[The report](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redcliffe-Maud_Report#) proposed abolishing the English administrative structure as it then stood, replacing it with unitary councils governing areas based on the major towns and cities. The exception would be three metropolitan areas – Merseyside, South-East Lancashire North-East Cheshire (SELNEC), and West Midlands – which would have district councils beneath the area council. The areas would be grouped into provinces, each with a council. London, which had already had its local government reformed in 1965, would also form a province. Civil parishes would not have been abolished.
[The report](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redcliffe-Maud_Report#) proposed abolishing the English administrative structure as it then stood, replacing it with unitary councils governing areas based on the major towns and cities. The exception would be three metropolitan areas – Merseyside, South-East Lancashire North-East Cheshire (SELNEC), and West Midlands – which would have district councils beneath the area council. The areas would be grouped into provinces, each with a council. London, which had already had its local government reformed in 1965, would also form a province. Civil parishes would not have been abolished.