Metropolitan borough

Type of local government district in England

This article is about the current districts outside London. For the former districts in London, see Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London. For the Republic of Ireland's metropolitan districts, see Metropolitan district (Ireland).

Metropolitan district

* Also known as:
* Metropolitan borough

Category| Local authority 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

Additional status|

* Borough

Populations| 0.1 - 1.1 million
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A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan counties. All of the metropolitan districts have been granted or regranted royal charters giving them borough status (and in some cases, they also have city status).[1] Metropolitan boroughs have been effectively unitary authority areas since the abolition of metropolitan county councils by the Local Government Act 1985.[2] Metropolitan boroughs pool much of their authority in joint boards and other arrangements that cover whole metropolitan counties, such as local enterprise partnerships and combined authorities and combined county authorities, with most of the latter having a directly elected metropolitan mayor.

## History

[edit]

### London metropolitan boroughs (1900–1965)

[edit]

Main article: Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London

The term "metropolitan borough" was first used for administrative subdivisions of the County of London between 1900 and 1965. There were 28 of these metropolitan boroughs, which were replaced by a new system of larger London boroughs in 1965, when the County of London was replaced by Greater London.

### Current metropolitan boroughs

[edit]

The current metropolitan boroughs originated as metropolitan districts created in 1974 as subdivisions of new metropolitan counties, 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, and urban and rural districts.

Metropolitan districts were originally parts of a two-tier structure of local government, and shared power with metropolitan county councils. They differed from non-metropolitan districts in the division of powers between district and county councils. Metropolitan districts were local education authorities, and were also responsible for social services and libraries. In non-metropolitan counties these services were (and are) the responsibility of county councils.[3]

Many metropolitan districts were boroughs from their establishment on 1 April 1974; others gained borough status later.

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

## Metropolitan district councils

[edit]

The metropolitan districts are administered by metropolitan district councils. They are the principal local authorities in the six metropolitan counties and are responsible for running most local services, such as schools, social services, waste collection, and roads.[4]

The 36 metropolitan boroughs are:

Metropolitan county | Metropolitan districts | Number | County population[citation needed]

|
|
|

Merseyside | Liverpool, Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral | 5 | 1,365,000
Greater Manchester | Manchester, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan | 10 | 2,573,200
South Yorkshire | Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham | 4 | 1,290,000
Tyne and Wear | Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, Sunderland | 5 | 1,299,000
West Midlands | Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, Wolverhampton | 7 | 2,916,458
West Yorkshire | Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Wakefield | 5 | 2,161,200

## See also

[edit]

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

## References

[edit]

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 0-11-750847-0.
4. ^ "Understand how your council works". Retrieved 28 December 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Map of the UK counties and unitary administrations
* Map of all UK local authorities

* v
* t
* e

Subdivisions of England

Region|

* Regions
* ITL 1 statistical regions of England

County|

* Ceremonial county
* Metropolitan county
* Non-metropolitan county
* Greater London

District and civil parish|

* Civil parish
* Metropolitan borough
* Non-metropolitan district
* London borough
* Unitary authority
* sui generis
* City of London
* Isles of Scilly

* v
* t
* e

Borough status in the United Kingdom

Contemporary|

* London borough
* Metropolitan borough (England)

Municipal borough|

* Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (1835–1882 incorporations)
* Municipal Corporations Act 1882 (1882–1974 incorporations)
* County borough
* Metropolitan borough (London)
* Local Government Act 1933
* Rural borough

Ancient borough|

* Unreformed boroughs 1835–1886
* Seigneurial borough

* v
* t
* e

Metropolitan districts of England

Districts|

* Barnsley
* Birmingham
* Bolton
* Bradford
* Bury
* Calderdale
* Coventry
* Doncaster
* Dudley
* Gateshead
* Kirklees
* Knowsley
* Leeds
* Liverpool
* Manchester
* Newcastle upon Tyne
* North Tyneside
* Oldham
* Rochdale
* Rotherham
* Salford
* Sandwell
* Sefton
* Sheffield
* Solihull
* South Tyneside
* St Helens
* Stockport
* Sunderland
* Tameside
* Trafford
* Wakefield
* Walsall
* Wigan
* Wirral
* Wolverhampton

Councils|

* Barnsley
* Birmingham
* Bolton
* Bradford
* Bury
* Calderdale
* Coventry
* Doncaster
* Dudley
* Gateshead
* Kirklees
* Knowsley
* Leeds
* Liverpool
* Manchester
* Newcastle upon Tyne
* North Tyneside
* Oldham
* Rochdale
* Rotherham
* Salford
* Sandwell
* Sefton
* Sheffield
* Solihull
* South Tyneside
* St Helens
* Stockport
* Sunderland
* Tameside
* Trafford
* Wakefield
* Walsall
* Wigan
* Wirral
* Wolverhampton

Local elections|

* Barnsley
* Birmingham
* Bolton
* Bradford
* Bury
* Calderdale
* Coventry
* Doncaster
* Dudley
* Gateshead
* Kirklees
* Knowsley
* Leeds
* Liverpool
* Manchester
* Newcastle upon Tyne
* North Tyneside
* Oldham
* Rochdale
* Rotherham
* Salford
* Sandwell
* Sefton
* Sheffield
* Solihull
* South Tyneside
* St Helens
* Stockport
* Sunderland
* Tameside
* Trafford
* Wakefield
* Walsall
* Wigan
* Wirral
* Wolverhampton

