Metropolitan Borough of Sefton

The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972,[1] 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. It consists of a coastal strip of land on the Irish Sea which extends from Southport in the north to Bootle in the south, and an inland part to Maghull in the south-east, bounded by the city of Liverpool to the south, the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley to the south-east, and West Lancashire to the east.

For the settlement, see Sefton, Merseyside.
This article is about the local government district. For other uses, see Sefton.

Borough of Sefton
Metropolitan borough
Southport Town Hall
Southport Town Hall
Sefton shown within Merseyside and England
Sefton shown within Merseyside and England
Coordinates: 53.445°N 2.998°W / 53.445; -2.998
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionNorth West England
City regionLiverpool
Ceremonial countyMerseyside
Historic countyLancashire
Founded1 April 1974
Admin. HQBootle and Southport
Government
 • TypeMetropolitan Borough
 • Governing bodySefton Council
 • Leadership:Leader & Cabinet
 • Executive:Labour Party
 • Leader of the CouncilCllr Ian Maher
Labour Party
 • MPs:Peter Dowd, Labour
Bill Esterson, Labour
Damien Moore, Conservative
Area
 • Total60.5 sq mi (156.6 km2)
 • Rank164th
Population
 (2021)
 • Total273,790
 • RankRanked 57th
 • Density4,500/sq mi (1,700/km2)
Time zoneUTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
Postcode
L, PR
ONS code00CA (ONS)
E08000014 (GSS)
Ethnicity98.4% White
Websitehttp://www.sefton.gov.uk/
Bootle Town Hall

It is named after Sefton, near Maghull. When the borough was created, a name was sought that would not unduly identify the borough with any of its constituent parts, particularly the former county boroughs of Bootle and Southport. The area had strong links with both the Earl of Sefton of Croxteth Hall and the Earl of Derby, resident of Knowsley Hall,[2] and the adjacent borough was subsequently named Knowsley. A Sefton Rural District covering some of the villages in the district existed from 1894 to 1932.[3]

Governance

Following the Local Government Act 1985, The Merseyside County Council was abolished on 31 March 1986 and its functions were devolved to the five metropolitan borough councils of Merseyside and joint-boards. As a result, Sefton Council is a unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Merseyside, which is served by the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside.

Sefton Council is not directly responsible for transport, waste-disposal and emergency services. These are administered by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and the Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner. Sefton Council appoints members of the Council to represent the Council on those bodies which have their own legislative powers. Details of the Council representatives can be accessed via: https://modgov.sefton.gov.uk/mgListOutsideBodies.aspx?bcr=1

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority

The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton is one of the six constituent local government districts of the Liverpool City Region. Since 1 April 2014, some of the borough's responsibilities have been pooled with neighbouring authorities within the metropolitan area and subsumed into the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.[4]

The combined authority has effectively become the top-tier administrative body for the local governance of the city region and the Leader of Sefton Council, along with the leaders of the five other constituent authorities, take strategic decisions over economic development, transport, employment and skills, tourism, culture, housing and physical infrastructure.[4]

The Combined Authority was established under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 on 1 April 2014 and the post of the Metro Mayor was established following the Liverpool City Region Mayoral Election on 4 May 2017.[5]

Historic controversy

The existence of Sefton has been an ongoing local controversy, especially in Southport, where local Members of Parliament (MPs) and some councillors have campaigned for separation from Bootle and the possible inclusion of the town as a district in the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire.[6] It was highlighted after the 2012 local government election that different regions in Sefton had vastly different socio-economic backgrounds and needs. There are high levels of poverty around the Bootle area and central Southport.[7]

Under the 1971 Local Government White Paper, presented in February 1971, Southport would have lost its county borough status, becoming a non-metropolitan district within Lancashire. Rather than accept this fate and lose its separate education and social services departments, the then Southport County Borough Council successfully lobbied for inclusion in the Metropolitan District of Sefton from 1 April 1974, which subsequently became the Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council on 17 April 1975.

Borough Status

Following an application made in the form of a petition to the Privy Council, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II approved the grant of a Royal Charter on 17 April 1975 conferring the status of a Borough on the Metropolitan District of Sefton. The Charter enabled the Council to appoint a Mayor of the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton at the first meeting of the Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council held on 24 April 1975.

