may refer to:
* Regional council (Cameroon)
* Regional council (France), the elected assembly of a region of Fran ...
(first-level division). There are five unitary authorities, they are (with the year they were constituted):
Gisborne District Council (1989),
Tasman District Council (1992),
Nelson City Council (1992),
Marlborough District Council
Marlborough District Council ( mi, Te Tauihu-o-te-waka) is the unitary local authority for the Marlborough District of New Zealand.
The council is led by the mayor of Marlborough, who is currently . There are also 13 councillors representing th ...
(1992), and
Auckland Council
Auckland Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau) is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a ...
(2010).
The
Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about t ...
, located east of the
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman S ...
, have a council with its own special legislation, constituted (1995) with powers similar to those of a regional authority.
Poland
In
Poland, a ''miasto na prawach powiatu'', or shortly ''powiat grodzki'' (''city with
powiat rights'', or ''urban county'' in short) is a, typically big, city which is also responsible for district (poviat) administrative level, being part of no other ''powiat'' (e.g.
Kraków,
Łódź,
Wrocław,
Poznań). In total, 65 cities in Poland have this status.
Taiwan
Most cities in
Taiwan, in contrast to
counties, have only one tier of local government. Unlike the three
county-administered cities (
Chiayi
Chiayi (, Taigi POJ: ''Ka-gī''; ), officially known as Chiayi City, is a city located in the plains of southwestern Taiwan. Formerly called ''Kagee'' during the late Qing dynasty and ''Kagi'' during the Japanese era (), its historical name i ...
,
Keelung
Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with its neighbors, New Tai ...
, and
Hsinchu
Hsinchu (, Chinese: 新竹, Pinyin: ''Xīnzhú'', Wade–Giles: ''Hsin¹-chu²'') is a city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan Province not among the special municipalities, with estimated 450,655 inhabi ...
), they are independent of their surrounding county.
Special municipalities, with the exception of a few
mountain indigenous districts within them, are also unitary.
United Kingdom
England
In
England, "unitary authorities" are those local authorities set up in accordance with the Local Government Changes for England Regulations 1994 made under powers conferred by the
Local Government Act 1992 to form a single tier of
local government in specified areas and which are responsible for almost all local government functions within such areas. While outwardly appearing to be similar, single-tier authorities formed using older legislation are not ''unitary authorities'' thus excluding e.g. the
Council of the Isles of Scilly
The Council of the Isles of Scilly is a ''sui generis'' unitary local government authority covering the Isles of Scilly off the west coast of Cornwall. It is currently made up of 16 seats, with all councillors being independents. The council ...
or any other single-tier authority formed under the older legislation and not since given the status of a unitary authority.
This is distinct from the two-tier system of local government which still exists in most of England, where local government functions are divided between
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 ...
s (the upper tier) and
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
or borough councils. Until 1996 two-tier systems existed in
Scotland and
Wales, but these have now been replaced by systems based on a single tier of local government with some functions shared between groups of adjacent authorities. A single-tier system has existed in
Northern Ireland since 1973.
For many years the description of the number of tiers in UK local government arrangements has routinely ignored any current or previous bodies at the lowest level of authorities elected by the voters within their area such as
parish (in England and Wales) or community councils; such bodies do not exist or have not existed in all areas.
Rest of the United Kingdom
The definitive description "unitary authority" is specific to England alone in UK legislation. Thus single-tier authorities elsewhere in the UK are not properly styled as unitary authorities; also their rights, privileges and responsibilities are not the same.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is divided into eleven districts for local government purposes. In Northern Ireland local councils have no responsibility for education, road building or housing (though they do nominate members to the advisory
Northern Ireland Housing Council
The Housing Council is a public body in Northern Ireland, consulted by the Housing Executive and Department for Communities
The Department for Communities (DfC, Irish: ''An Roinn Pobal'', Ulster Scots: ''Depairtment fur Commonities'') is a ...
). Their functions include
waste and recycling services, leisure and community services, building control and local economic and cultural development. Since their reorganisation in 2015 councils in Northern Ireland have also taken on responsibility for planning functions. The collection of
rates
Rate or rates may refer to:
Finance
* Rates (tax), a type of taxation system in the United Kingdom used to fund local government
* Exchange rate, rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another
Mathematics and science
* Rate (mathema ...
is handled by the
Land and Property Services
The Land and Property Services (LPS, ga, Seirbhísí Talún & Maoine) is an agency of the Department of Finance of the Northern Ireland Executive
The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administra ...
agency.
Scotland
Local authorities in
Scotland are unitary in nature but not in name. The
Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994
The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the current local government structure of 32 unitary authorities covering the whole of Scotland.
It abolished the two-tier st ...
created a single tier of local government throughout Scotland. On 1 April 1996, 32 local government areas, each with a
council
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nat ...
, replaced the previous
two-tier structure, which had regional, islands and district councils.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (, for, , Scottish Gaelic, Council of the Western Isles) is the local government council for ''Na h-Eileanan Siar'' (the Outer Hebrides) council area of Scotland. (formerly the Western Isles Council) uses the alternative
Gaelic designation ''Comhairle''. While the phrase "unitary authority" is not used in Scottish legislation (whether from the Scottish Parliament or the UK Parliament), the term can be encountered (used either descriptively or erroneously) in a few official publications and in (usually erroneous) use by United Kingdom government departments.
Wales
Local authorities in
Wales are unitary in nature but are described by the
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 as "principal councils", and their areas as
principal areas.
Various other legislation (e.g. s.91(1)
Environment Act 1995) includes the counties and county boroughs of Wales within their individual interpretations of the phrase "unitary authority" as an interpretive not a definitive description. In s.2 of the Act each council formed for a county is allocated the respective English and Welsh descriptions of "
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 ...
" or "''Cyngor Sir''", each council formed for a
County Borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent t ...
is allocated the respective descriptions of "County Borough Council" or "''Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol''"; in all cases the shorter alternative forms "Council" or ''"Cyngor"'' can be used.
United States
There are several types of single-tier governments in the United States. In the states of
Connecticut,
Rhode Island, and much of
Massachusetts, county government has been abolished, and the municipalities (known as
New England towns) are the only governing tier below the state government, though the former counties still exist in the ceremonial sense. In some areas, the reverse is true; for example,
Howard County, Maryland
Howard County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 287,085. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census its population rose to 328,200. Its county seat is Ellicott C ...
and
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...
are examples of counties that, despite being densely developed, have no municipalities and are thus the only tier of general-purpose local government.
In Virginia, all municipalities with ''city'' status are, by definition, independent from any county. Three other cities across the United States are also
independent of any county government:
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
,
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, and
Carson City, Nevada
Carson City is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the sixth largest city in Nevada. The majority of the city's population lives in Eagle Valley, on the ...
. There are also several
consolidated cities where the county government and municipal government are unified.
San Francisco and
Philadelphia are two examples, wherein the city and county are coterminous and have one singular governing body.
The
District of Columbia has had no lower tiers of government since 1871.
Arlington County
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...
and
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C.
In 2020, the population was 159,467. Th ...
were
returned to Virginia in 1847. The
District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 abolished all local governments including
single remaining county and its two municipalities, Washington and
Georgetown.
See also
*
Unitary state
References
{{reflist, 30em
Interested parties in planning in the United Kingdom
Local government in Canada
Local government in the United Kingdom
Political systems
Politics of New Zealand
Unitary state