Sister cities of Borough of Halton

Halton is a local government district in North West England, with borough status and administered by a unitary authority. It was created in 1974 as a district of Cheshire, and became a unitary authority area on 1 April 1998. It consists of the towns of Widnes and Runcorn and the civil parishes of Hale, Daresbury, Moore, Preston Brook, Halebank and Sandymoor. The district borders Merseyside, Warrington and Cheshire West and Chester. The borough straddles the River Mersey - the area to the north (including Widnes) is historically part of Lancashire, that to the south (including Runcorn) part of Cheshire.

Although Halton town dates back to the 12th century (and beyond) when land on both sides of the river belonged to the Barony of Halton, the origin of the District Council was the outcome of the local government commission's suggested reforms of England, in 1969, the Redcliffe-Maud Report. This proposed to create metropolitan counties constituted of Metropolitan District Councils in the most urbanised parts of England. The model was that of the London Boroughs and Greater London Council formed in 1965. South Lancashire and North Cheshire were two of these and two new Metropolitan Counties were to be formed around Liverpool (as Merseyside) and Manchester/Salford (as Greater Manchester .) however, the towns of Widnes and Runcorn (and the County Borough of Warrington) which lay between these were reluctant to join either. The Commission agreed that the Halton group and Warrington were to become District Councils within Cheshire, as they were detached from Lancashire by the two new Metropolitan Counties controlling the territory to the north. However, the Metropolitan Counties lost their county councils (along with the GLC) in 1986 and any remaining powers were devolved to the constituent Metropolitan Districts which cooperated over joint police authorities and fire services.

The district was formally established on 1 April 1974 from Runcorn urban district and part of Runcorn Rural District from Cheshire, and the borough Widnes and the parish of Hale from the Whiston Rural District in Lancashire. On 1 April 1998 Halton became an independent unitary authority, though it is still served by Cheshire Police and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, and forms part of Cheshire for ceremonial purposes, such as the Lord Lieutenancy.

In January 2009 an agreement was made that Halton will join the local authorities of Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, Knowsley and St Helens, the five MDCs which constitute the Merseyside County, to form the Liverpool City Region. This effectively reverses the position adopted in the 1970s which created it as an anomaly. As a Unitary Authority its status is the same as the MDCs.