| Metropolitan Borough of Bolton | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Metropolitan borough — | |||
| Bolton Town Hall, the seat of Bolton's borough council | |||
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| Motto: "Supera Moras" (Latin: "Overcome delays") |
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| Bolton shown within England | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom | ||
| Constituent country | England | ||
| Region | North West England | ||
| Ceremonial county | Greater Manchester | ||
| Admin HQ | Bolton Town Hall | ||
| Founded | 1 April 1974 | ||
| Borough status | |||
| Government | |||
| • Type | Metropolitan borough | ||
| • Governing body | Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council | ||
| • Mayor: | Cllr. John Byrne (L) | ||
| • Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet | ||
| • Leader: | Cllr. Cliff Morris (L) | ||
| • MPs: | David Crausby (L) Yasmin Qureshi (L) Julie Hilling (L) |
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| Area | |||
| • Total | 54 sq mi (139.80 km2) | ||
| Population (2010 est.) | |||
| • Total | 266,500 (Ranked 39th) | ||
| • Density | 4,861.4/sq mi (1,877/km2) | ||
| Time zone | Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0) | ||
| Postcode areas | BL1-BL7, M26 | ||
| Area code(s) | 01204, 01942, 0161 | ||
| Twin cities | |||
| • Le Mans | France | ||
| • Paderborn | Germany | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | GB-BOL | ||
| ONS code | 00BL | ||
| OS grid reference | SD715095 | ||
| NUTS 3 | UKD32 | ||
| Website | www.bolton.gov.uk | ||
The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Bolton, but covers a far larger area which includes Blackrod, Farnworth, Horwich, Kearsley and Westhoughton, and a suburban and rural element from the West Pennine Moors. The borough has a population of 262,800, and is administered from Bolton Town Hall.
The boundaries the Bolton metropolitan district were set as part of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, and cover an amalgamation of eight former local government districts; seven Urban Districts from the administrative county of Lancashire, and the County Borough of Bolton. The metropolitan districts of Bury, Salford and Wigan lie to the east, south and west respectively; and the non-metropolitan districts of Blackburn with Darwen and Chorley in Lancashire lie to the north and north-west.
The Arms of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council are a pun on the word Bolton, as they depict an arrow (a "bolt") passing through a crown (a "tun").[1]
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The metropolitan borough was formed on 1 April 1974, by the merger of the County Borough of Bolton and the following districts from the administrative county of Lancashire:
Bolton Council unsuccessfully petitioned Queen Elizabeth II for the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton to be granted city status in 1992 (the Queen’s 40th year as monarch), in 2000 (for the Millennium celebrations) and in 2002 (Queen’s Golden Jubilee).[2] It plans to compete for the borough to become the City of Bolton for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012, and join Manchester and Salford as the third city in Greater Manchester.[2]
Horwich, Westhoughton and Blackrod are now constituted as civil parishes. There are three town councils in the metropolitan borough, Westhoughton Town Council, Horwich Town Council and Blackrod Town Council. The rest of the metropolitan borough, Bolton, Farnworth, Kearsley, Little Lever, and South Turton, have remained unparished areas since 1974.
According to the 2009 estimates,[3] of the 265,100 people living in Bolton Metropolitan Borough, the following ethnicities have been recorded:
The table below details the population change since 1801, including the percentage change since the last available census data. Although the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton has only existed since 1974, figures have been generated by combining data from the towns, villages, and civil parishes that would later be constituent parts of the borough.
