Metropolitan borough

For other uses, see Metropolitan borough (disambiguation).

Metropolitan district
Metropolitan counties shown within England
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 some with city status).^[1] Metropolitan boroughs are effectively unitary authority areas, since the abolition of metropolitan county councils by the Local Government Act 1985.^[2]

The term metropolitan borough was also used for administrative subdivisions of London between 1900 and 1965. The present boroughs in London are known as London Boroughs rather than metropolitan boroughs.

The current metropolitan boroughs were created in 1974 as subdivisions of the new metropolitan counties which were 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 part 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 responsible for social services and libraries; in non-metropolitan counties these services were the responsibility of county councils.^[3]

In 1986 the metropolitan county councils were abolished by the Local Government Act 1985 and most of their functions were devolved to the boroughs, making them to a large extent unitary authorities. Some of the functions of the abolished county councils were taken over by joint bodies such as passenger transport authorities, and joint fire, police and waste disposal authorities.^[2]

The 36 metropolitan boroughs are:

Metropolitan county	Metropolitan districts	Number	County population
Greater Manchester	Manchester, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan	10	2,573,200
Merseyside	Liverpool, Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral	5	1,365,000
South Yorkshire	Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham	4	1,290,000
Tyne and Wear	Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, Sunderland	5	1,089,400
West Midlands	Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, Wolverhampton	7	2,591,300
West Yorkshire	Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Wakefield	5	2,161,200

Metropolitan boroughs, London boroughs and non-metropolitan unitary authorities are shown (the remaining areas are shire counties)

References

1. ^ Local Government Act 1972, Schedule I, Part I, Metropolitan Counties and Metropolitan Districts
2. ^ ^{a b} 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 0117508470. 

See also

• Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London
• Borough
• Non-metropolitan district
• County borough
• Subdivisions of England
• ISO 3166-2:GB, subdivision codes for the United Kingdom
• Political make-up of Metropolitan borough councils