Gourt Home::Gourt :: City of Sunderland
| City of Sunderland | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Status: | Metropolian Borough, City (1992) |
| Region: | North East England |
| Ceremonial county: | Tyne and Wear |
| Traditional county: | County Durham |
| Area: - Total | Ranked 219th 137.46 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Sunderland |
| ONS code: | 00CM |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total () - Density | Ranked / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 98.1% White 1.0% S.Asian |
| Politics | |
| Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| Executive: | |
| MPs: | Bill Etherington, Sharon Hodgson, Fraser Kemp, Chris Mullin |
The city is unparished, except for Hetton-le-Hole which is a civil parish, and which has a town council.
History
The metropolitan borough was formed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 by the merger of several districts of County Durham - Washington Urban District, Houghton-le-Spring Urban District and Hetton Urban District - with the County Borough of Sunderland. In population and area it is the biggest citybetween Leeds and Edinburgh.
The metropolitan borough was granted city status in 1992, the 40th anniversary of the Queen's accession. At the Queen's Golden Jubilee the city petitioned to be allowed a Lord Mayor, but was unsuccessful. Although the city does not have a Cathedral, as it is located in the diocese of Durham, it does have a Minster.
HMS Ocean, the Royal Navy's biggest warship, is Sunderland's adopted ship. In March 2004 it was granted the freedom of the City. St Benedict Biscop was adopted as the City's Patron Saint in March 2004.
Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Sunderland at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Year | Regional Gross Value Added | Agriculture | Industry | Services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 2,582 | 4 | 1,094 | 1,483 |
| 2000 | 3,116 | 4 | 1,281 | 1,832 |
| 2003 | 3,769 | 4 | 1,328 | 2,437 |
includes hunting and forestry
includes energy and construction
includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
Twinning
Sunderland's twin towns are:
City government
Boundary review 2004
Like all metropolitan authorities, the city is divided into a number of wards or electoral districts. Each has three councillors elected for a four-year term. One third of councillors face re-election each year, and no city elections are held in the fourth year of the election cycle - this was when each ward's sole metropolitan county councillor was elected, prior to the county council's abolition in 1986.The City has 25 such wards. When the boundaries of these wards were set in 1982, each ward had a roughly equal population. By 2004 there had been a considerable shift in population. In particular, the east and south east – the old parish of Sunderland and the mining village of Ryhope – had lost population to the "New Town" of Washington. As a result the boundaries were redrawn; Sunderland lost one ward and Washington gained one. Elections for all 75 councillors were held on 10 June 2004.
Functions
The Local Government Act 1972 created two different two-tier systems for local administration, with different division of functions. As a metropolitan authority, Sunderland retained responsibility for waste collection, although disposal of the garbage was a county function, and for education. In 1986, when Tyne and Wear Metropolitan County Council was abolished, most county functions became the responsibility of the constituent districts, whilst new joint boards assumed the co-ordinating roles in the county. Thus control over economic development, of the Museums and Archive Service, of the Tyne and Wear Fire and Civil Defence Authority and of the Passenger Transport Authority is exercised not by committees of directly elected county councillors but by nominees chosen by the elected members of the five district authorities.Sunderland has not had a separate police force since 1967, when the Borough of Sunderland Police merged with Durham Constabulary. The City is now part of the Northumbria Police Force area. This force was set up in 1974, and covers the whole of Tyne and Wear plus the much larger but much less densely populated county of Northumberland.
Political Structure
The City has had a Labour controlled council since 1974, and often before that. After the elections of May 2003 the political structure was 63 Labour, 9 Conservative, and 1 independent. The only Liberal Party councillor sat with the only Liberal Democrat as a "Liberal/Democrat" group. Three Councillors resigned from the Labour Party following disputes over the selection of candidates for the 2004 elections. Two became independent members; one joined the Liberal Democrat party, becoming group leader after the 2004 municipal elections.The reorganisation of electoral areas saw major changes in all but two wards, but the elections of 10 June 2004, the first fought under the new boundaries, saw little change in the political representation of the City as a whole, with 61 Labour, 12 Conservative, and 2 Liberal Democrat councillors elected.
The Conservative party won all three seats in a new ward whose boundaries spanned several old wards. The Liberal Democrats stronghold ward was abolished entirely, and became part of four new wards, and the Liberal Democrat councillors elected in 2004 were from two very different areas.
Parliamentary Constituencies
There are three constituencies wholly within the city, and one constituency partially in Sunderland and partially in Gateshead:
The Boundary Commission for England has proposed reducing the number of MPs in Tyne and Wear by one. It is therefore recommending substantial boundary changes, creating Sunderland Central, Sunderland North & Washington and Sunderland South & Houghton seats. This would concentrate the city's Conservative support into a single Parliamentary seat, Sunderland Central, making it a marginal constituency by some estimates, including that of Sunderland South MP Chris Mullin. Under these changes, all of Washington would be included in the Sunderland North & Washington seat, rather than being shared with Gateshead as the Gateshead East and Washington West constituency.
The whole City of Sunderland is within the North East England European Parliamentary constituency.
Education
- Sunderland is home to the University of Sunderland.
- Further Education (FE) is provided by the City of Sunderland College, which has campuses around the city, as well as three Catholic Sixth Form Colleges: St Robert of Newminster in Washington for boys and girls, and St Anthony's for girls and St Aidan's for boys, both in Sunderland.
See also
External links
News
Education
Sunderland Regeneration
- Sunderland Arc Regeneration Website
- Invest in Sunderland
- Tyne-Wear Partnership
- Sunniside Regeneration
- Holmeside Regeneration
- One North-East
- The Vaux
Local Information
- Sunderland Council
- Touch Sunderland
- Sunderland Community
- Visit Sunderland
- Sunderland On the Web
- Community of Interest
- Sunderland Housing
Local Interest
- Sunderland Association Football Club
- City Nightlife
- Sunderland Kite Festival
- Sunderland International Airshow
- Sunderland Astronomical Society
- Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art
- Sunderland Wall
- The Bridges Shopping Centre
- Sunderland Dogs
- Port of Sunderland
- Fulwell Mill
- Marine Activities
- Cineworld
- Ashbrooke Sports and Social Club
Culture and Heritage
- Sunderland Minster
- Bede's World
- National Glass Centre
- Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art
- The Reg Vardy Gallery
- Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens
- Monkwearmouth Station Museum
- Royalty Theatre
- Empire Theatre
- Sunderland Maritime Heritage
- North East Air Museum
- Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
- Cycle 2 Cycle Guide
Photographs
- BBC Pictures of Sunderland
- Wearside Gallery
- Sunderland City Council Pictures
- Sunderland Today
- Pictures of Sunderland 1
- Pictures of Sunderland 2
- Sunderland Panoramas
Travel Links
City of Sunderland | Local government in Tyne and Wear | Cities in England | Metropolitan boroughs
"City of Sunderland"