The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and an exempt charity under English law.
The reorganisation of English local government that year resulted in the newly created Merseyside Metropolitan County Council assuming custodianship by mutual agreement with the city authority.
In 1978 the Charity Commission transferred to the County Council the trusteeship of the then privately operated Lady Lever Art Gallery and its collection.
[2] The Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher subsequently resolved to abolish the Metropolitan Counties and reassign many of their assets to the lower tier City and Borough Councils.
In the lead-up to the county’s abolition, and anticipating their takeover, Liverpool's Militant councillors discussed selling off the world class collections of the Walker Art Gallery to fund social housing in the city.