Westmorland and Furness

Westmorland and Furness is a proposed unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It is proposed that the council area will consist of the area covered by the districts of Barrow-in-Furness, Eden and South Lakeland.[2][3]

Not to be confused with Westmorland or Furness.

Westmorland and Furness
Proposed Unitary authority area
Map of the proposed Westmorland and Furness unitary authority within Cumbria
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionNorth West England
Ceremonial countyCumbria
Government
 • TypeProposed Unitary authority
Area
 • Total1,449 sq mi (3,750 km2)
Population
 (mid-2019 est.)
 • Total225,390[1]
Time zoneUTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
Websitehttps://www.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/

Elections to the new authority are intended to take place in May 2022, with the council acting as a 'shadow authority' until the abolition of the three former districts and Cumbria County Council on 1 April 2023.[4]

Background

Elections to Cumbria County Council were due to take place in May 2021 however they were postponed by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government for one year due to a consultation on local government reorganisation in the area.[5] 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.[6]

Opponents of the reorganisation have claimed that the proposal is being pursued to benefit the electoral prospects of the Conservative Party. Cumbria County Council, which would be abolished under the plans, has sought judicial review to prevent the reorganisation from taking place.[7] The judicial review was refused by the High Court in January 2022.[8] Draft statutory instruments to bring about local government reorganisation in Cumbria were subsequently laid before parliament.[9] The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022 (2022 No. 331) was made on 17 March 2022 and came into force the following day.[10]

Name

The proposed unitary authority will cover all of the area of the historic county of Westmorland and the Furness area which was a detached part of historic Lancashire. It will also include the Penrith area which was part of historic Cumberland, and the Sedbergh area which was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Westmorland was previously an administrative county until it was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 and became part of the new county of Cumbria.

Westmorland and Furness, together with neighbouring Cumberland, will continue to constitute a ceremonial county named "Cumbria" for the purpose of lieutenancy and shrievalties, being presided over by a Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria and a High Sheriff of Cumbria.[11][12]

See also

References
  1. https://www-cloudfront.allerdale.gov.uk/media/filer_public/be/d0/bed056b7-e0a2-49d5-a074-c711e0df1864/lgr_cumbria_east_and_west_final.pdf
  2. "Next steps for new unitary councils in Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Somerset". Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. 21 July 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  3. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2022/9780348231359/contents
  4. "Names for two controversial Cumbria councils revealed". BBC News. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  5. "Local elections postponed in three English counties". BBC News. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  6. "Cumbria councils to be replaced by two authorities". BBC News. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  7. "Cumbria County Council launches legal action over shake-up". BBC News. October 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  8. https://cumbriacrack.com/2022/01/18/bid-to-stop-local-government-reorganisation-lands-county-council-with-30000-bill/
  9. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2022/9780348231359/contents
  10. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/331/contents/made
  11. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2022/9780348231359/article/28
  12. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2022/9780348231359/article/29
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