Metropolitan Borough of Sefton


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 which extends from Southport in the north to Bootle in the south, and an inland part to Maghull in the south-east. The district is bounded by the city of Liverpool to the south, the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley to the south-east, and West Lancashire to the east.
It is named after the village and parish of Sefton, near Maghull. When the borough was created in the Local Government Act 1972, 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 locality had strong links with both the Earl of Sefton and the Earl of Derby, resident of Knowsley Hall, and given the fact that the immediately adjacent borough was subsequently named Knowsley it seems equally likely that the choice of name was derived from the names of the local nobility. A Sefton Rural District covering some of the villages in the district existed from 1894 to 1932.

Politics

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.
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 five other leaders from neighbouring local government districts, take strategic decisions over economic development, transport, employment and skills, tourism, culture, housing and physical infrastructure.
As of July 2015, negotiations were taking place between the UK national government and the combined authority over a possible devolution deal to confer greater powers on the region, including whether to introduce an elected 'Metro Mayor' to oversee the entire metropolitan area.

Historic controversy

The existence of Sefton has been an ongoing local controversy, especially in Southport, where local Members of Parliament and councillors have campaigned for separation from Bootle and the possible inclusion of the town as a district in the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire. It was highlighted after the 2012 local government election that different regions in Sefton had vastly different socio-economic backgrounds and needs. The high levels of poverty seen around the Bootle area and central Southport contrast sharply with the affluence of central Sefton, including Crosby, Maghull and Formby, areas that have some of the highest average house prices in Merseyside.

Sefton Council composition

The council has 66 councillors, three for each of the borough's 22 wards:
The council is composed of 42 Labour councillors, 16 Liberal Democrats, 7 Conservatives and 2 Independents.

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.
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Sefton at current basic prices 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

Towns and villages in Sefton

Sefton is twinned with:

  • Mons, Belgium