Metropolitan borough

"Metropolitan district" redirects here. For another use, see Metropolitan district (Ireland).
Metropolitan district
Also known as:
Metropolitan borough
Category Districts
Location England
Found in Metropolitan county
Created by Local Government Act 1972
Created 1 April 1974
Number 36 (as of 2008)
Possible status City
Borough
District
Populations 0.1 - 1.1 million

A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts. However, all of them have been granted or regranted royal charters to give them borough status (as well as, in some cases, city status).[1] Metropolitan boroughs have been effectively unitary authority areas since the abolition of the metropolitan county councils by the Local Government Act 1985.[2] However, metropolitan boroughs pool much of their authority in joint boards and other arrangements that cover whole metropolitan counties, such as combined authorities.

History

The term "metropolitan borough" was first used for administrative subdivisions of the County of London between 1900 and 1965. However, the present boroughs of Greater London, which have different boundaries and functions, and are much larger in area, are known as London Boroughs rather than metropolitan boroughs.

The current metropolitan boroughs were created in 1974 as subdivisions of the new metropolitan counties, created to cover the six largest urban areas in England outside Greater London. The new districts replaced the previous system of county boroughs, municipal boroughs, urban and rural districts. The districts typically have populations of 174,000 to 1.1 million.

Metropolitan districts were originally parts of a two-tier structure of local government, and shared power with the metropolitan county councils (MCCs). They differed from non-metropolitan districts in the division of powers between district and county councils. Metropolitan districts were local education authorities, and were also responsible for social services and libraries, but in non-metropolitan counties these services were the responsibility of county councils.[3]

In 1986, the metropolitan county councils were abolished under the Local Government Act 1985 and most of their functions were devolved to the metropolitan boroughs, making them, to a large extent, unitary authorities in all but name. At the same time, however, some of the functions of the abolished metropolitan county councils were taken over by joint bodies such as passenger transport authorities, and joint fire, police and waste disposal authorities.[2]

Metropolitan district councils

The metropolitan districts are administered by metropolitan district councils. They are the principal local authorities in the six metropolitan counties and are responsible for running most local services, such as schools, social services, waste collection and roads.

List of metropolitan boroughs

The 36 metropolitan boroughs are:

Metropolitan county Metropolitan districts Number County population
Greater ManchesterManchester, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan102,573,200
MerseysideLiverpool, Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral51,365,000
South YorkshireSheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham41,290,000
Tyne and WearNewcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, Sunderland51,089,400
West MidlandsBirmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, Wolverhampton72,591,300
West YorkshireLeeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Wakefield52,161,200

See also

References

  1. ↑ Local Government Act 1972, Schedule I, Part I, Metropolitan Counties and Metropolitan Districts
  2. 1 2 Local Government Act 1985 c.51
  3. ↑ Local Government in England and Wales: A Guide to the New System. London: HMSO. 1974. p. 7. ISBN 0-11-750847-0.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, December 17, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.