The former borough wards of North and South are still used in the form of Town Council wards, but for the purposes of Borough representation, Whiston elects three councillors via the combined ward of Whiston and Cronton. Whiston lent its name to and was formerly the headquarters of the Whiston Rural District within the County of Lancashire before the Local Government Act 1972. Today, Whiston Town Council oversees parish level administration. Transport Whiston is crossed by the historic Liverpool to Manchester Railway, and is served by Whiston railway station with services to Liverpool and Manchester, operated by Northern. Local bus routes to Runcorn, Liverpool, St Helens and Huyton also serve the town. These are operated by, among other smaller local providers, Stagecoach and Arriva. Health St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust operates Whiston Hospital. The hospital supports the primary maternity department for the Knowsley and St Helens boroughs, alongside a regional Burns and Plastic Surgery Unit serving North West England, North Wales and the Isle of Man. The Trust is a member organisation of the teaching hospital system partnered with the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Edge Hill University. Industries Local industry includes Glen Dimplex Home Appliances, producing kitchen appliances and employing approximately 1,000 people. Education Primary education St Luke's Catholic Primary School Halsnead Primary School Whiston Willis Primary School St Leo's & Southmead Catholic Primary School Secondary education In 2010, two of Whiston's secondary schools were closed and redeveloped under the Labour Party governments 'Building Schools for the Future' scheme. This £150 million programme created seven new 'Centres for Learning' to replace the ten existing secondary schools within the Knowsley borough. Knowsley Higher Side Comprehensive School, Cumber Lane. Constructed in 1964, Knowsley Higher Side Comprehensive School was one of the first comprehensive schools in the local area, purpose built under the Labour Party's education reforms to formally abolish the tripartite system of education; to amalgamate grammar, technical and secondary modern schools into one appropriately named Comprehensive System. In March 2010, after serving the local area for 46 years, Higher Side Comprehensive School was permanently closed and subsequently demolished to make way for the new St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic Centre for Learning which was constructed on vacant land behind Higher Side's main buildings. The land on which Higher Side once stood now serves as a car park and recreational area for staff and pupils of