Sefton Council composition

The council has 66 councillors, three for each of the borough's 22 wards:

As of May 2023, the Council is composed of 51 Labour councillors, 9 for The Liberal Democrat and Progressive Alliance Group, 5 Conservatives, and 1 Independent.

https://www.sefton.gov.uk/your-council/councillors-meetings-decisions/

Economy

The borough has a strong income from tourism, most of whom visit the Aintree Grand National, the most valuable horse race in Europe, Anthony Gormley's Another Place at Crosby Beach and Southport. Birkdale is also home to the Royal Birkdale Golf Club which has played host to the Open Championship, Ryder Cup, Walker Cup and Curtis Cup.[8]

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Sefton at current basic prices published (pp. 240–53) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

YearRegional gross value addedAgricultureIndustryServices
19952,079204961,563
20002,50084682,024
20032,994104182,566

^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding ^ includes hunting and forestry ^ includes energy and construction ^ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

Demographics

Ethnicity
Ethnic Group 2001[9] 2011[10]
Number % Number %
White: British273,53696.67%259,62994.83%
White: Irish2,6650.94%2,3120.84%
White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller1200.04%
White: Other2,3390.83%4,6801.71%
White: Total278,54098.44%266,74197.43%
Asian or Asian British: Indian6040.21%6660.24%
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani1810.06%1270.04%
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi2570.09%3080.11%
Asian or Asian British: Chinese9030.32%9650.35%
Asian or Asian British: Other Asian1730.06%6530.24%
Asian or Asian British: Total2,1180.75%2,7190.99%
Black or Black British: African2040.07%4640.17%
Black or Black British: Caribbean1730.06%2230.08%
Black or Black British: Other Black610.02%1090.04%
Black or Black British: Total4380.15%7960.29%
Mixed: White and Black Caribbean4760.17%8300.30%
Mixed: White and Black African2340.08%4880.18%
Mixed: White and Asian4410.16%7600.28%
Mixed: Other Mixed4330.15%7420.27%
Mixed: Total1,5840.56%2,8201.03%
Other: Arab3270.12%
Other: Any other ethnic group3870.14%
Other: Total2780.10%7140.26%
Black, Asian, and minority ethnic: Total4,4181.56%7,0492.57%
Total282,958100.00%273,790100.00%

Main Languages

At the 2011 census, there were 265,010 usual residents of Sefton aged 3 or over whose main language was declared. The 10 most common main languages were as follows:[11]

  1. English 259,820 (98.04%)
  2. Polish 1,579 (0.62%)
  3. Chinese 415 (0.16%)
  4. Portuguese 318 (0.12%)
  5. Latvian 252 (0.10%)
  6. Spanish 201 (0.08%)
  7. Lithuania 190 (0.07%)
  8. Arabic 158 (0.06%)
  9. Bengali (with Sylheti and Chittagonian) 142 (0.05%)
  10. Turkish 141 (0.05%)

1,794 (0.68%) usual residents over the age of 3 had a different main language to the above languages.

Towns and villages in Sefton

Parliamentary constituencies
See also: List of Parliamentary constituencies on Merseyside

Twin Towns and Cities

Sefton is twinned with:[12]

Freedom of the Borough

The following people, organisations and military service units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Sefton.

Individuals

Organisations

All on 26 January 2023 (17)

Military Service Units

The following military service units have been granted the right, privilege, honour and distinction of marching through the streets of the Borough of Sefton on all ceremonial occasions with colours flying, bands playing, drums beating and bayonets fixed:

See also

References
  1. Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN 0-10-547072-4.
  2. Welcome to the Estate, Knowsley Hall, retrieved 7 October 2010
  3. "Sefton RD through time: Relationships and changes". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  4. "Proposal to establish a combined authority for Greater Merseyside" (PDF). Department for Communities and Local Government. November 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  5. Liam Murphy (22 July 2015). "Liverpool city region to decide on devolution demands by end of summer". Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  6. Final Recommendations on the Future Local Government of Sefton, Local Government Commission for England, November 1997.
  7. "Sefton Local Economic Assessment" (PDF). Invest Sefton. May 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  8. "Royal Birkdale Golf Club – Club History". Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  9. "UV009 - Ethnic group". NOMIS. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  10. "QS201EW - Ethnic group". NOMIS. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  11. "Sefton - UK Census Data 2011".
  12. Sefton Council, Twinning with Towns and Cities retrieved 21 January 2019
  13. "Gdańsk Official Website: 'Miasta partnerskie'". www.gdansk.pl (in Polish and English). Urząd Miejski w Gdańsku]. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  14. Dukes, Emma (19 November 2022). "Lioness Alex Greenwood becomes first ever woman to be awarded Freedom of Sefton". The Liverpool World. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  15. Council, Sefton (21 June 2017). "Honorary Freedom of the Borough". Government of the United Kingdom.
  16. "HMS Mersey sails into Sefton for historic Freedom ceremony". mysefton.co.uk. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.

17. https://www.sefton.gov.uk/your-council/the-mayor/honorary-freedom-of-the-borough/

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