Imagine there are lots of people who work to make sure the place you live in, like your town or city, is run smoothly. These people are called the government. In England, there are different types of government based on where you live.
In 2009, some big changes happened to the way that the government in England worked, particularly for those who live in towns and cities. The government decided to make things simpler by reducing the number of people in charge of local areas. They thought that having fewer people making decisions would make it easier to get things done.
So, they created a new system where local government was organized in two different ways, either as a unitary system or a two-tier system.
In the unitary system, one big council ran everything in an area, like your town or city. This meant that everyone in that area was looked after by just one council.
In the two-tier system, there were two councils. One council was responsible for local things, like parks and libraries, and another council was responsible for bigger things, like roads and hospitals. This meant that some places had more than one council to look after them.
Overall, the changes made things simpler for people and helped the government focus on making decisions in a better way.