Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of towns in England with a population of (1) between 30,000 and 50,000, (2) between 15,000 and 30,000, and (3) under 15,000, which do not possess a town or parish council.

There is no legal definition of what constitutes a town. Settlements tend to arbitrarily classify themselves as towns as they get bigger. Therefore there is no Government list of towns in England and no centrally held record of when settlements began to classify themselves as towns.

The Office for National Statistics does not hold data for towns, as they are not classed as administrative units, except where they have a town council.

Civil parishes have existed since 1894 (before that they existed mainly as ecclesiastical bodies). Parishes vary enormously in size from areas with about 100 electors to large towns with 70,000 electors which are on a par with some small districts.

Lists of parishes and principal local authorities in England (attached) can be found at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/geography/products/names--codes-and-look-ups/names-and-codes-listings/index.html