The UK Government has formally acknowledged the importance of historic counties — but continues to approve administrative names that risk undermining them.
In a response to the Campaign for Historic Counties (part of the Historic Counties Institute) the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) stated:
The Government recognises that historic counties are an important element of local traditions which support the identity and cultures of many of our local communities…
This is a significant admission.
It confirms what has long been established in official guidance. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), in its Index of Place Names user guide (2024), describes the historic counties as:
- “essentially unchanged since the Middle Ages”
- and “a stable, unchanging geography which covers the whole of Great Britain”
These are not obsolete areas. They are the country’s enduring geographic framework.
Policy vs Practice
Yet despite this clear recognition, government policy continues to blur the line between geography and administration.
The same MHCLG response confirms that new unitary authorities in Surrey will be named:
- “West Surrey”
- “East Surrey”
These are administrative constructs — not historic counties.
Using county-based names for areas that do not reflect the true extent of Surrey risks reinforcing the very confusion the Government acknowledges.
No Public Say on Names
The response also makes clear:
There are no plans to further consult the public on formal new names for new councils.
Names which shape identity and public understanding are therefore being decided without wider consultation — and without a consistent framework to distinguish administrative areas from geographic counties.
The Standard Already Exists
This is not an unsolved problem.
The Historic Counties Standard (HCS) provides a clear and consistent framework for the identity, names and territorial extent of the geographic counties, separate from council and other administrative boundaries.
Government recognition, ONS guidance, and the HCS all point in the same direction:
- Counties are geography
- Councils are administration
A Gap That Needs Closing
The Government now explicitly recognises the cultural and geographic importance of historic counties.
But until that recognition is reflected in how administrative areas are named, confusion will continue.
Local government reform may be a “once-in-a-generation” change.
The geography of the country is not.
The Way Forward
A simple, consistent approach is needed:
- Respect historic counties as the stable, enduring geography of Great Britain
- Avoid using county names for administrative areas that do not match them
- Apply existing standards and guidance consistently across government
The principle is already accepted.
Now it needs to be applied.