Editing Metropolitan county (section)

==History==

===Creation===
The idea of creating administrative areas based upon the large [[conurbation]]s outside [[London]], modelled on the [[County of London]] or [[Greater London]], was mooted several times in the 20th century. In 1948, the [[Local Government Boundary Commission (1945 - 1949)|Local Government Boundary Commission]] proposed several new counties, including '[[Greater Manchester|South East Lancashire North East Cheshire]]' ("Selnec"), and '[[Merseyside|South West Lancashire North West Cheshire]]'. In the 1960s the [[Local Government Commission for England (1958 - 1967)|Local Government Commission for England]] proposed such an arrangement for [[Tyneside]] and draft proposals considered it for Selnec. For the [[West Midlands conurbation]], the commission proposed instead a group of contiguous [[county borough]]s with no overall metropolitan authority.

The [[Redcliffe-Maud Report]] of 1969 proposed the creation of three large "metropolitan areas" based upon the conurbations surrounding [[Manchester]], [[Liverpool]] and [[Birmingham]] (Selnec, [[Merseyside]], and [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]]), which were to have both metropolitan councils covering the entire areas, and district councils covering parts. [[Harold Wilson]]'s government published a [[white paper]] broadly accepting these recommendations, and adding [[South Yorkshire]] and [[West Yorkshire]] as metropolitan areas.<ref name=Hampton>Hampton, W., ''Local Government and Urban Politics'', (1991).</ref>

The proposals were radically altered when [[Edward Heath]]'s [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government came to power in 1970. The Conservatives' local government white paper was published in February 1971, naming the metropolitan areas "metropolitan counties", and giving them as "Merseyside, south-east Lancashire and north-east Cheshire, the West Midlands, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, and the [[Tyne and Wear]] area".<ref>''Cities and towns lose borough status in reshaped local councils.'' The Times. 17 February 1971.</ref><ref>Bryne, T., ''Local Government in Britain'', (1994).</ref>

The proposed counties were also far smaller than in the original proposals; they were trimmed at each successive stage. The Redcliffe-Maud Report had included [[Chester]] in Merseyside and [[Redditch]] and [[Stafford]] in West Midlands. The Conservative policy favoured retaining historic boundaries as far as was practicable,<ref name=Hampton /> and the new white paper proposals generally reduced the metropolitan counties to the continuously built up area. Many areas on the edges were excluded from the metropolitan counties when the bill was passed: [[Easington, County Durham|Easington]], [[Harrogate]], [[Knaresborough]], [[Ellesmere Port]], [[Neston, Cheshire|Neston]], [[New Mills]], [[Whaley Bridge]] and [[Glossop]]; other areas were excluded during the bill's passage, such as [[Seaham, County Durham|Seaham]], [[Skelmersdale and Holland]], [[Poynton]] and [[Wilmslow]]. One area, the county borough of [[Southport]], was added to Merseyside in the bill, at the local council's request.

Several other proposals for metropolitan counties were made during the bill's passage, including a revival of the proposal for [[Hampshire]] (either the southern part or all of it)<ref>Future of Hampshire : Letter to the Editor by Mayors of Southampton and Southampton. The Times. 12 April 1972.</ref> and [[central Lancashire]]. A Thamesside metropolitan county, covering areas of north [[Kent]] and south [[Essex]] on the [[Thames Estuary]] (and now considered part of the [[Thames Gateway]]) was also proposed.<ref>''Thamesside county urged to tackle river problems.'' The Times. 19 January 1972.</ref>

The metropolitan counties were created by the [[Local Government Act 1972]]. The county councils were first elected in 1973, and were formally established in April 1974.

===Structure===
The metropolitan counties were first created with a two-tier structure of local government. Local government functions were divided between the [[metropolitan district]] councils as lower tier authorities and metropolitan county councils as the upper tier.

The structure differed from the [[shire county|non-metropolitan counties]] in the allocation of powers between the county and district councils. The metropolitan districts had more powers than [[non-metropolitan district]]s, in that they were additionally responsible for education and social services, responsibilities allocated to county councils elsewhere.

