Editing Metropolitan county (section)

===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.