Editing Unitary authority

{{Short description|Type of local government body that covers two levels of government}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2017}}

A '''unitary authority''' is a type of [[local government|local authority]] in [[New Zealand]] and the [[United Kingdom]]. Unitary authorities are responsible for all [[local government]] functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a multiple tiers of local government.

Typically unitary authorities cover [[town]]s or [[city|cities]] which are large enough to function independently of a [[council]] or other authority. An authority can be a unit of a [[county]] or [[combined authority]].

==New Zealand==
In [[local government in New Zealand|New Zealand]], a unitary authority is a [[territorial authorities of New Zealand|territorial authority]] (district, city or metropolitan area) that also performs the functions of a [[regions of New Zealand|regional council]] (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]] (1992), and [[Auckland Council]] (2010).<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/info-about-2013-census-data/2013-census-definitions-forms/definitions/u.aspx |title=2013 Census definitions and forms: U |publisher=Statistics New Zealand |access-date=30 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.localcouncils.govt.nz/lgip.nsf/wpgurl/Resources-Glossary-Index |title=Glossary |work= localcouncils.govt.nz |publisher= Department of Internal Affairs |access-date=30 April 2014}}</ref>

The [[Chatham Islands]], located east of the [[South Island]], have a [[Chatham Islands Council|council with its own special legislation]], constituted (1995) with powers similar to those of a regional authority.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chatham Islands Council Act 1995 No 41 (as at 01 July 2013), Public Act Contents – New Zealand Legislation|url=http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1995/0041/latest/DLM367666.html|publisher=Parliamentary Counsel Office|access-date=5 February 2017|language=en-NZ}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Minutes of the Statutory Meeting of the Chatham Islands Council |publisher=[[Chatham Islands]] Council |url=http://www.cic.govt.nz/pdfs/councilMeetings/cic-council-statutory-minutes-281010.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205012614/http://www.cic.govt.nz/pdfs/councilMeetings/cic-council-statutory-minutes-281010.pdf |archive-date=5 February 2011 |date=October 2010 |access-date=5 February 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==United Kingdom==
Each of the four [[countries of the United Kingdom]] uses a different term to describe their unitary authorities. However, the [[Office for National Statistics]] uses the collective term 'unitary administration' to describe all local government areas which operate as unitary authorities.<ref name="ONS Geography Guide">{{cite web |url=https://geoportal.statistics.gov.uk/datasets/a-beginners-guide-to-uk-geography-2023/about |title=A Beginners Guide to UK Geography (2023) |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=24 August 2023 |website=Open Geography Portal |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=9 December 2023 |quote=The term ‘unitary administration’ is used in this context to describe all local authority districts (LAD) that form a single tier of local government (that is, all UK local authority districts except for English counties and non-metropolitan districts). The term therefore covers unitary authorities (UA), metropolitan districts and London boroughs in England; UAs in Wales; council areas in Scotland; and local government districts (LGDs) in Northern Ireland. Note though that the term is not in common use and that it is a generic term, rather than one that reflects a specific geographic type.}}</ref>

===England===
{{main|Unitary authorities of England}}
[[File:Bournemouth, Unitary Authority tree - geograph.org.uk - 1038887.jpg|thumb|[[Bournemouth]]: Unitary Authority tree. The tree on the left, on the concourse of the [[Bournemouth Town Hall]], was planted on 1 April 1997 to mark the occasion of Bournemouth council becoming a unitary authority on that day. This was part of the local government reorganisation of the late 1990s, when certain more urban districts were essentially separated from the relevant county council, with no services for Bournemouth residents now being carried out by [[Dorset County Council]].]]

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 the United Kingdom|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]] 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]]s (the upper tier) and [[non-metropolitan district|district]] 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 [[Civil parish|parish]] (in England and Wales) or community councils; such bodies do not exist or have not existed in all areas.

