Westmorland and Furness

Westmorland and Furness is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Cumbria,[6] England, which along with Cumberland, came into being on 1 April 2023 on the abolition of Cumbria County Council. The council covers the areas formerly served by the districts of Barrow-in-Furness, Eden and South Lakeland, which also ceased to function. It includes all of the area of the historic county of Westmorland as well as the Furness district of historic Lancashire. It also incorporates a very small part of historic Yorkshire together with about a quarter of the area of (but only 10% of the population of) the historic county of Cumberland.

This article is about the unitary authority area. For the historic county, see Westmorland. For other uses, see Westmoreland.

Westmorland and Furness
Unitary authority area
Official logo of Westmorland and Furness
Logo of Westmorland and Furness Council
Westmorland and Furness UA within the ceremonial area of Cumbria
Westmorland and Furness UA within the ceremonial area of Cumbria
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionNorth West England
Ceremonial countyCumbria
Historic county
SeatKendal[1][2]
Government
 • BodyWestmorland and Furness Council
 • ChairmanMatthew Severn[3]
 • LeaderJonathan Brook[4]
Area
 • Total1,449 sq mi (3,750 km2)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total225,390[5]
Time zoneUTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
WebsiteOfficial website

The district, along with Cumberland, forms the ceremonial county of Cumbria, which no longer has any administrative function.[7][8]

The first elections to the new authority took place in May 2022, with the Westmorland and Furness Council acting as a 'shadow authority' until the abolition of the three former districts and Cumbria County Council on 1 April 2023.[9]

Background

Elections to Cumbria County Council were due to take place in May 2021; however they were postponed for one year by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government due to a consultation on local government reorganisation in the area.[10] In July 2021, the government announced that the current authorities in Cumbria would be abolished and replaced with two unitary authorities, with an east/west split of the county.[11]

Opponents of the reorganisation claimed that the proposal was being pursued to benefit the electoral prospects of the Conservative Party. Cumbria County Council, which would be abolished under the plans, sought judicial review to prevent the reorganisation from taking place.[12] The judicial review was refused by the High Court in January 2022.[13] Draft statutory instruments to bring about local government reorganisation in Cumbria were subsequently laid before parliament.[8] The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022 (2022 No. 331) was made on 17 March 2022 and came into force the following day.[14]

Area

The name of the unitary authority derives from the county of Westmorland and the peninsula of Furness.[15] 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. Furness was administered as part of Lancashire until 1974; together with the Cartmel Peninsula it formed an exclave of that county historically known as North Lonsdale.[16] In addition to those areas, the district includes part of the historic county of Cumberland in the Penrith area, and an area centred on Sedbergh which was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Civil parishes

Politics

Westmorland and Furness Council has 65 councillors,[17] and the first election to the local authority was in May 2022. At that election the Liberal Democrats secured a majority on the incoming council with 36 out of 65 councillors. Labour have 15 councillors, the Conservatives have 11 councillors, the Green Party have 1 councillor and 2 councillors were elected as independents.[18][19]

Affiliation Members
Liberal Democrats 36
Labour Party 15
Conservative Party 11
Independent 2
Green Party of England and Wales 1

Westmorland and Furness, together with neighbouring Cumberland, 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. Ceremonial counties do not discharge any administrative function.[20][21]

Police services are provided by Cumbria Constabulary and fire services by Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service. These are both overseen by the Cumbria Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.[22]

Twinnings
SettlementTwinned settlement
Dalton-in-FurnessUnited States Dalton, Pennsylvania, United States
KendalRepublic of Ireland Killarney, Ireland
Germany Rinteln, Germany
PenrithAustralia Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
SedberghSlovenia Zreče, Slovenia
UlverstonFrance Albert, France
WindermereGermany Diessen am Ammersee, Germany

See also

References
  1. "Westmorland and Furness". www.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk.
  2. Colley, Jacob (12 May 2022). "New Cumbria councils to hold inaugural meetings - cumbriacrack.com". Cumbria Crack. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  3. "Leader selected for new Westmorland and Furness Council".
  4. "Liberal Democrats elect new group leader for Westmorland and Furness Council - Cumberland and Westmorland Herald". 8 May 2022.
  5. "Cumbria: local government re-organisation" (PDF).
  6. "Lieutenancies Act 1997". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  7. "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.
  8. "The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022".
  9. "Names for two controversial Cumbria councils revealed". BBC News. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  10. "Local elections postponed in three English counties". BBC News. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  11. "Cumbria councils to be replaced by two authorities". BBC News. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  12. "Cumbria County Council launches legal action over shake-up". BBC News. October 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  13. "Bid to stop local government reorganisation lands county council with £30,000 bill - cumbriacrack.com".
  14. "The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022".
  15. Kenyon, Megan (8 November 2021). "Names of two new Cumbria unitaries confirmed". Local Government Chronicle. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  16. "North Lonsdale Lancashire". Vision of Britain.
  17. "Elections - May 2022". New Councils for Cumbria.
  18. "Westmorland and Furness". www.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk.
  19. "Westmorland & Furness result - Local Elections 2022". BBC News.
  20. "The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022".
  21. "The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022".
  22. Milligan, Laura (4 April 2023). "PCC officially takes on responsibility for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service's governance". Cumbria Police and Crime Commissioner. Retrieved 8 April 2023.


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