Borough of Guildford

Guildford
Borough and Non-metropolitan district
Motto(s): Fortiter et Fideliter
(Latin: Bravely and faithfully)

Guildford shown within Surrey
Coordinates: 51°14′46″N 0°33′07″W / 51.246°N 0.552°W / 51.246; -0.552Coordinates: 51°14′46″N 0°33′07″W / 51.246°N 0.552°W / 51.246; -0.552
Sovereign state  United Kingdom
Constituent country  England
Region South East England
Ceremonial county  Surrey
Established 1 April 1974
Administrative HQ Guildford (Millmead House)
Government
 • Type Non-metropolitan district
 • Body Guildford Borough Council
 • Leadership Leader and cabinet
 • Executive Conservative
 • Leader Paul Spooner
 • Mayor Nigel Manning
 • MPs Paul Beresford (Mole Valley[n 1])
Michael Gove (Surrey Heath)
Jonathan Lord (Woking)
Anne Milton (Guildford)
Area
 • Total 104.6 sq mi (270.9 km2)
Area rank 150th
Population (mid-2017 est.)
 • Total 147,800
 • Rank 136th
 • Density 1,410/sq mi (545/km2)
 • Ethnicity 93.5% White
2.1% S.Asian
1.3% Black
1.3% Mixed Race
1.7% Chinese or Other
Time zone UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
ONS code 43UD (ONS)
E07000209 (GSS)
OS grid reference TQ0105550700
Website www.guildford.gov.uk

The Borough of Guildford is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. Guildford is its largest settlement and only town, and is the location of the council.

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 by an amalgamation of the municipal borough of Guildford and Guildford Rural District.

Functions

Borough councillors and officers work on devolved issues such as parks, leisure, older residents' services, youth services, streetscene, refuse collection, planning and aspects of business and tourism;[1] Surrey County Council deal with transport, publicly owned infrastructure planning and maintenance, education, social services and overall waste management. The Borough owns significant heritage assets that include monuments such as Guildford Castle, as well museums, art collections and civic regalia.[2]

Population

Guildford has the second largest population of Surrey's eleven districts (based on census statistics, only 600 residents behind Reigate and Banstead).[3] Approximately half of the Borough’s population live in the town of Guildford.

Budget

To the year ending 31 March 2012, £106.629m was received by Guildford Borough Council, plus £7.43m from its financing/investment arm, plus £17.571m in other taxation and non-specific grants.[2]

A large wholly exceptional overspend resulted from Guildford acquiring from central UK government all self-financing rights over housing for £192.435m, otherwise spending amounted to £136.778m. Of this spending the largest item was non-Local Authority housing benefits and services amounting to £33.93m however accounting for £32.74m of income. The largest item producing a net cost was Environmental and Regulatory Services costing £16.643m while contributing £6.861m. Spending on this item fell by 2.63% compared to the 2010-2011 period.[2]

Housing owned by the Borough

Housing stock owned by Guildford Borough Council is valued, as securely tenanted at £359.316m as at 1 April 2012.

If all of the housing stock were sold untenanted, or to present occupants at full value, then the correct value at that date was £995 million.[2]

Taxation

Of the eleven Surrey districts, Guildford has the third-lowest Band-D council tax for 2012-13 and fourth-lowest average overall council tax (the level of difference is a reflection on an area's skew as to higher band properties).[4]

Councillors

Borough elections take place for the whole council on a four-year basis.

7 May 2015 saw the most recent cross-borough election that produced 35 Conservative seats, 9 Liberal Democrat seats, 3 Guildford Greenbelt Group seats, and 1 Labour borough councillor.

2015 Election[5]
Party Seats
Conservative 35
Liberal Democrats 9
Guildford Greenbelt 3
Labour 1
Independent 0

Members of Parliament

Constituency Member of Parliament Political party
Guildford Anne Milton Conservative Party
Mole Valley Sir Paul Beresford
Surrey Heath Michael Gove
Woking Jonathan Lord

Composition

The central 'Guildford Town' area of the borough comprises the town centre and immediately surrounding areas, including: Bellfields, Boxgrove, Onslow Village, Park Barn, Stoughton, Westborough, and the (former) villages of Burpham, and Merrow.

Third tier of local government

Apart from the town of Guildford which has no third tier, the rest of the borough has civil parishes of unpaid councillors who are entitled to charge a small extra precept for services they pay out for:[6]

Map of Guildford Borough showing its parts: Guildford town and civil parishes which provide an additional layer of government for nearby villages

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ Mole Valley UK Parliament Constituency and two of the others include some peripheral wards.]

References

  1. ↑ Guildford Borough Council
  2. 1 2 3 4 Guildford Borough Council Statement of Accounts 2011-12, pp 4, 12 and 79
  3. ↑ List of English districts by population
  4. ↑ 2012-13 Council tax (average Band D and average per dwelling) and % change: individual local authorities
  5. ↑ http://www.guildford.gov.uk/councilelection
  6. ↑ Surrey Council Archived 26 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
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