THE UK Government has revealed new details about the make-up of Cumbria's two new councils which will take over after Local Government Reform.

Cumbria County Council has confirmed that a draft 'structural change order' (SCO) was received this week.

The SCO is a document published by the Government proving that it has the legal authority to change the structure of how a county is governed.

Then-Secretary of State Robert Jenrick made the decision in summer to split Cumbria in two, creating one council for the west - Carlisle, Allerdale and Copeland, and one for the east - Eden, South Lakeland and Barrow-in-Furness. The existing district councils and Cumbria County Council will cease to exist.

In the SCO document released this week, the Government has revealed that the west authority will be named Cumberland Council and the east authority will be named Westmorland and Furness Council.

Cumberland Council will likely have 46 elected members, whereas Westmorland and Furness will potentially have 65.

Elections for the two councils as Shadow Authorities will take place in May 2022, in 2027 and then every four years.

Joint Committees will be established for each authority, each will have 12 members; three from Cumbria County Council, three from each of the district councils in that area.

The committees will carry out preparations to establish the two shadow authorities and any work in the transition. A shadow authority is elected to shape the new councils ready for vesting on April 1, 2023.

Parliament is likely to decide whether or not to approve the information in the SCO in March 2022.

Mayor of Carlisle Pamela Birks was pleased to hear the return of the name Cumberland. She said: "A lot of people think we've been Cumberland since the 1974 reform when we became Cumbria.

"For me personally, having lived in Cumberland before I'm quite happy with it. I feel it's heritage, it's our heritage."

Existing local authorities in Cumbria are invited to have their say on the draft document but leader of Cumbria County Council Stewart Young fears ministers have already made up their minds about the changes.

He believes the changes will include the abolition of the name 'Cumbria', meaning that those living in the west constituency will then become residents of Cumberland.

“They’re abolishing the county," he said. "I think people think they’re just abolishing the councils. They’re splitting the county.

“So we’ll be ruled by two new councils, one of which will be called Cumberland, even though its not on the footprint of the old Cumberland.”