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Humberside was a non-metropolitan county of England from April 1, 1974 until April 1, 1996. It was composed of two halves either side of the Humber estuary, created using part of the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, Parts of Lindsey. Its county town was Beverley and its largest settlement and only city Kingston upon Hull.

It was divided into several non-metropolitan districts – Beverley, Boothferry, Cleethorpes, East Yorkshire, Glanford, Great Grimsby, Holderness and Scunthorpe.

It bordered North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire to the south-west, and Lincolnshire to the south. It faced east towards the North Sea.

In local government terms it was abolished on April 1, 1996, with four unitary authorities being formed: North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, Kingston upon Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire. The name has continued in use as a geographic term and in names of institutions such as Humberside Police and BBC Radio Humberside (which predated the formation of Humberside as an administrative unit). In its time it was credited as being the country's most efficiently run council.

Formation

It was created by the Local Government Act 1972 on April 1, 1974. It covered the former county boroughs of Grimsby and Kingston upon Hull. From Lindsey it incorporated the boroughs of Cleethorpes, Scunthorpe the urban districts of Barton-upon-Humber and Brigg, and the rural districts of Glanford Brigg, Grimsby and Isle of Axholme. From the East Riding it took the boroughs of Beverley, Bridlington, Hedon the urban districts of Driffield, Haltemprice, Hornsea and Withernsea, and the rural districts of Beverley, Bridlington (part), Driffield, Holderness, Howden, Pocklington. From the West Riding it took both the borough of Goole and the rural district of Goole.

In the Redcliffe-Maud Report no directly-analogous area had been proposed, with the part north of the Humber constituting of one unitary authority, and the part south of it constituting another. The White Paper as proposed did not include a cross-Humber authority, either. Humberside finally emerged in the Local Government Bill as introduced to Parliament, which also gave it its name for the first time.

At this time, there was very little connecting its two parts, aside from ferries and a circuitous journey via Goole (a road journey from Grimsby to Beverley, the headquarters, being something just under 100 miles). It was promised by the government that the Humber Bridge would make it a more viable unit. The opening of the Bridge on 24 June, 1981 provided a permanent link between North and South (and cut the journey from Grimsby to Beverley to a mere 30 or so miles) but did not secure Humberside's future.

Abolition

Humberside was not well-loved, and to quote James Cran (MP for Beverley, "almost the day after the decision was announced, a campaign began to have Humberside abolished" http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199394/cmhansrd/1994-05-26/Debate-6.html . North Wolds District Council changed its name to East Yorkshire District Council, likely to emphasise this, and Beverley Borough Council formally included 'East Yorkshire' in its name. According to Cran there was a campaign in 1987 to get Humberside County Council to change its name to something like 'East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire'. The Royal Mail adopted North Humberside and South Humberside as postal counties.

The Local Government Boundary Commission reviewed the existence of Humberside from 1985 to 1988, but found that "that Humberside County Council could not be shown to have failed". The Secretary of State for the Environment called for a further review in 1989, which ultimately resulted in a proposal made in November 1990, to transfer the four districts south of the Humber to the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire (which would have left the remaining part north of the Humber free to change its name to include Yorkshire). http://www.ndad.nationalarchives.gov.uk/CRDA/72/detail.html A report prepared for the LGBC in 1990 indicated that 63% of respondents thought that the creation of Humberside was "bad", 14% that it was "good") http://www.ndad.nationalarchives.gov.uk/CRDA/72/DD/1/1/image/scanned/p37@42.png

However, before this could be implemented, a general local government review for England was announced. This was being conducted with an eye to creating unitary authorities, and Humberside was one of the areas that the Commission was expecting "early wins" in, and was in the first tranche of reviews. The Commission recommended it and its districts be abolished and replaced with four unitary authorities, which the government accepted. The Order to do so was debated in the House of Commons on February 28, 1995, and in the House of Lords on March 6, 1995, and came into effect on April 1, 1996. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199495/ldhansrd/vo950306/text/50306-07.htm

This resulted in four successor unitary authorities:

* Kingston-upon-Hull
* East Riding of Yorkshire: Beverley, East Yorkshire, Holderness, and northern Boothferry
* North Lincolnshire: Glanford, Scunthorpe and southern Boothferry
* North East Lincolnshire: Great Grimsby, Cleethorpes

There was some debate as to whether the Goole area (historically part of the West Riding) should continue with the East Riding authority or whether it should be joined with possibly the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster or the District of Selby. There were also questions raised by the Opposition about whether the boundaries of Hull should be expanded from their present boundaries (which had been set many decades ago and not altered, despite continuous urbanisation outside these borders).

Michael Brown the Conservative MP for Brigg and Cleethorpes, was particularly vociferous in support of the Order, saying 'I want to see the word "Humberside" expunged from the English language' in the debate regarding its abolition. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199495/cmhansrd/1995-02-28/Debate-13.html

There were to be heard few voices in its defence. Elliot Morley, Labour MP for Glanford and Scunthorpe claimed that 'young people who were born in Humberside and have an affinity with Humberside identify with it', although he agreed that the council was a 'flawed idea'.

The office of Lord Lieutenant of Humberside was also abolished. The Yorkshire part became the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire (which includes Hull); the Lincolnshire part reverted to Lincolnshire for ceremonial purposes.

As the name 'Humberside' is a traditional name for the area surrounding the Humber river, and despite the abolition of the administrative area, the term 'Humberside' has not fallen out of use as a general geographic designation. There is still a Humberside Police, a Humberside Airport (roughly halfway between Scunthorpe and Grimsby), a Humberside Fire Service and BBC Radio Humberside.

The whole of the area once covered by the former non-metropolitan county of Humberside, including the Lincolnshire parts, is part of the government office region of Yorkshire and the Humber (originally 'Yorkshire and Humberside').

References

*spurn head the gateway to the humber
*The Humberside (Structural Change) Order 1995 : S.I. 1995/600
*http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0150160702.html



Category:Humberside
Category:History of Lincolnshire
Category:History of Yorkshire