The current six district councils, along with Cumbria County Council, will be replaced by two new ‘unitary’ councils. 

In the area currently covered by Allerdale Borough Council, Carlisle City Council and Copeland Borough Council a new authority, Cumberland Council, will be created. 

What will the changes mean?

From April 2023 Cumberland Council will be responsible for providing all the services currently delivered in those areas by the three city and borough councils and the county council. 

That means everything from your waste and recycling collections to highways and planning matters, adult social care and parking will all be looked after by the new Cumberland Council 

In the Barrow, Eden and South Lakeland council areas a second new authority, Westmorland and Furness Council, will be taking over providing services. You can find out more on the Westmorland and Furness Council website. 

Government announced its decision to create two new unitary councils for Cumbria in July 2021. Since then work has been ongoing to ensure a smooth switch to the new councils next year. 

Where can I find out more?

You can read more about local government reorganisation in Cumbria on the New Councils for Cumbria website.

What happens next?

As part of the process to set up the new unitary councils, ‘shadow’ authorities will be created following the elections that were held on 5 May 2022. 

The Shadow Authority for Cumberland Council will be overseeing the planning and preparation for the new unitary council between May 2022 and April 2023.  

Ahead of the establishment of the Cumberland Shadow Authority, a Cumberland Joint Committee has been set up.

Joint Committees are responsible for the preparatory work to establish the Shadow Authorities and overseeing the implementation planning until Shadow Authorities are elected. The Joint Committees will be dissolved once the Shadow Authorities and executives for the two new councils are established.