Metropolitan Borough of Sefton



The Borough of Sefton is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England and its local authority is Sefton Council. Sefton was formed by the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, by the amalgamation of the former county boroughs of Bootle and Southport, and, from the administrative county of Lancashire, the municipal borough of Crosby, the urban districts of Formby and Litherland, and part of the Rural District of West Lancashire. It also formed part of 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.

It is named after the village and parish of Sefton, near Maghull, that had formerly served as the seat of the Molyneux family and the watermill located there served as inspiration for Sefton Council's Crest. 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 had existed from 1894 to 1932.

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 are currently taking place between the UK national government and the combined authority over a possible devolution deal to confer greater powers on the region. Discussions include 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:
 * Ainsdale
 * Birkdale· Blundellsands
 * Cambridge· Church
 * Derby· Dukes
 * Ford
 * Harington
 * Kew
 * Linacre· Litherland
 * Manor· Meols· Molyneux
 * Netherton and Orrell· Norwood
 * Park
 * Ravenmeols
 * St. Oswald· Sudell
 * Victoria

The council is composed of 42 Labour councillors, 16 Liberal Democrats, 7 Conservatives and one independent.

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 published (pp. 240–53) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

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

 * Ainsdale, Aintree
 * Birkdale, Blowick, Blundellsands, Bootle
 * Churchtown, Crosby, Crossens
 * Ford, Formby
 * Hightown, Hillside
 * Ince Blundell
 * Kennessee Green
 * Litherland, Little Altcar, Little Crosby, Lunt, Lydiate
 * Maghull, Marshside, Melling
 * Netherton
 * Orrell
 * Seaforth, Sefton, Southport
 * Thornton
 * Waterloo, Woodvale

Parliamentary constituencies

 * Southport
 * Sefton Central
 * Bootle

Sister cities

 * '''Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
 * Gdańsk, Poland (since 1993)
 * Mons, Belgium
 * '''Waterloo, Sierra Leone