Unitary local government

This research briefing provides a guide to the concept of ‘unitary local government’, in the context of debates over local government restructuring in England in the 2010s and 2020s.

As Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have entirely single-tier systems of local government, this briefing covers England only.

Section 1 sets out the legal procedure through which unitary authorities are created and provides a brief history of political debates and the creation of unitary authorities since 1974. Section 2 provides details of the unitary restructuring process launched by the Labour government in early 2025.

Section 3 assesses Government policy on the topic of restructuring and unitary authorities since 2010, including decisions in mid-2021 on restructuring in Cumbria, Somerset and North Yorkshire. Section 4 provides details of previous rounds of restructuring in England.

Section 5 sets out details of reports modelling the potential savings that could be achieved by such changes, plus the figures that are available from previous restructuring processes in England. Section 6 provides details of proposals for new unitary authorities in England that emerged during 2019 and 2020, together with related commentary.

Section 7 notes a number of the rationales for restructuring, and for merger of smaller authorities into larger units, that have occurred in recent debates in England. A small amount of debate has also taken place on how to achieve the benefits associated with restructuring through alternative means: this is set out in section 8. Section 9 provides details of international academic research on the topic of local government mergers and reforms.