Data · dataset · 2025
Counties and Unitary Authorities - United Kingdom
Listed in westofenglandca
This dataset is part of the Geographical repository maintained by Opendatasoft.
Description
This dataset contains data for counties and unitary authorities in the United Kingdom. In 1974 a two-tier administrative structure of (shire and metropolitan) counties and non-metropolitan districts was set up across England and Wales, except for the Isles of Scilly and Greater London.
Council functions were divided according to the level at which they could be practised most efficiently. As a consequence, counties took on functions including education, transport, strategic planning, fire services, consumer protection, refuse disposal, smallholdings, social services and libraries, whereas each LAD had responsibility for local planning, housing, local highways, building, environmental health, refuse collection and cemeteries.
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Responsibility for recreation and cultural matters was divided between the two tiers. Following the Local Government Reorganisation in the 1990s, major changes were implemented to create administrations most appropriate to the needs of the area concerned. The key feature of this change was the introduction of unitary authorities: single-tier administrations with responsibility for all areas of local government.
Between 1995 and 1998 these were established in a number of areas across the country, especially in medium-sized urban areas, whilst other areas retained a two-tier structure. Further local government reorganisation occurred in 2009 and there are currently 57 unitary authorities (UA) in England, and 25 shire counties split into 188 (non-metropolitan) districts. Note that due to the changes in Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly are considered a UA for coding purposes.
Processors and tools are using this data. Enhancements Add ISO 3166-3 codes. Simplify geometries to provide better performance across the services.
Add administrative hierarchy.
Links
Get the data
- CSV export westofenglandca.opendatasoft.com/api/explore/v2.1/catalog/datasets/counties-and-unitary-authori… ↗
download · from westofenglandca opendatasoft com
Where it is published
- westofenglandca dataset page westofenglandca.opendatasoft.com/explore/dataset/counties-and-unitary-authorities-united-kingdom ↗
landing page · from westofenglandca opendatasoft com
Documentation and papers
- References geoportal.statistics.gov.uk/search?collection=Dataset&tags=bdy_ctyua ↗
documentation · from westofenglandca opendatasoft com
Catalogue records · 1
- Explore API westofenglandca.opendatasoft.com/api/explore/v2.1/catalog/datasets/counties-and-unitary-authori… ↗
metadata API · from westofenglandca opendatasoft com
Topics
- Stated by source
- Geography
- From keywords
- Earth & Environmental Science
Provenance · 1 source records, 8 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| westofenglandca | counties-and-unitary-authorities-united-kingdom | 8 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| access_level | source · westofenglandca opendatasoft com | connector:westofenglandca_opendatasoft_com@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · westofenglandca opendatasoft com | connector:westofenglandca_opendatasoft_com@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[topic].ods_theme:westofenglandca_opendatasoft_com:geography | source · westofenglandca opendatasoft com | connector:westofenglandca_opendatasoft_com@1.0.0 | |
| description | source · westofenglandca opendatasoft com | connector:westofenglandca_opendatasoft_com@1.0.0 | /metas/default/description |
| license_text | source · westofenglandca opendatasoft com | connector:westofenglandca_opendatasoft_com@1.0.0 | |
| publication_date | source · westofenglandca opendatasoft com | connector:westofenglandca_opendatasoft_com@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · westofenglandca opendatasoft com | connector:westofenglandca_opendatasoft_com@1.0.0 | /metas/default/title |
| updated_date | source · westofenglandca opendatasoft com | connector:westofenglandca_opendatasoft_com@1.0.0 |