The Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region is a

combined authority A combined authority is a type of local government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. Combined authorities are created voluntarily and allow a grou ...

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

or 'metro mayor', who chairs the

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) is the combined authority of the Liverpool City Region. The Liverpool City Region includes the City of Liverpool local authority area plus the Metropolitan Boroughs of Knowsley, St Helens, ...

. The first, and current, officeholder is

Steve Rotheram Steven Philip Rotheram (born 4 November 1961) is a British Labour Party politician who is the Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region. He previously served as the MP for Liverpool Walton from 2010 to 2017. Rotheram was born in Liverpool an ...

, who was elected to the post in May 2017. The office was created under the

Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 (c. 1) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom designed to introduce directly elected mayors to combined local authorities in England and Wales and to devolve housing, transport, pla ...

which allowed for the creation of 'Metro mayors' to lead combined authorities in England.

Powers and responsibilities

The Metro Mayor handles a £30 million a year budget, ear-marked for 30 years from 2017 as well as being in control of a consolidated transport budget, coordinating economic development in the region, the adult skills budget and strategic planning for land and other roles. Currently, unlike the Mayors of

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

the metro mayor of the Liverpool City Region doesn't incorporate the powers of the Police and crime commissioner role for the relevant police constabulary (the

Merseyside Police Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The service area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million. As of September 2017 the service has 3,484 police of ...

). In March 2019 Steve Rotheram requested to the government that the role be incorporated into the role of the Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, in line with the powers of these mayors. This was supported by the leader of

Knowsley Borough Council Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in Merseyside and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, a ...

. However, the Liverpool City Region is not the same area as the Merseyside Police area, which does not include Halton.

References

{{Combined authorities

Liverpool City Region The Liverpool City Region is a combined authority region of England, centred on Liverpool, incorporating the local authority district boroughs of Halton, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, and Wirral. The region is in the historic counties of ...

Local government in Merseyside Directly elected mayors in England and Wales