Unitary authorities were created by the Local Government Act 19992 and basically allow large towns to have their own authorities, rather than have to rely on other parts of counties.

The majority of unitary authorities were created in the 1990s, although some were created in 2009.

This list includes all the unitary councils in England.

I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.