Metropolitan counties are a subdivision of England which were originally used for local government. There are six metropolitan counties: Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands and West Yorkshire.
The subdivisions of England constitute a hierarchy of administrative divisions and non-administrative ceremonial areas.
Local government in England broadly consists of three layers: civil parishes, local authorities, and regional authorities. Every part of England is governed by at least one local authority, but parish councils and regional authorities do not exist everywhere. In addition, there are 31 police and crime commissioners, four police, fire and crime commissioners, and ten national park authorities with local government responsibilities. Local government is not standardised across the country, with the last comprehensive reform taking place in 1974.
The regional chambers of England were a group of indirectly elected regional bodies that were created by the provisions of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. There were eight regional chambers, one for each of the regions of England except Greater London, which had opted for an elected mayor and assembly in 1998. All eight regional chambers had adopted the title "regional assembly" or "assembly" as part of their name, though this was not an official status in law. The chambers were abolished over a two-year period between 31 March 2008 and 31 March 2010 and some of their functions were assumed by newly established local authority leaders' boards.
Strategic health authorities (SHA) were part of the structure of the National Health Service in England between 2002 and 2013. Each SHA was responsible for managing performance, enacting directives and implementing health policy as required by the Department of Health at a regional level. Initially 28 in number, they were reduced to 10 in 2006. Along with primary care trusts, they were replaced by clinical commissioning groups and Public Health England in 2013 under the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
In the United Kingdom, regional development agencies (RDAs) were nine non-departmental public bodies established for the purpose of development, primarily economic, of England's Government Office regions between 1998 and 2010. There was one RDA for each of the NUTS level 1 regions of England. Similar activities were carried out in Wales by the Welsh Government Department of Economy and Transport, in Northern Ireland by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and in Scotland by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
The regional arts boards were English regional subdivisions of the Arts Council of Great Britain
The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities was the local government association for Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. Its creation followed the abolition of the Greater Manchester County Council, being established in 1986 as a governmental organisation to represent the ten district councils of Greater Manchester. AGMA was later superseded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the first authority of this new type in the United Kingdom, on 1 April 2011.
The East of England Regional Assembly was the regional chamber for the East of England region of the England. It was based at Flempton, near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. The assembly was created as a voluntary regional chamber in 1998 by the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. The first meeting was held in March 1999. In July 2003 the assembly was reconstituted to combine its existing functions with those of the regional arm of the Local Government Association and of the Regional Employers Organisation. The assembly was abolished on 31 March 2010, its functions transferring to the newly constituted East of England Local Government Association.
The East Midlands Regional Assembly was the regional chamber for the East Midlands region of the England. It was based at Melton.
The West Midlands Regional Assembly (WMRA) was the regional chamber for the West Midlands region of England, established in 1999. It was based in Birmingham. It was abolished on 31 March 2010, its functions transferring to West Midlands Leaders Board and to Advantage West Midlands.
The South West Regional Assembly (SWRA) was the regional chamber for South West England, established in 1999. It was wound up in December 2008. Its functions were taken on by the Strategic Leaders' Board, the executive arm of the newly established South West Councils.
In England, spatial planning is undertaken at the national level, through the National Planning Policy Framework. The London region is the only one to have a statutory London Plan. Most planning functions are exercised by local authorities, with neighbourhood planning also taking place in some areas.
A multi-area agreement (MAA) was an English political framework that aimed to encourage cross boundary partnership working at the regional and sub-regional levels. They were defined by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) as voluntary agreements between two or more top tier or unitary local authorities, their partners and the government to work collectively to improve local economic prosperity.
East Midlands Councils is a consultative forum for local government in the East Midlands region of England. It is a regional grouping of the Local Government Association and the regional employers organisation.
The regions of England, formerly known as the government office regions, are the highest tier of sub-national division in England. They were established in 1994 and follow the 1974–96 county borders. They are a continuation of the former 1940s standard regions which followed the 1889–1974 administrative county borders. Between 1994 and 2011, all nine regions had partly devolved functions; they no longer fulfil this role, continuing to be used for limited statistical purposes.
West Midlands Councils was a regional grouping of the Local Government Association.
A combined authority (CA) is a type of local government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. CAs are created voluntarily and allow a group of local authorities to pool appropriate responsibility and receive certain devolved functions from central government in order to deliver transport and economic policy more effectively over a wider area. In areas where local government is two-tier, both must participate in the combined authority.
In England, local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) are voluntary partnerships between local authorities and businesses, set up in 2011 by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to help determine local economic priorities and lead economic growth and job creation within the local area. They carry out some of the functions previously carried out by the regional development agencies which were abolished in March 2012. In certain areas, funding is received from the UK government via growth deals.
International Territorial Level (ITL) is a geocode standard for referencing the subdivisions of the United Kingdom for statistical purposes, used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Between 2003 and 2021, as part of the European Union and European Statistical System, the geocode standard used for the United Kingdom were Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or NUTS. The NUTS code for the UK was UK and the NUTS standard had a hierarchy of three levels, with 12 first level regions, which are currently mirrored by the ITL classification, of which 9 regions are in England. The sub-structure corresponds to administrative divisions within the country. Formerly, the further NUTS divisions IV and V existed; these have now been replaced by Local Administrative Units . Between 1994 and 2011, the nine regions had an administrative role in the implementation of UK Government policy, and as the areas covered by elected bodies.