The metropolitan county councils were intended to be strategic authorities that ran regional services such as main roads, public transport, emergency services, civil protection, waste disposal, and [[Structure Plan|strategic town and country planning]]. The metropolitan county councils functioned between 1974 and 1986.

===Abolition of the county councils===
Just a decade after they were established, the mostly [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]-controlled metropolitan county councils (MCCs) and the [[Greater London Council]] (GLC) had several high-profile clashes with the Conservative government of [[Margaret Thatcher]] about overspending and high [[rates (tax)|rates]]. 
Government policy on the issue was considered throughout 1982, and the Conservative Party put a "promise to scrap the metropolitan county councils", and the GLC, in their manifesto for the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Walker |first=David |title=Tory plan to abolish GLC and metropolitan councils, but rates stay |date=15 January 1983 |work=[[The Times]] |page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Haviland |first=Julian |title=Tories may abolish county councils if they win election |date=5 May 1983 |work=[[The Times]] |page=1}}<!--This article is not in the copy scanned at Interent Archive (different edition from earlier or later in day); content verified via The Times Archive at Gale, however.--></ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Tendler |first=Stewart |date=16 June 1983 |title=Big cities defiant over police |work=[[The Times]] |page=2}}</ref>

The exact details of the reform caused problems.<ref>{{cite news |last=Walker |first=David |title=Whitehall admits problem in abolishing GLC and metropolitan councils |work=[[The Times]] |date=23 September 1983 |page=2}}</ref> In October 1983, Thatcher's government published a white paper entitled ''[[Streamlining the cities]]''<ref name="White paper">{{cite web|url=http://www.bopcris.ac.uk/bopall/ref21456.html |title=Cmnd. 9063 |publisher=Bopcris.ac.uk |date=27 March 2007 |access-date=9 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927004841/http://www.bopcris.ac.uk/bopall/ref21456.html |archive-date=27 September 2007 }}</ref> which set out detailed plans for the abolition of the MCCs, together with the abolition of the GLC.<ref name=formula_unveiled>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Metropolitan counties white paper: 'Streamlined' city authorities formula unveiled |work=[[The Times]] |date=8 October 1983 |page=5 |url= https://ia800601.us.archive.org/11/items/NewsUK1983UKEnglish/Oct%2008%201983%2C%20The%20Times%2C%20%2361658%2C%20UK%20%28en%29_text.pdf |via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Walker |first=David |title=Labour storm over White Paper on council shake-up |date=8 October 1983 |work=[[The Times]] |page=1 |url= https://ia800601.us.archive.org/11/items/NewsUK1983UKEnglish/Oct%2008%201983%2C%20The%20Times%2C%20%2361658%2C%20UK%20%28en%29_text.pdf |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

The bill was announced in the [[Queen's Speech]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Bill to abolish GLC centrepiece of Queen's Speech |work=[[The Times]] |date=7 November 1984}}</ref><!--Not verifiable yet. Issue is missing from both The Times Archive at Gale, and Internet Archive.--> and was introduced into [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] soon afterwards. It became the [[Local Government Act 1985]];<ref name="1985 act">1985, c. 51.</ref> the MCCs and the GLC were abolished at midnight on 31 March 1986.

The last elections to the councils were held in May 1981; elections that would have been held in 1985 were abandoned under the [[Local Government (Interim Provisions) Act 1984]];<ref name="1984 act">1984, c. 53.</ref> the original plan had been for councillors' terms to expire in April 1985, and for councillors to be replaced by nominees from borough councils until 1986.<ref name=formula_unveiled />

While the abolition of the GLC was highly controversial, the abolition of the MCCs was much less so. The [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] leader [[David Steel]] had supported abolition of the MCCs in his 1981 conference speech.{{citation needed|date=September 2008}} The government's stated reasons for the abolition of the MCCs were based on efficiency and their overspending.

