Greater Manchester County Council
Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox legislature The Greater Manchester County Council (GMCC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater Manchester from 1974 to 1986. A strategic authority, with responsibilities for roads, public transport, planning, emergency services and waste disposal, it was composed of 106 directly elected members drawn from the ten metropolitan boroughs of Greater Manchester. The Greater Manchester County Council shared power with ten lower-tier district councils, each of which directed local matters.<ref name="RMBC65"/> It was also known as the Greater Manchester Council (GMC) and the Greater Manchester Metropolitan County Council (GMMCC).<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>
Established with reference to the Local Government Act 1972, elections in 1973 brought about the county council's launch as a shadow authority, several months before Greater Manchester (its zone of influence) was officially created on 1 April 1974. The Greater Manchester County Council operated from its County Hall headquarters on Portland Street in central Manchester, until it was abolished 31 March 1986, following the Local Government Act 1985. Its powers were passed to the ten district councils of Greater Manchester, which had shared power with the GMCC. Some powers of the county council were restored when the district councils delegated strategic responsibilities (such as emergency services and public transport) to the county-wide Association of Greater Manchester Authorities and joint boards.
History
Creation
Template:Further The Local Government Act 1972 reformed local government in England by creating a system of two-tier metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties and districts throughout the country.<ref name=LGFSE16>Template:Cite web Retrieved on 21 February 2008.</ref> The act formally established Greater Manchester as a metropolitan county on 1 April 1974. The first election for the Greater Manchester County Council (GMCC) was held in 1973, operating as a shadow authority alongside the old councils until it formally assumed its powers on 1 April 1974.<ref name="1973 Elections">Template:Cite web retrieved on 5 March 2008.</ref> The leading article in The Times on the day the Local Government Act came into effect noted that the "new arrangement is a compromise which seeks to reconcile familiar geography which commands a certain amount of affection and loyalty, with the scale of operations on which modern planning methods can work effectively".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Operational history
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By January 1974, a joint working party representing Greater Manchester had drawn up its county Structure Plan, ready for implementation by the Greater Manchester County Council. The plan set out strategic and long-term objectives for the forthcoming metropolitan county.<ref>Frangopulo (1977), p. 246.</ref> The highest priority was to increase the quality of life for its inhabitants by way of improving the county's physical environment and cultural facilities which had suffered following deindustrialisation—much of Greater Manchester's basic infrastructure dated from its 19th-century industrial growth, and was unsuited to modern communication systems and life-styles.<ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref> Other objectives were to reverse the trend of depopulation in central-Greater Manchester, to invest in the county's country parks to improve the region's poor reputation on leisure and recreational facilities, and to improve the county's transport infrastructure and journey to work patterns.<ref>Frangopulo (1977), pp. 246–255.</ref>
Because of political objection, particularly from Cheshire, Greater Manchester covered only the inner, urban 62 of the 90 former districts that the Royal Commission had outlined as an effective administrative metropolitan area.<ref name="Wannop">Template:Harvnb.</ref> In this capacity, GMCC found itself "planning for an arbitrary metropolitan area ... abruptly truncated to the south", and so had to negotiate several land-use, transport and housing projects with its neighbouring county councils.<ref name="Wannop"/> However a "major programme of environmental action" by GMCC broadly succeeded in reversing social deprivation in its inner city slums.<ref name="Wannop"/> Leisure and recreational successes included the Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre (better known as the G-Mex centre and now branded Manchester Central), a converted former railway station in Manchester city centre used for cultural events,<ref>Parkinson-Bailey (2000), pp. 214–5.</ref> and GMCC's creation of five new country parks within its boundaries.<ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref> Greater Manchester Transport was established from the former SELNEC PTE to operate the county's public transport.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
GMCC was, however, criticised for being too Manchester-centric by representatives from the outer suburbs.<ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref>
Abolition
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A decade after they were established, the mostly Labour-controlled metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council (GLC) had several high-profile clashes with the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher, with regard to overspending and high rates charging. Government policy on the issue was considered throughout 1982, and the Conservative Party put a "promise to scrap the metropolitan county councils" and the GLC, in their manifesto for the 1983 general election.<ref name="UK61">Template:Harvnb.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news
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•Template:Cite news</ref> Greater Manchester County Council was abolished on 31 March 1986 under the Local Government Act 1985. That the metropolitan county councils were controlled by the Labour Party led to accusations that their abolition was motivated by party politics:<ref name="UK61"/> the general secretary of the National Association of Local Government Officers described it as a "completely cynical manoeuvre".<ref name=angry_reaction>Template:Cite news</ref> Most of the functions of GMCC were devolved to the ten Greater Manchester metropolitan district councils, though some functions such as emergency services and public transport were taken over by joint boards and continued to be run on a county-wide basis.<ref name="UK62">Template:Harvnb.</ref> The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) was established to continue much of the county-wide services of the county council.<ref>Template:Cite web Retrieved on 5 March 2008.</ref> The metropolitan county continued to exist in law, and as a geographic frame of reference,<ref name="geographic frame of reference"/> for example as a NUTS 2 administrative division for statistical purposes within the European Union.<ref>Template:Cite web Retrieved on 17 February 2007.</ref>
Aftermath
Although the metropolitan county council was abolished in 1986, the county area continues to exist, for Parliamentary representation, in mapping, and especially for statistical purposes.<ref name="geographic frame of reference"/> The county continues to exist today as both a legal and geographic entity,<ref name="geographic frame of reference">Template:Cite web
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•Template:Cite web</ref> and has its own Lord Lieutenant (the Monarch's representative in a county) and High Sheriff.
