Professor Frank Peck considers the implications for economic development of the reorganisation of local government in Cumbria and the formation of two new Unitary Councils

The August 2022 edition of in-Cumbria included a commentary on the changing landscape of local government in the county. Cumbria is to be divided into two Unitary Authorities replacing the two-tier structure (county and six districts) that has prevailed since the 1970s. Following the elections of April 2022, ‘Shadow’ Authorities have been operating alongside existing councils until full vesting day on April 1, 2023. After well over a decade of debate about possible boundaries for local government reorganisation, it has been decided that the new Unitary Authorities should combine Carlisle, Allerdale and Copeland into ‘Cumberland’ and Eden, South Lakeland and Barrow into ‘Westmorland and Furness’.