The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, typically with populations of 1.2 to 2.8 million. They were created in 1974 and are each divided into several metropolitan districts or boroughs.
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool. Merseyside, which was created on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972, takes its name from the River Mersey.
The Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England. It comprises the towns and districts of Kirkby, Prescot, Huyton, Whiston, Halewood, Cronton and Stockbridge Village; Kirkby, Huyton, and Prescot being the major commercial centres. It takes its name from the village of Knowsley, though its headquarters are in Huyton. It forms part of the wider Liverpool City Region.
The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England, was formed on 1 April 1974 by the amalgamation of the county boroughs of Bootle and Southport, the municipal borough of Crosby, the urban districts of Formby and Litherland, and part of West Lancashire Rural District within the new county of Merseyside. The borough consists of a coastal strip of land on the Irish Sea, and extends from Bootle in the south, to Southport in the north. In the south-east, it extends inland to Maghull. The district is bounded by Liverpool to the south, Knowsley to the south-east, and West Lancashire to the east.
Halton is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Cheshire in North West England, with borough status and administered by a unitary authority. It was created in 1974 as a district of the non-metropolitan county of Cheshire, and became a unitary authority area on 1 April 1998 under Halton Borough Council. Since 2014 it has been a member of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The borough consists of the towns of Runcorn and Widnes and the civil parishes of Hale, Daresbury, Moore, Preston Brook, Halebank and Sandymoor. The district borders Merseyside, Warrington and Cheshire West and Chester. The borough straddles the River Mersey – the area to the north is historically part of Lancashire, that to the south part of Cheshire.
The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, in North West England. It is named after its largest component town and former county borough, Wigan and includes the towns and villages of Leigh, part of Ashton-in-Makerfield, Ince-in-Makerfield, Hindley, Orrell, Standish, Atherton, Tyldesley, Golborne, Lowton, Billinge, Astley, Haigh and Aspull. The borough was formed in 1974 and is an amalgamation of several former local government districts and parishes. The borough has three civil parishes and lies directly to the west of the City of Salford and southwest of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The local authority is Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council.
The Metropolitan Borough of St Helens is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It is named after its largest town St Helens, and covers an area which includes the settlements of Sutton, St Helens, Earlestown, Rainhill, Eccleston, Clock Face, Haydock, Billinge, Rainford and Newton-le-Willows.
The Local Government Act 1985 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Its main effect was to abolish the six county councils of the metropolitan counties that had been set up in 1974, 11 years earlier, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with the Greater London Council that had been established in 1965. In their place many single purpose authorities known collectively as 'joint authorities' were established for fire service, police and passenger transport. An ad hoc education authority was established for Inner London and a planning authority for Greater London. The legislation permitted councils to form 'joint arrangements' for waste disposal and other services that they wished to provide together. Time-limited residuary bodies were created to dispose of the assets of the former authorities.
Wish FM is a British Independent Local Radio that serves the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester and the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside. The station takes its name from the initials WIgan and St Helens.
Not to be confused with Billinge Hill, Blackburn.
Wirral was a rural district in Cheshire, England from 1894 to 1933. It was created under the Local Government Act 1894 from the Wirral rural sanitary district.
Ince was a parliamentary constituency in England which elected one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It comprised the town of Ince-in-Makerfield and other towns south of Wigan.
Billinge Hospital was a National Health Service facility in the Billinge Higher End district of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Merseyside, England. It was managed by the 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust.
Longshaw is a small residential and agricultural area within Billinge Higher End at the western boundary of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It is situated at the northern foot of Billinge Hill on the B5206 road. Historically, Longshaw was part of Lancashire.
The Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in the United Kingdom. It consists of 75 Councillors with one-third being elected every three years in four. The borough is separated into 25 wards. Councillors are democratically accountable to the ward they are elected to represent. Each ward is represented on the council by three council members.
Halton Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Halton, incorporating the towns of Runcorn and Widnes and the parishes of Daresbury, Hale, Moore and Preston Brook. It is a constituent council of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