The last leader of Greater Manchester County Council, Bernard Clarke, became the manager of the YMCA's Training for Life project and a director of Manchester Travel Services and of Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry.<ref name=evans/> The county council's last Chief executive, Tony Harrison, a solicitor, remained Clerk to the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester after abolition and became a director of various companies. In February 1992, wrongly believing he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, 61-year-old Harrison committed suicide.<ref name=evans/>
In March 2010, following the active pursuit of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, it was agreed by the government of the United Kingdom and the ten district councils of Greater Manchester that there should be a return to a statutory, two-tiered system of local governance for Greater Manchester. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority was agreed upon to strategically govern Greater Manchester from 1 April 2011. It consists of eleven members: ten indirectly elected members, each a directly elected councillor from one of the ten metropolitan boroughs that comprise Greater Manchester and elected Mayor of Greater Manchester who chairs the Authority. The authority will derive most of its powers from the Local Government Act 2000 and Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009.<ref name=GMCA1>Template:Cite web</ref>
Powers and composition
The Greater Manchester County Council was a strategic authority running regional services such as public transport, health provision, planning and emergency services. It served to provide a strategic regional framework within which the differing plans of its ten metropolitan borough councils could be harmonised.<ref name="RMBC65">Template:Cite book</ref>
Premises
The council established its main offices at a newly-built office block on Portland Street in Manchester city centre, which had been speculatively built between 1971 and 1973 as an investment property for Hambro Life at a cost of £4.5 million (£Template:Inflation as of Template:Inflation/year).Template:Inflation-fn<ref name="RMBC65"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The building was initially called the Portland Centre by its developers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The county council took a lease of the building, taking possession in January 1974, and renamed it County Hall.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The council later bought the building. There was no council chamber at County Hall, so full council meetings were held at Manchester Town Hall.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=evans/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
After the council's abolition, County Hall was sold to Parc Securities in 1988 for an undisclosed sum, believed to be between £5 and £6 million, and refurbished for offices. County Hall Properties bought the structure from Parc two years later and renamed it Westminster House, possibly alluding to the government that abolished the Greater Manchester County Council; the managing director of County Hall (Manchester) Management, the former GMCC economic development chief and former Parc consultant Leslie Boardman, declined to disclose the purchase price in 1992, but press reports put it at about £22 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=evans/> The seven-storey building became used by the Halifax and Chelsea building societies, the AGF and Scottish Amicable insurance companies, and the German consulate.<ref name=evans>Template:Cite web</ref>
Political control
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 1986 was as follows:<ref name=compositions>Template:Cite web (Put "Greater Manchester" in search box to see specific results.)</ref>
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Party name with colour | 1974–1977 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1977–1981 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1981–1986 | |
Leadership
The first leader of the council, Bob Thomas, was formerly leader of Manchester City Council.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The leaders of the council were:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Thomas<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 1 Apr 1974 | May 1977 | |
| Arnold Fieldhouse<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | May 1977 | May 1981 | |
| Bernard Clarke<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | May 1981 | 31 Mar 1986 | |
Council elections
Elections were held to the Greater Manchester County Council three times, in 1973, 1977, and 1981.
| Year | Conservative | Labour | Liberal | Independent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="background:Template:Party color"| | style="background:Template:Party color"| | style="background:Template:Party color"| | style="background:Template:Party color"| | |
| 1973<ref>"Composition of the councils: GREATER MANCHESTER." The Guardian (1959–2003) 14 April 1973, ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Guardian and The Observer (1791–2003), ProQuest. Web. 5 April 2010.</ref> | 23 | 69 | 13 | 1 |
| 1977<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | 82 | 23 | 0 | 1 |
| 1981<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | 19 | 78 | 9 | 0 |
| style="background:Template:Party color"| | style="background:Template:Party color"| | style="background:Template:Party color"| | style="background:Template:Party color"| |
Elections were due to be held in 1985 but these were cancelled due to the council's impending abolition. Those councillors elected in 1981 had their terms of office extended until the council's abolition on 31 March 1986.<ref>Local Government (Interim Provisions) Act 1984, s. 2.</ref>
Coat of arms
The coat of arms granted by the College of Arms to the Greater Manchester Council are described as:<ref>Frangopulo (1977), preface.</ref>
See also
Notes
References
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