Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Outside Greater London, borough status is granted to metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts under the provisions of section 245 of the Local Government Act 1972.
This section allows the council of a district to petition the monarch for a charter granting borough status.
Having received the petition the monarch may, on the advice of the Privy Council, grant a charter whereupon: Charters granted under the 1972 Act may allow the borough council to appoint "local officers of dignity" previously appointed by an abolished borough corporation.
Borough charters granted under section 245 of the Local Government Act 1972 to metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts of England Granted city status in 2012 Renamed Redcar and Cleveland 1996 Abolished 1998 Abolished 1996 Greater London is divided into thirty-two London boroughs.
[47] There were complications where places had city status;[48][49] therefore Belfast, Derry and Lisburn's borough charters carried over automatically, without the need for the council to pass a resolution.
In 2015 its successor Newry, Mourne and Down District Council voted not to request borough status, the required two-thirds majority failing after opposition from Sinn Féin.