| Population growth in Bolton since 1801 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Population | % change | Year | Population | % change | Year | Population | % change | ||
| 1801 | 37,417 | – | 1871 | 158,917 | +20.0 | 1941 | 256,207 | −1.9 | ||
| 1811 | 48,996 | +30.9 | 1881 | 185,397 | +16.7 | 1951 | 251,388 | −1.9 | ||
| 1821 | 60,319 | +23.1 | 1891 | 216,792 | +16.9 | 1961 | 255,627 | +1.7 | ||
| 1831 | 75,787 | +25.6 | 1901 | 240,014 | +10.7 | 1971 | 259,993 | +1.7 | ||
| 1841 | 89,507 | +18.1 | 1911 | 265,733 | +10.7 | 1981 | 260,229 | +0.1 | ||
| 1851 | 105,957 | +18.4 | 1921 | 263,413 | −0.9 | 1991 | 262,880 | +1.0 | ||
| 1861 | 132,437 | +25.0 | 1931 | 261,119 | −0.9 | 2001 | 261,035 | −0.7 | ||
| Source: Vision of Britain[4] | ||||||||||
The Bolton metropolitan area is served by the following railway stations:
In 2007, Bolton was ranked 69th out of the 149 Local Education Authorities — and sixth out of ten in Greater Manchester — for its National Curriculum assessment performance.[5] Measured on the percentage of pupils attaining at least 5 A*–C grades at GCSE including maths and English, the Bolton LEA was 111th out of 149: 40.1% of pupils achieved this objective, against a national average of 46.7%.[6] Unauthorised absence from Bolton's secondary schools in the 2006/2007 academic year was 1.4%, in line with the national average, and authorised absence was 6.0% against the national average of 6.4%.[7] At GCSE level, Bolton School (Girls' Division) was the most successful of Bolton's 21 secondary schools, with 99% of pupils achieving at least 5 A*–C grades at including maths and English.[8]
The University of Bolton is one of Greater Manchester's four universities. In 2008, The Times Good University Guide ranked it 111th of 113 institutions in Britain.[9] There are 4,440 students (83% undergraduate, 17% postgraduate); 2.6% come from outside Britain. In 2007 there were 8.8 applications for every place, and student satisfaction was recorded as 74.4%. It is one of Britain's newest universities, having been given this status in 2005.[10]
| School | A*-C Pass Rate |
Point Score |
|---|---|---|
| Bolton Muslim Girls' School | 100% | 533.1 |
| Bolton School (Girls' Division) | 98% | 546.7 |
| Canon Slade C of E School | 93% | 508.5 |
| Lord's Independent School | 93% | 401.5 |
| St Joseph's RC High School and Sports College | 85% | 426.6 |
| Madrasatul Imam Muhammed Zakariya | 79% | 347.3 |
| Al Jamiah Al Islamiyyah at Mount St Joseph's Convent | 79% | 327.9 |
| Ladybridge High School | 78% | 437.6 |
| Turton High School Media Arts College | 76% | 396.1 |
| Sharples School | 74% | 414.1 |
| Westhoughton High School | 67% | 424.0 |
| Rivington and Blackrod High School | 69% | 456.7 |
| Essa Academy | 67% | 383.7 |
| Smithills School | 66% | 400.8 |
| Little Lever Specialist Language College | 61% | 442.7 |
| Mount St Joseph Business and Enterprise College | 61% | 422.7 |
| Harper Green School | 59% | 384.7 |
| George Tomlinson School | 55% | 307.4 |
| Bolton School (Boys' Division) | 52% | 240.4 |
| Average for Metropolitan Borough of Bolton | 71.4% | 422.5 |
| Average for England | 70.0% | 413.5 |
| Leaders of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Leader | Period of office | Political party | Notes | |
| 1 | John Hanscomb | 1973–1980 | Conservative | Chairman and Transitional Mayor of Bolton (1973–1974) and ceremonial Mayor of Bolton (1982–1983) |
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| 2 | Robert Howarth | 1980–2004 | Labour | MP for Bolton East (1964–1970) | |
| 3 | Barbara Ronson | 2004–2006 | Liberal Democrat | Mayor of Horwich (1996–1997) and Mayor of Bolton (2007–2008) | |
| 4 | Clifford Morris | 2006–present | Labour | Mayor of Bolton (2003–2004) | |
The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton has two twin towns, one in France and another in Germany.[11] It also has twinning reciprocal links with a city in China.[12]
| Country | Place | County / District / Region / State | Originally twinned with | Date | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | Le Mans | Pays de la Loire | County Borough of Bolton | 1973 | |||
| Germany | Paderborn | Nordrhein-Westfalen | Metropolitan Borough of Bolton | 1975 | |||
| China | Zhaoqing | Guangdong | Metropolitan Borough of Bolton | 2005 |
| The local government districts which surround the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North-West: Borough of Chorley |
North: Borough of Blackburn with Darwen |
North-East and East: Metropolitan Borough of Bury |
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Metropolitan Borough of Bolton |
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| South-West: Metropolitan Borough of Wigan |
South-East: City of Salford |
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