Administrative boundaries
Understanding our administrative boundaries helps explain how local services are organised and how different councils make decisions. The key boundaries used in Staffordshire are summarised below.
You can explore these boundaries on our interactive map.
For more detail about how administrative areas work across England, please visit the Office for National Statistics (ONS) website.
Counties and districts
In 1974, England and Wales introduced a two-tier system of local government. This system created county councils and district/borough councils.
Each tier took on the services it could manage most efficiently. County councils are responsible for services such as education, transport, social care, libraries, strategic planning, consumer protection, and waste disposal. District councils are responsible for services such as local planning and building control, housing, environmental health, refuse collection and cemeteries.
In Staffordshire this system means we currently have one county council and eight district/borough councils.
In December 2024, the government published a document called the English Devolution White Paper.
Part of this document set out plans to reorganise the way local councils work.
The government aim to simplify the way local government works by:
- Creating unitary councils: These would be single councils responsible for all local government services within a particular area.
In February 2025, the government wrote to all councils in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to ask them to put forward proposals for this local government reorganisation. Essentially, it will change the number and size of councils across the area and who is responsible for what. Exactly what this looks like will be decided by the government, with a decision expected in Summer 2026.
Electoral wards
Electoral wards are the areas used to elect district and borough councillors. They are an important part of the UK’s administrative geography.
- Ward sizes can vary a lot, even within the same district
- Across the UK, the average ward population is about 7,900 residents
- In Staffordshire, there are 151 electoral wards
- Ward populations in Staffordshire range from around 1,400 to over 11,000 (ONS Population Estimates, 2024)
County electoral divisions
County councils in England do not use electoral wards to elect councillors. Instead, they use county electoral divisions, which are larger areas. These divisions must fit within district boundaries, but they do not have to be made up of whole electoral wards.
Like electoral wards, The Local Government Boundary Commission for England | LGBCE is responsible for reviewing and setting these boundaries. A review took place in Staffordshire during 2023, and the final results were published on 14th May 2024.
The new county electoral divisions shown on our Interactive Boundary Map came into effect for the county council elections on 1 May 2025.
From 2025 onwards:
- Staffordshire has 62 county electoral divisions
- Each division is represented by one county councillor
- Each councillor represents an average of 11,617 electors.
For more information about current county councillors, please visit Current County Councillors.
