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The metropolitan district of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in North East, England was created in 1974 by the merger of several districts of the traditional county of Durham. It was granted city status in 1992, the fortieth anniversary of the Queen's accession. At the Queen's Golden Jubilee the city petitioned to be allowed a Lord Mayor, but was unsuccessful. The city includes the former county borough of Sunderland as well as Washington, along with Houghton-le-Spring and Hetton-le-Hole. The city is unparished, except that Hetton-le-Hole is a civil parish, and has a town council. The city has a combined population of 280,807 (2001 Census) (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/00cm.asp), making it the largest in North East England. The people of Sunderland are known as Mackems HMS Ocean, the Royal Navy's biggest warship, is Sunderland's adopted ship. In March 2004 it was granted the freedom of the City. St Benedict Biscop was adopted as the City's Patron Saint in March 2004. Sunderland's Twin Cities Are:
City GovernmentBoundary Review 2004Like all authorities in metropolitan counties, the city is divided into a number of wards or electoral districts, each with 3 councillors elected for a four-year term. One third of councillors face re-election each year, no elections are held in the fourth year of the election cycle. This was when the ward's sole metropolitan county councillor was elected prior to the councils' abolition in 1986. The City has 25 such wards. When the boundaries of these wards were set in 1982, each ward had a roughly equal population. By 2004 there had been a considerable shift in population. In particular, the east and south east – the old parish of Sunderland and the mining village of Ryhope had lost population to the "New Town" of Washington. As a result the boundaries were redrawn. Sunderland lost one ward and Washington gained one. Elections for all 75 councillors were held on 10 June 2004. FunctionsThe Local Government Act of 1972 created two different two-tier systems for local administration. The division of functions within the two systems was different. As a metropolitan authority Sunderland retained responsibility for waste collection, although disposal of the garbage was a county function. Sunderland also remained responsible for education in the area. In 1986 when Tyne and Wear County Council was abolished most county functions became the responsibility of the constituent districts whilst new joint boards assumed the co-ordinating roles of the county. Thus control over economic development across the county, of the Museums and Archive Service, of the Tyne and Wear Fire and Civil Defence Authority and of the Passenger Transport Authority is exercised not by committees of directly elected county councillors but by nominees chosen by the elected members of the five district authorities. Sunderland has not had a discrete police force since 1967, when the Borough Sunderland Police merged with Durham Constabulary. The City is now part of the Northumbria Police Force area. This force was set up in 1974, and covers the whole of Tyne and Wear plus the much larger larger but much less densely populated county of Northumberland. Political StructureThe City has always had a Labour controlled council since 1974, and often before that. After the elections of May 2003 the political structure was 63 Labour, 9 Conservative, and 1 independent. The only Liberal Party councillor sits with the only Liberal Democrat as a "Liberal/Democrat" group. Three Councillors resigned from the Labour Party following disputes over the selection of candidates for the 2004 elections. Two became independent members; one joined the Liberal Democrat party. The election of 10 June 2004 saw little change in the City, as a whole, 61 Labour, 12 Conservative, and 2 different Liberal Democrat councillors. Education
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