User:Mr Stephen/sandbox 3

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peer review is at [[Wikipedia:Peer review/Greater Manchester/archive1]]

Contents 1 Sports 2 County 3 Governance 3.1 Development of the modern county 3.2 Modern governance 3.3 Possible future changes

[edit] Sports

• • include Belle Vue Aces honours**
  • did MP have biggest gate? take care re cause of closure**

The Kirkmanshulme Lane stadium in Belle Vue is the home to Elite League speedway team the Belle Vue Aces and regular greyhound racing. Professional ice hockey returned to the area in early 2007 when Manchester Phoenix moved into the purpose-designed Altrincham Ice Dome in Altrincham. Their predecessor, Manchester Storm, went out of business in 2002 due to the overheads of staging matches in the 17,500 capacity Manchester Arena.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] County

• Redcliffe-Maud et al (June 1969). Royal Commission on Local Government in England 1966-1969, Volume I: Report (Cmnd. 4040). London: HMSO. 
• (1962) in Carter, Charles Frederick (ed): Manchester and its region : a survey prepared for the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science held in Manchester August 29 to September 5 1962. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 
• Williams, Mike; D A Farnie (1992). Cotton mills in Greater Manchester. Preston: Carnegie. ISBN 0-948789-69-7. 
• Singleton, John (1991). Lancashire on the scrapheap : the cotton industry 1945-1970. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-9210616. 
• Peck, Jamie; Kevin Ward (2002). City of revolution : restructuring Manchester. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-5888-0. 
• Redcliffe-Maud, John Primatt; Bruce Wood. English local government reformed. London: OUP. ISBN 0-19-885091-3. 

[edit] Governance

See also: List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester and List of civil parishes in Greater Manchester

[[Image:Gtr Man arms.png|thumb|right|The coat of arms of the former [[Greater Manchester County Council|Greater Manchester Council]], which was abolished in 1986]]

A three line summary, possibly to include reference to 1800s system, county boroughs, existence of multiple authorities, blah blah, increased travel

[edit] Development of the modern county

The Local Government Act 1958 designated the "South East Lancashire" area (which, despite its name, included part of north east Cheshire), a Special Review Area. The Local Government Commission for England presented draft recommendations in December 1965 proposing a new county based on the Manchester conurbation, with nine most-purpose boroughs corresponding to the modern Greater Manchester boroughs (excluding Wigan). The review was abolished in favour of the Royal Commission on Local Government before issuing a final report.^[1]

The Royal Commission's 1969 report, known as the Redcliffe-Maud Report, proposed removing much of the then existing system of local government. The commision described the system of administering urban and rural districts separately as outdated, noting that urban areas provided employment and services for rural dwellers, and open countryside was used by town dwellers for recreation. The commission considered interdependence of areas at many levels, including travel-to-work, provision of services, even which local papers were read. The report proposed the creation of a SELNEC Metropolitan area. The term SELNEC was already use as an abbreviation for south east Lancashire and north east Cheshire; Redcliffe-Maud modified this to south east Lancashire, north east and central Cheshire, noting "The choice even of a label of convenience for this metropolitan area is difficult".^[2] The area had roughly the same northern boundary as today's Greater Manchester (though included Rossendale), but covered much more territory from Cheshire (including Macclesfield, Warrington, Alderley Edge, Northwich, Middlewich, Wilmslow and Lymm), and Derbyshire (Glossop and Chapel-en-le-Frith—a minority report suggested that Buxton be included).^[1][2]The metropolitan area was to be divided into nine metropolitan districts, based on Wigan, Bolton, Bury/Rochdale, Warrington, Manchester (including Salford and Old Trafford), Oldham, Altrincham, Stockport and Tameside.^[1][2]

In 1969 a SELNEC Passenger Transport Authority was set up, which covered an area smaller than the proposed SELNEC, but different to the eventual Greater Manchester. Compared with the Redcliffe-Maud area it excluded Macclesfield, Warrington, and Knutsford, but included Glossop and Saddleworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It excluded Wigan, which was in both the Redcliffe-Maud area and in the eventual Greater Manchester (but had not been part of the SEL special review area).^[1]

Redcliffe-Maud's reccommendations were accepted by the Labour-controlled Government in February 1970.^[3] Although the Redcliffe-Maud Report was rejected by the Conservative government after the 1970 general election, there was a commitment to local government reform, and the need for a metropolitan county centred on the conurbation surrounding Manchester was accepted. The new government's original proposal was much smaller than the Redcliffe-Maud Report's SELNEC, with areas such as Warrington, Winsford, Northwich, Knutsford, Macclesfield and Glossop retained by their original counties to ensure their county councils had enough revenue to remain competitive (indeed, Cheshire CC would have ceased to exist ).^[1][3] Other late changes included the separation of the proposed Bury/Rochdale authority (retained from the Redcliffe-Maud report) into the Metropolitan Borough of Bury and the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. Bury and Rochdale were originally planned to form a single district (dubbed "Botchdale" by local MP Michael Fidler)^[4][5] but were divided into separate boroughs. To re-balance the districts, the borough of Rochdale took Middleton from Oldham.^[6] During the passage of the bill, the towns of Whitworth, Wilmslow, Poynton and Hale successfully objected to incorporation in the new county.^[3]

• Linking paragraph, or at least a decent sentence at the end of the lasty para, between proposals and what happened. So, where did the name come from?