However the fact that all of the county councils were controlled by the Labour Party led to accusations that their abolition was motivated by party politics:<ref>{{cite book |first=Martin |last=Loughlin |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uyoRNDuojpwC&dq=%22streamlining+the+cities%22&pg=RA1-PA118 |title=Legality and Locality: The Role of Law in Central-local Government Relations |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=1996 |isbn=9780198260158 |page=118}}</ref> the general secretary of the [[National and Local Government Officers' Association]] described it as a "completely cynical manoeuvre".<ref name=angry_reaction>{{cite news |title=Angry reaction to councils White Paper |work=[[The Times]] |date=8 October 1983}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=April 2024|reason=No such article in that issue (see https://ia800601.us.archive.org/11/items/NewsUK1983UKEnglish/Oct%2008%201983%2C%20The%20Times%2C%20%2361658%2C%20UK%20%28en%29_text.pdf for full-issue scan), nor have one by this title been found in any other so far. No article by that title in the entire Times Archive at Gale.}}<ref name="Political">[http://www.politics.co.uk/issuebrief/domestic-policy/local-government/local-government-structure/local-government-structure-$366613.htm politics.co.uk Issue Brief] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113045315/http://www.politics.co.uk/issuebrief/domestic-policy/local-government/local-government-structure/local-government-structure-%24366613.htm |date=13 November 2007 }} and [http://jonathan.rawle.org/hyperpedia/counties/history.php Jonathan Rawle's website] refer.</ref> Merseyside in particular put up a struggle against abolition. Most of the functions of the MCCs passed either to the metropolitan borough councils, or to joint boards. Some assets were given to [[residuary body|residuary bodies]] for disposal. The split of functions from the metropolitan county councils was as follows:<ref>{{cite book |last=Kingdom |first=J. |title=Local Government and Politics in Britain |date=1991|publisher=Philip Allan|isbn=0860038319}}</ref>{{page needed|date=April 2024}}

{| class="wikitable" style="width: auto"
|-
! scope="row" | Special joint arrangements
| Grants to voluntary bodies, roads and traffic management, waste disposal, airports
|-
! scope="row" | Joint boards
| Fire, police, public transport
|-
! scope="row" | [[Quango]]s
| Arts, pensions and debt, sport
|-
! scope="row" | [[Metropolitan borough|District council]]s
| Arts, civil defence, planning, trading standards, parks, tourism, archives, industrial assistance, highways
|}

===Current status===
{{update|date=March 2017}}
[[File:English administrative divisions map coloured by type 2023.svg|thumb|Map of the situation in 2023<br />
{{Color sample|#984ea3}} [[metropolitan borough]]<br />
{{Color sample|#ff7f00}} [[London borough]] or the [[City of London]]<br />
{{Color sample|#4da14a}} [[unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]]<br />
{{Color sample|#e41a1c}} two-tier [[non-metropolitan county]]]]
The metropolitan counties are sometimes referred to as "former metropolitan counties",<ref>[http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/faq_numbers.asp Number of counties/districts/unitary authorities/wards etc in the UK] {{webarchive|url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20020413103605/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/faq_numbers.asp |date=13 April 2002 }} ''[[Office for National Statistics]]'', 22 July 2003. Retrieved 14 April 2009.</ref><ref>[http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/regionaldata/rts/ Department for Transport - Regional transport statistics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624090210/http://dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/regionaldata/rts/ |date=24 June 2009 }}, 20 March 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2009.</ref> although this description is not entirely correct.  The county councils were abolished, but under the Local Government Act 1972, the counties themselves remain in existence,<ref>[http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/ons_geography/Gazetteer_v3.pdf Office for National Statistics] {{Webarchive|url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20031223023527/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/ons_geography/Gazetteer_v3.pdf |date=23 December 2003 }} - Gazetteer of the old and new geographies of the United Kingdom, p. 48.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/metropolitan.asp |title=Metropolitan Counties and Districts |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315074635/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/metropolitan.asp |archive-date=15 March 2008 |work=Beginners' Guide to UK Geography |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |date=17 September 2004 |access-date=11 January 2007}}</ref> although they no longer exist in [[ISO 3166-2:GB]] as extant administrative subdivisions.

