Metropolitan Borough of Bolton

For the main settlement, see Bolton.

Metropolitan Borough of Bolton
—  Metropolitan borough  —
Bolton Town Hall, the seat of Bolton's borough council
Coat of Arms of the Metropolitan Borough Council
Motto: "Supera Moras" (Latin: "Overcome delays")
Bolton shown within England
Coordinates: 53°34′53″N 2°25′47″W / 53.58139°N 2.42972°W / 53.58139; -2.42972
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)
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]

History

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:

• the Municipal Borough of Farnworth
• the Urban district of Horwich
• the Urban district of Westhoughton
• the Urban district of Blackrod
• the Urban district of Kearsley
• the Urban district of Little Lever
• the southern part of the Urban district of Turton, specifically the villages of Bradshaw, Bromley Cross, Dunscar, Egerton and Harwood. This area is now known as South Turton.

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]

Parishes

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.

Demographics

According to the 2009 estimates,^[3] of the 265,100 people living in Bolton Metropolitan Borough, the following ethnicities have been recorded:

• 88.0% White
  • 85.9% White British
  • 1.2% Other White
  • 0.8% White Irish

• 9.3% South Asian
  • 5.9% Indian
  • 2.7% Pakistani
  • 0.5% Other South Asian
  • 0.2% Bangladeshi

• 1.2% Mixed Race
  • 0.5% White and Asian
  • 0.4% White and Black Caribbean
  • 0.2% White and Black African
  • 0.2% Other Mixed

• 1.0% Black
  • 0.6% Black African
  • 0.4% Black Caribbean
  • 0.1% Other Black

• 0.6% Other
  • 0.3% Chinese
  • 0.3% Other

Population change

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]

Transport

The Bolton metropolitan area is served by the following railway stations:

• Bolton Trinity Street - a town-centre transport interchange
• Bromley Cross
• Hall i' th' Wood
• Blackrod
• Horwich Parkway (for the Reebok Stadium - Bolton Wanderers FC)
• Lostock
• Westhoughton
• Moses Gate
• Farnworth
• Kearsley
• Daisy Hill

Education

See also: List of schools in Bolton

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]

GCSE Examination Performance 2009

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

• The table on the left shows the percentage of students gaining five A* to C grades, including English and Maths, for secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton.
• The table on the right shows the Average Total Point Score per Student for secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton.
• Schools highlighted in yellow are above the LEA average; those highlighted in orange are below the average.
• Another secondary school, Bolton Muslim Girls' School, has opened since January 2007; no results are available.
• Source: Department for Children, Schools and Families

Leaders of Bolton Council

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)
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)

Twin towns

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

Neighbouring districts

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
	Metropolitan Borough of Bolton
South-West: Metropolitan Borough of Wigan		South-East: City of Salford

See also

Greater Manchester portal

• Bolton local elections
• List of Mayors of Bolton
• List of people from Bolton

References

1. ^ "About Bolton". Bolton Revisted. http://www.boltonrevisited.org.uk/a-about-bolton.html. Retrieved 2008-12-02. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "It’s still worth trying again for city status". theboltonnews.co.uk. 2011-01-17. http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/comment/boltoncolumnists/8794606.It___s_still_worth_trying_again_for_city_status/. Retrieved 2011-01=20. 
3. ^ 2009 Mid Year Estimates – Table 9 ONS, http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=15106, retrieved 2010-09-09 
4. ^ "Bolton District: total population". Vision of Britain. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10057061&c_id=10001043&add=N.  Retrieved on 20 December 2008.
5. ^ "LEA SATs performance". London: BBC Online. 2007-12-06. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7130024.stm. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
6. ^ "How different LEAs performed". London: BBC Online. 2008-01-10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7180228.stm. Retrieved 2008-01-23. 
7. ^ "Secondary schools in Bolton". London: BBC Online. 2008-01-10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/07/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/350_6017.stm. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
8. ^ "Secondary schools in Bolton: GCSE-level". London: BBC Online. 2008-01-10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/07/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/350_gcse_lea.stm. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
9. ^ "The University of Bolton". Times Online: Good University Guide website. London: Times Online (Times Newspapers Ltd). 2007-08-15. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/good_university_guide/article2102878.ece. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
10. ^ "University of Bolton". The Sunday Times University Guide website. London: The Sunday Times (Times Newspapers Ltd). 2007-09-23. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/sunday_times_university_guide/article2490058.ece. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
11. ^ Bolton Council : Town Twinning retrieved 8 January 2010
12. ^ Bolton Council : Twinning Reciprocal Links with Zhaoqing Retrieved 8 January 2010

Coordinates: 53°34′39″N 2°25′48″W / 53.5775°N 2.43°W / 53.5775; -2.43