* v
* t
* e

Designations for types of administrative division

English terms

Common English terms

| Area|

* Insular area
* Local government area
* Special area
* Unincorporated area
* Unorganized area

|

Borough|

* County borough
* Metropolitan borough

Canton|

Half-canton

Capital|

* Federal capital
* Imperial capital

City|

* Autonomous city
* Charter city
* Independent city
* Incorporated city
* Imperial city
* Free imperial city
* Royal free city

Community|

* Autonomous community
* Residential community

County|

* Administrative county
* Autonomous county
* Consolidated city-county
* County seat
* County town
* Metropolitan county
* Non-metropolitan county
* Regional county municipality
* Viscounty

Country|

* Overseas country

Department|

* Overseas department

District|

* Capital district
* City district
* Congressional district
* Electoral district
* Federal district
* Indian government district
* Land district
* Local government district
* Metropolitan district
* Non-metropolitan district
* Military district
* Municipal district
* Police district
* Regional district
* Rural district
* Sanitary district
* Service district
* Educational service district
* Local service district
* School district
* Intermediate school district
* Special district
* in the US
* Urban district

Division|

* Census division
* Police division
* Subdivision of India

Indian reserve/reservation|

* Indian reservation (United States)
* Indian reserve (Canada)

Municipality|

* City municipality
* County municipality
* Direct-controlled municipality
* District municipality
* Neutral municipality
* Regional municipality
* Resort municipality
* Mountain resort municipality
* Rural municipality
* Specialized municipality

Prefecture|

* Autonomous prefecture
* Subprefecture
* Super-prefecture
* Praetorian prefecture

Province|

* Autonomous province
* Overseas province
* Roman province

Region|

* Administrative region
* Special administrative region
* Autonomous region
* Capital region
* National capital region
* Development region
* Mesoregion
* Microregion
* Overseas region
* Subregion

State|

* Proto-state
* City-state
* Federal state
* Free state
* Sovereign state

Territory|

* Capital territory
* Federal capital territory
* National capital territory
* Dependent territory
* Federal territory
* Incorporated territory
* Organized incorporated territory
* Overseas territory
* Union territory

Town|

* Census town
* Market town

Township|

* Charter township
* Civil township
* Paper township
* Survey township
* Urban township

Unit|

* Regional unit

Zone|

* Economic zone
* Exclusive economic zone
* Free economic zone
* Special economic zone
* Exclusion zone
* Military exclusion zone
* Free speech zone
* Neutral zone
* Self-administered zone
* Trade zone
* Free-trade zone

Other English terms

| Current|

* Alpine resort
* Bailiwick
* Banner
* Autonomous
* Block
* Cadastre
* Circle
* Circuit
* Colony
* Commune
* Condominium
* Constituency
* Duchy
* District
* Eldership
* Emirate
* Enclave and exclave
* Federal dependency
* Governorate
* Hamlet
* Manor
* Royal
* Muftiate
* Neighbourhood
* Parish
* Precinct
* Principality
* Protectorate
* Quarter
* Regency
* Autonomous republic
* Riding
* Sector
* Autonomous
* Shire
* Sultanate
* Suzerainty
* Townland
* Village
* Summer
* Ward

|

Historical|

* Agency
* Barony
* Burgh
* Exarchate
* Hide
* Hundred
* Imperial Circle
* March
* Monthon
* Presidency
* Residency
* Roman diocese
* Seat
* Tenth
* Tithing
* Viceroyalty

Non-English terms or loanwords

| Current|

* Amt
* Apskritis
* Bakhsh
* Barangay
* Bashki
* Bezirk
* Regierungsbezirk
* Comarca
* Comune
* Frazione
* Freguesia
* Fu
* Gemeinde
* Austria
* Germany
* South Tyrol
* Switzerland
* Gemeente
* Gmina
* Hromada
* Județ
* Kampong
* Kommun/Kunta
* Finland
* Sweden
* Län (Sweden)
* Landskap
* Finland
* Località
* Maakunta
* Megye
* Muban
* Mukim
* Njësi administrative
* Obec
* Oblast
* Autonomous
* Okrug
* Ostān
* Poblacion
* Purok
* Qark
* Raion
* Savivaldybė
* Selsoviet
* Sitio
* Seniūnija
* Shahrestān
* Sum
* China
* Sýsla
* Tehsil
* Townlet
* Vingtaine

|

Historical|

* Commote
* Gau
* Heerlijkheid
* Komunë
* Köping
* Korale
* Län/Lääni
* Landskap
* Sweden
* Landskommun
* Maalaiskunta
* Nome
* Egypt
* Greece
* Pagus
* Pargana
* Plasă
* Rreth
* Satrapy
* Socken
* Subah
* Syssel
* Zhou

Used by ten or more countries or having derived terms. Historical derivations in italics.

See also
Autonomous administration
Census division
Electoral district
List of administrative divisions by country
Greek administrative divisions
Slavic administrative divisions
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