Simplify the following text for a Grade 8 native English-speaking person.
Original: In 1974 , following the Local Government Act 1972 , the former area of Ripon borough was merged with Harrogate borough and several rural districts of the West Riding to form an enlarged Harrogate borough in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire .
Simplified: Under the Local Government Act 1972 it became a parish in the borough of Harrogate , North Yorkshire .