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County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (excluding Scotland), to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. The Local Government Act 1972 abolished them in England and Wales, but they are still used in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 re-introduced the term for certain unitary authorities in Wales.
History
When county councils were first created in 1889, it was decided that to let them have authority over large towns or cities would be impractical, and so any large incorporated place would have the right to be a county borough, and thus independent from the administrative county it would otherwise come under. Originally 10 county boroughs were proposed, but the Local Government Act 1888 as eventually passed created 61 in England, and two in Wales. (The ten in question were Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham and Sheffield.)
Initially, a town had to have a population of over 50,000 to apply to be made a county borough. The granting of county borough status was a subject of much argument between the large municipal boroughs and the county councils. Additionally, county borough borders were tightly constrained because of county council reluctance to give up their tax base.
1913 saw the attempts of Luton and Cambridge to gain county borough status defeated in the House of Commons, despite the approval of the Local Government Board — the removal of Cambridge from Cambridgeshire would have reduced the income of Cambridgeshire County Council by over half.
Upon recommendation of a commission chaired by the Earl of Onslow, the population threshold was raised to 75,000 in 1926, by the Local Government (County Boroughs and Adjustments) Act 1926, which also made it much harder to expand boundaries. The threshold was raised to 100,000 by the Local Government Act 1958.
After the Second World War the creation of new county boroughs in England and Wales was effectively suspended, pending a local government review. In the 1960s, with no sign of this review being ready, Luton, Torbay, and Solihull were allowed to be made county boroughs. Additionally, Teesside county borough was formed from the merger of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, and Redcar; and West Hartlepool was merged with Hartlepool, making a total of 79 in England.
The county boroughs of East Ham, West Ham and Croydon were abolished in 1965 with the creation of Greater London. The remaining county boroughs were abolished in 1974, and replaced with non-metropolitan districts and metropolitan districts, all beneath county councils in a two-tier structure.
This situation did not persist long, and in the 1990s most of the old county boroughs were reformed again as unitary authorities — essentially the same as a county borough. In England, most of those former county boroughs that did not gain unitary authority status — Barrow-in-Furness, Burnley, Canterbury, Carlisle, Chester, Eastbourne, Exeter, Gloucester, Hastings, Lincoln, Northampton, Oxford, Preston, Worcester, and Yarmouth — have given their names to non-unitary local government districts (in some cases coterminous with the old county borough, in other cases much larger). Burton upon Trent became an unparished area in the East Staffordshire borough, and has now been divided into several parishes.
All of the former county boroughs in Wales are now unitary authorities. Some of the unitary authorities in Wales are actually called county boroughs, although this does not convey any special status.
In the Republic of Ireland, the relevant legislation remained still in force (although amended), and county boroughs on the original model existed until 2001. Under the Local Government Act 2001 (which replaced most existing local government legislation in Ireland), the term "County Borough" was abolished and replaced with "City" (and hence, "Corporation" with "City Council"). However Kilkenny, while a city, is instead administered as a town (and part of the county council area) for local government purposes. It is allowed to use the title "Borough Council" instead of "Town Council" however.
In Northern Ireland, local government has not used them since 1973, but the county boroughs remain in use for Lieutenancy.
Scotland did not have county boroughs but instead counties of cities. These were abolished on May 16, 1975. All four Scottish cities of the time — Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow — were included in this category. There was an additional category of large burgh in the Scottish system, which were responsible for all services apart from police, education and fire.
Current county boroughs
Republic of Ireland
- Cork - Cork City Council (formerly Corporation)
- Dublin - Dublin City Council (formerly Corporation)
- Galway (since 1986)
- Limerick - Limerick City Council (formerly Limerick Corporation)
- Waterford- Waterford City Council (formerly Corporation)
Northern Ireland
The two county boroughs in Northern Ireland are only in use for Lieutenancy.Wales
- Merthyr Tydfil
- Caerphilly
- Blaenau Gwent
- Torfaen
- Vale of Glamorgan
- Bridgend
- Rhondda Cynon Taf
- Neath Port Talbot
- Wrexham
- Conwy
(Newport was a made a county borough again in 1996. In 2002 it acquired city status.)
For all practical purposes, county boroughs are exactly the same as the other principal areas of Wales called "counties" or "cities" as all these areas are run by unitary authorities (i.e.: have the functions of both boroughs and counties).
Historical county boroughs
The map depicts the county boroughs in England immediately prior to their abolition in 1974.
This table shows those county boroughs that existed in England and Wales between the Local Government Acts of 1888 (that created them) and 1974 (that abolished them). It also shows which of those places has become a unitary authority again since, either as-is or as part of a larger unitary authority.
See also
Subnational entities | Boroughs of the United Kingdom | Local government in the Republic of Ireland | County Borough
"County borough"