===Northern Ireland===
{{main|Local government in Northern Ireland}}
{{Category see also|Administrative divisions of Northern Ireland}}
[[File:NI11w.jpg|thumb|right|Districts of 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]]). Their functions include [[Recycling in Northern Ireland|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 (tax)|rates]] is handled by the [[Land and Property Services]] agency.

===Scotland===
{{main|Local government in Scotland}}
Local authorities in [[Scotland]] are unitary in nature but not in name. The [[Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994]] created a single tier of local government throughout Scotland. On 1 April 1996, 32 local government areas, each with a [[Subdivisions of Scotland|council]], replaced the previous [[Regions and districts of Scotland|two-tier structure]], which had regional, islands and district councils. [[Comhairle nan Eilean Siar]] (formerly the Western Isles Council) uses the alternative [[Scottish Gaelic language|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<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.falkirk.gov.uk/services/law_admin/legal_services/publication_scheme/about_publication_scheme.aspx| title=About Falkirk Council| publisher=[[Falkirk (council area)|Falkirk Council]]| access-date=22 February 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406001340/http://www.falkirk.gov.uk/services/law_admin/legal_services/publication_scheme/about_publication_scheme.aspx| archive-date=6 April 2009| url-status=dead| df=dmy-all}}</ref> and in (usually erroneous) use by United Kingdom government departments.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories/DevolvedAdministrations/DG_4003604| title=Local Councils in Scotland| publisher=DirectGov| access-date=22 February 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081114130657/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories/DevolvedAdministrations/DG_4003604| archive-date=14 November 2008| url-status=dead| df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Wales===
{{main|Local government in Wales}}
Local authorities in [[local government in Wales|Wales]] are unitary in nature but are described by the [[Local Government (Wales) Act 1994]] as "[[principal council]]s", and their areas as [[principal area]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1994/Ukpga_19940019_en_1.htm| title=Local Government (Wales) Act 1994|access-date=16 September 2009}}</ref> 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]]" or "''Cyngor Sir''", each council formed for a [[County Borough]] 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.

==Similar concepts in other jurisdictions==

* In Canada, each province creates its own system of local government, including several analogous to unitary authorities:
** In [[Alberta]] and [[Nova Scotia]] there is ''only'' one level of local government in that province.
** In [[Ontario]] the term [[single-tier municipalities]] is used, for a similar concept.
* In Germany, [[kreisfreie Stadt]] ({{literally|circle-free city}}) is the equivalent term for a city with the competences of both the [[Gemeinde (Germany)|Gemeinde]] (municipality) and the [[Districts of Germany|Kreis]] (district, literally ''circle'') administrative level.
* In France, the city of [[Paris]] works like a department council and a municipal council. The department councils of the two departments of [[Corsica]] and of the region merged into a ''collectivité territoriale''.
* In [[Poland]], a [[City with powiat rights]], or "urban county", is a city which is also responsible for district (poviat) administrative level, being part of no other ''powiat'' (e.g. [[Kraków]], [[Łódź]], [[Wrocław]], [[Poznań]]). In total, 66 cities in Poland have this status.
* In Taiwan, most cities have only one tier of local government. Unlike the three [[County-administered city|county-administered cities]] ([[Chiayi]], [[Keelung]], and [[Hsinchu]]), they are independent of their surrounding county. [[Special municipality (Taiwan)|Special municipalities]], with the exception of a few [[District (Taiwan)|mountain indigenous districts]] within them, are also unitary.
* In the United States, there are several types of single-tier governments.
** In the states of [[Connecticut]], [[Rhode Island]], and much of [[Massachusetts]], county government has been abolished, and the municipalities (known as [[New England town]]s) are the only governing tier below the state government.
** In Virginia, all municipalities with ''city'' status are, by definition, independent from any county.
** The [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]] has had no lower tiers of government since the [[District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871]].

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Interested parties in planning in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Local government in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Political systems]]
[[Category:Politics of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Unitary authorities]]