The 19th century administrative system, based on counties and county boroughs, urban and rural districts, was outdated by the 1970s. The Local Government Act of 1972, which came into force on 1 April 1974, introduced a two-tier system of local government consisting of a new Cumbria County Council and six new district Councils.
The Local Government Act of 1992 provided for this structure of local government to be reviewed, resulting in recommendations for the establishment, in some areas, of unitary authorities to discharge local authority functions previously administered by County and District Councils. In other areas, including Cumbria, the existing two-tier system was favoured for retention and district councils continued to provide recreation facilities, housing and cemeteries, organise refuse collection and street cleansing and deal with building regulations and development control (planning). District Councils were also responsible for collecting the rates/community charge/council tax and compiling registers of electors.
Some district councils applied for permission to be called borough councils. Under the Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022, Cumbria County Council and the six borough/district councils were replaced by two new unitary authorities, Cumberland Council and Westmorland & Furness Council, on 1 April 2023.
Links to online catalogues of holdings:
Allerdale District/Borough Council Created 1974, superseding Cockermouth and Wigton RDCs, Cockermouth, Keswick and Maryport UDCs, and Workington Municipal Borough Council. Became Allerdale Borough Council in 1993
Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council Created 1974, superseding Dalton-in-Furness UDC and Barrow-in-Furness County Borough Council
Carlisle City Council Created 1974, superseding Border RDC and Carlisle County Borough Council
Copeland Borough Council Created 1974, superseding Ennerdale and Mlllom RDCs, and Whitehaven Municipal Borough Council
Eden District Council Created 1974, superseding Alston with Garrigill, Penrith, and North Westmorland RDCs, Penrith UDC and Appleby Municipal Borough Council, with the addition of Patterdale Ward from Lakes UDC
South Lakeland District Council Created 1974, superseding North Lonsdale, Sedbergh, and South Westmorland RDCs, and Grange, Lakes, Ulverston and Windermere UDCs and Kendal Municipal Borough Council. Patterdale Ward from former Lakes UDC transferred to Eden District Council