The Local Government Act 1972 reformed local government in England and Wales by creating a system of two-tier metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties and districts throughout the country.^[7] The first elections to Greater Manchester County Council took place in 1973^[8] and Greater Manchester formally came into existence on on 1 April 1974. Frangopulo noted that "With the creation of the Greater Manchester county, came statutory recognition to what was already as a result of natural evolution, a distinct and recognised region, bound together by innumerable ties extending back over the centuries. Greater Manchester ... is the logical outcome of centuries of shared tradition."^[1] Greater Manchester is the largest of the metropolitan counties by number of boroughs. Greater Manchester is today made up of some 70 former local authority areas from the former county boundaries.^[1]

Relations between the Conservative government and the (mainly Labour-controlled) metropolitan authorities deteriorated in the early 1980s. Metropolitan councils, with considerable spending power, opposed many of the government's policies. While never at the heart of the so-called loony left, Manchester City Council espoused several New Urban Left policies, including the setting up of the UK's first nuclear-free city.^[9][10] The Conservative Party made a commitment in its 1983 election manaifest to abolish the larger authorities, and all metropolitan county councils, including Greater Manchester County Council, were abolished on 31 March 1986 under the Local Government Act 1985.^[11] The functions of the council were devolved to the ten metropolitan district councils and joint boards. The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) was established to continue many of the county-wide services of the county council.^[12] The joint boards took on seventy percent of the county council's expenditure.^[9]

The metropolitan county continues to exist in law, and as a geographic frame of reference,^[13] for example as a NUTS 2 administrative division for statistical purposes within the European Union.^[14] Greater Manchester became a ceremonial county as a result of the Lieutenancies Act 1997 on 1 July 1997.

Unlike most other modern counties (including Merseyside and Tyne and Wear), Greater Manchester was never adopted as a postal county by the Royal Mail. A review in 1973 noted that "Greater Manchester" would be unlikely to be adopted because of confusion with the Manchester post town.^[15] And so the component areas of Greater Manchester held on to their pre-1974 postal counties until 1996, when they were abolished.

[edit] Modern governance

Greater Manchester is divided into 28 parliamentary constituencies – 18 borough constituencies and 10 county constituencies. Most seats are held by the Labour party, and the area is generally considered a Labour stronghold.^[16][17] Since the 2005 General Election twenty-three constituencies have been held by Labour, compared with four by the Liberal Democrats, and one by the Conservatives.

Local government is provided by the councils of ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, the City of Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, the City of Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. Each metropolitan borough comprises a large town (usually a county borough before 1974) together with the surrounding smaller towns, villages and countryside. Most of the names are self explanatory, for example the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is centred on the town of Stockport and includes smaller towns such as Cheadle, Gatley, and Bramhall.^[18] Tameside and Trafford (centred on Ashton-under-Lyne and Stretford respectively) were given neutral names because, at the time they were created, there was no agreement on the town to be put forward as the administrative centre and neither had a county borough.^[18]

Although the county council has been abolished, a number of local government functions take place at county level through the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) and statutory joint boards made up of councillors appointed from each borough. The AGMA develops a co-ordinated approach to issues such as local transport,^[19] and funds some bodies such as the Greater Manchester County Records Office. Services provided by joint boards include: public transport, planned and coordinated by Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE); fire cover, provided by the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service; policing, by Greater Manchester Police overseen by a joint police authority; and waste disposal, provided by the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (Wigan MB makes its own arrangements). Manchester Airport Group, which controls Manchester Airport and three other UK airports, is jointly owned by the boroughs. Other services are directly funded and managed by the local councils. At the lowest level of government, there are fifteen civil parishes in the county, with a total population of just over 100,000.

Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county with its own Lord-Lieutenant, the personal representative of the monarch. The first Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester was Sir William Downward who held the title from 1974 to 1988.^[20] The current Lord Lieutenant is Warren James Smith.^[21] Unusually, the Lord-Lieutenant and High Sherriff of Greater Manchester are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster rather than the recommendation of the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. This is a consequence of the Local Government Act 1972, which provided that the new metropolitan county be included in the Duchy of Lancaster – extending the duchy to areas formerly in the counties of Cheshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Possible future changes

In 1998, the people of Greater London voted in a referendum in favour of establishing a new Greater London Assembly, with mayor and an elected chamber for the county.^[22] Her Majesty's Government has outlined similar proposals for metropolitan counties, including Greater Manchester.^[22] The New Local Government Network has proposed the creation of a new "city region" based on Greater Manchester and other metropolitan counties as part of on-going reform efforts, while a report released by the Institute for Public Policy Research's Centre for Cities has proposed the creation of two large city-regions based on Manchester and Birmingham. In July 2007, The Treasury published its Review of sub-national economic development and regeneration, which stated that the government would allow those city regions that wished to work together to form a statutory framework for city regional activity, including powers over transport, skills, planning and economic development.^[23] AGMA has also suggested that a formal government structure be created to cover the whole city region.^[24]