By virtue of the [[Lieutenancies Act 1997]] they remain as [[ceremonial counties of England|ceremonial counties]] (sometimes called 'geographic counties') which have an appointed [[Lord Lieutenant]]. They are also used in certain government statistics, although they no longer appear on [[Ordnance Survey]] maps, which show the individual metropolitan boroughs.

Some local services are still run on a metropolitan county-wide basis, administered by statutory [[Local government in England#Joint arrangements|joint boards]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.local.odpm.gov.uk/finance/stats/lgfs/lgfs14/xlsfiles_maps/chapter1/table13a.gif |title=Table 1.3a: Local authority responsibility for major services in England |website=CLG Local Government Finance Directorate |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327154247/http://www.local.odpm.gov.uk/finance/stats/lgfs/lgfs14/xlsfiles_maps/chapter1/table13a.gif |archive-date=27 March 2009}}</ref> and special joint arrangements; these include [[Policing in the United Kingdom|policing]] (by joint [[police authority|police authorities]]), [[Fire Service in the United Kingdom|fire services]], [[Transport in the United Kingdom|public transport]] (by [[passenger transport executive]]s) and [[Waste in the United Kingdom|waste disposal]] (in Merseyside and Greater Manchester). These joint boards are made up of councillors appointed by the boroughs. Since 2000, the metropolitan counties have been used as the areas of joint [[local transport plan]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gmltp.co.uk/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000520052902/http://www.gmltp.co.uk/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 May 2000 |title=Welcome to the Greater Manchester Local Transport Plan Website |publisher=Gmltp.co.uk |access-date=9 August 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.transportmerseyside.org/ltp/ |title=Welcome to the TravelWise Merseyside website |publisher=Transportmerseyside.org |access-date=9 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228085439/http://www.transportmerseyside.org/ltp/ |archive-date=28 February 2009  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.westmidlandsltp.gov.uk/index.php?id=1 |title=Home |publisher=Westmidlandsltp.gov.uk |access-date=9 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719103947/http://www.westmidlandsltp.gov.uk/index.php?id=1 |archive-date=19 July 2011  }}</ref>

In 1999, following a successful referendum, the Labour government under [[Tony Blair]] legislated to create a strategic authority for London (the [[Greater London Authority]]). Despite some talk of doing so, no bodies were established to replace the MCCs. The Blair government instead pursued the idea of elected [[Regional assembly (England)|regional assemblies]], although after an unsuccessful referendum in the most positive{{clarify|date=February 2019}} region, the North East, this idea now has few proponents. The idea of [[city region]]s has been proposed subsequently, although the 2006 local government white paper had no firm proposals for formal recognition of this concept. This changed in 2010 when the Government accepted a proposal from the [[Association of Greater Manchester Authorities]] to establish a [[Greater Manchester Combined Authority]] as an indirectly elected, top tier, strategic authority for [[Greater Manchester]].<ref>[http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1527485] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100404151931/http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1527485|date=4 April 2010}}</ref> In 2014 similar indirectly elected [[combined authorities]] were established for the metropolitan counties of South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, and two combined authorities were established which each covered a metropolitan county and adjacent non-metropolitan districts: the [[Liverpool City Region Combined Authority]] for Merseyside and the [[Borough of Halton]] unitary authority, and the [[North East Combined Authority]] for Tyne and Wear and the unitary authorities of [[County Durham]] and [[Northumberland]]. In 2017 the [[West Midlands Combined Authority]] was established for the West Midlands county. Many of these new combined authorities have elected or are in the process of electing authority-wide regional mayors.

Since 1995, the cities of Birmingham, [[Bristol]], [[Leeds]], Liverpool, Manchester, [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]], [[Nottingham]] and [[Sheffield]] have assembled together in the [[Core Cities Group]]. This organisation accords no distinct legal status on these councils over any other city council in England but appears to be organically moving towards some kind of recognition of their role as regional capitals outside London.