Metropolitan borough

A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England, covering urban areas within metropolitan counties.

Origin of the term

The first metropolitan boroughs were created in 1900 by the London Government Act 1899 which created 28 metropolitan boroughs as sub-divisions of the County of London. They replaced vestries as the second tier of local government. They were Battersea, Bermondsey, Bethnal Green, Camberwell, Chelsea, Deptford, Finsbury, Fulham, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith, Hampstead, Holborn, Islington, Kensington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Paddington, Poplar, Shoreditch, Southwark, St Marylebone, St Pancras, Stepney, Stoke Newington, Wandsworth, Westminster, Woolwich

In 1965 the County of London was abolished by the London Government Act 1963 and replaced by Greater London. The 28 metropolitan boroughs were also abolished and replaced by larger London boroughs.

Current usage

The current metropolitan boroughs were created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972. New metropolitan counties were created to cover the six largest urban areas in England outside Greater London, and these were subdivided into metropolitan districts, all of which inherited or have been granted Royal Charters to give them borough or city status. The new metropolitan boroughs replaced the county boroughs, municipal boroughs and urban and rural districts which preceded them. 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 public transport provision — in non-metropolitan counties these services were the responsibility of county councils.

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 their functions were taken over by joint bodies such as Passenger Transport Authorities, and joint fire, police and waste disposal authorities.

The metropolitan boroughs are:

Metropolitan County	Metropolitan Boroughs
Greater Manchester	Manchester, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan
Merseyside	Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, Wirral
South Yorkshire	Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham
Tyne and Wear	Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, Sunderland
West Midlands	Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, Wolverhampton
West Yorkshire	Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Wakefield

For the historic London metropolitan boroughs see County of London.

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Origin of the term

Current usage

See also