Local government in Wales

Wales

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Wales

Government Cabinet First Minister Carwyn Jones AM Counsel General Theodore Huckle QC Home Civil Service Directorates Welsh Government sponsored bodies National Assembly Contemporary Welsh Law Acts Statutory Instruments Presiding Officer Rosemary Butler AM Shadow Cabinet Leader of the Opposition Andrew R. T. Davies AM Members (AMs) Constituencies and electoral regions Law and justice Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Courts of England and Wales English Law Wales in the UK Her Majesty's Government Wales Office Secretary of State Cheryl Gillan Parliament of the United Kingdom Grand Committee Select Committee Government of Wales Act 2006 Elections Constituencies List of Welsh MPs Wales in the EU European Parliament Elections European Parliament constituency Subdivisions Local government in Wales Preserved counties Principal areas Communities

Other countries · Atlas Politics portal view talk edit

For local government purposes, Wales has been divided into 22 single-tier principal areas since 1 April 1996.^[1]. The principal councils are responsible for the provision of all local government services, including education, social work, environment and roads services. Below these in some areas there are community councils, which cover specific areas within a principal council's area.

The principal areas are variously styled as "county", "county borough", "city" or "city and county". However some areas not styled as a "county" have mistakenly been referred to as such by the media, including by BBC Wales.^[2][3]

The Queen appoints a Lord Lieutenant to represent her in the eight preserved counties of Wales — which are combinations of principal council areas. However other subdivisions occur when dividing Wales into separate regions in the provisions of fire, and police services. For example there is a South Wales Police force, rather than the Glamorgan Police Force.

Cities

There are six cities in total in Wales: in addition to the three principal areas with city status, the communities of Bangor, St David's and St. Asaph also have the status. City status is determined by letters patent.

• Bangor
• Cardiff
• Newport
• St Asaph
• St David's
• Swansea

St. Asaph, as the seat of a bishopric, was historically referred to as a city, and was described as such in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The status was never officially recognised, however. When city status was restored to St David's in 1994, St Asaph town council submitted a petition for the same purpose. The petition was refused as, unlike St David's, there was no evidence of any charter or letters patent in the past conferring the status. Applications for city status in competitions in 2000 and 2002 were unsuccessful.^[4] However, city status was finally granted in 2012 when St Asaph won the accolade as part of the Queen's diamond jubilee celebrations. ^[5]

Principal areas of Wales

There are 22 principal areas in Wales, they came into being on 1 April 1996 by virtue of the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (1994 c. 19). Eleven are named as counties, including the Cities and Counties of Cardiff and Swansea (marked *), and eleven are styled as county boroughs (marked †).^[6] In 2002 Newport was granted city status, and the county borough is now styled as the "City of Newport".^[7][8] Welsh language forms are given in parentheses, except where there is no English equivalent.

Locations of each council headquarters are indicated by yellow markers.

Blaenau Gwent † Bridgend (Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr) † Caerphilly (Caerffili) † Cardiff (Caerdydd) * Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin) Ceredigion Conwy † Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych) Flintshire (Sir y Fflint) Gwynedd Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn) Merthyr Tydfil (Merthyr Tudful) † Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy) Neath Port Talbot (Castell-nedd Port Talbot) † Newport (Casnewydd) † Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro) Powys Rhondda Cynon Taf † Swansea (Abertawe) * Torfaen (Tor-faen) † Vale of Glamorgan (Bro Morgannwg) † Wrexham (Wrecsam) †

Name changes

The current names of certain unitary authority areas are different from those specified in the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994. The following changes took place, all with effect from 2 April 1996:^[9]

• Conwy from Aberconwy and Colwyn
• Isle of Anglesey from Anglesey
• Gwynedd from Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire
• Ceredigion from Cardiganshire
• Neath Port Talbot from Neath and Port Talbot

Governance

In common with councils throughout the rest of the UK, Welsh councils are run by elected councillors. However because of political in-fighting and a history of poor performance, the executive functions of the Isle of Anglesey Council were taken over by commissioners appointed by the Welsh Assembly Government.^[10]. Elections planned for 2012 have been delayed until 2013.^[11]

Preserved counties of Wales

For ceremonial purposes of Lieutenancy and Shrievalty, Wales is divided into 8 preserved counties which are based on the counties created by the Local Government Act 1972 and used for local government and other purposes between 1974 and abolished in 1996.

Historic counties of Wales

The historic counties of Wales are ancient subdivisions of Wales, used for various functions for several hundred years. The first counties date from 1138, with furthers created in 1282 and 1535. They were the main administrative subdivisions of Wales from 1889 until 1974 when the subdivisions were changed following the Local Government Act 1972.

Communities

The lowest level of subdivision below unitary authority areas in Wales are Communities. Each area is subdivided into communities. They may have elected community councils which perform a number of roles, such as providing local facilities, and representing their communities to larger local government bodies. Community councils are the equivalent of English parish councils. A community council may call itself a 'town council' if it wishes to do so. Two communities Bangor and St David's have city status and are therefore called 'City Councils'. Communities which are too small to have a council may have a community meeting instead, an example of direct democracy.

Police and fire services

Police forces

There are four police forces in Wales. These are:

North Wales Police (Heddlu Gogledd Cymru) Dyfed-Powys Police (Heddlu Dyfed-Powys) South Wales Police (Heddlu De Cymru) Gwent Police (Heddlu Gwent)

Fire and rescue services

There are three fire and rescue services in Wales. The present Welsh fire services date from 1996. Each covers a number of unitary authority areas. These are:

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service (Gwasanaeth Tân ac Achub Gogledd Cymru) Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service (Gwasanaeth Tân ac Achub Canolbarth a Gorllewin Cymru) South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (Gwasanaeth Tân ac Achub De Cymru)

History

See also

• List of Welsh principal areas by population
• List of Welsh principal areas by area
• List of Welsh principal areas by percentage Welsh language
• Welsh Government
• Geography of Wales
• List of communities in Wales
• ISO 3166-2:GB, subdivision codes for the United Kingdom
• Local government in England
• Local government in Northern Ireland
• Local government in Scotland
• Political make-up of local councils in the United Kingdom#Welsh Unitary authorities

External links

• LocalGov.co.uk - News updates on UK local government, including reorganisation
• Map of the UK counties and unitary administrations
• Map of all UK local authorities

References

• CIA World Factbook 2002

v t e Administrative geography of the United Kingdom United Kingdom Local government History Subdivisions: Shrievalties Lieutenancy areas Counties (list) England Local government History Subdivisions: Regions Ceremonial counties Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties Unitary authorities Districts (list) Civil parishes (list) Northern Ireland Local government History Subdivisions: Counties Districts Scotland Local government History Subdivisions: Sheriffdoms Lieutenancy areas Council areas Community council areas Wales Local government History Subdivisions: Preserved counties Principal areas Communities (list)