Milton Keynes Council

Milton Keynes Council
Third of council elected three years out of four
Arms of Milton Keynes Council
Type
Type
History
Founded 1 April 1974
Leadership
Mayor
Cllr Martin Petchey, Labour
Since May 2018
Deputy Mayor
Cllr Sam Crooks, Liberal Democrats
Since May 2018
Leader of the Council
Cllr Peter Marland, Labour and Co-op
Since 26 May 2014[1]
Structure
Seats 57 councillors
Milton Keynes Council composition
Political groups
Administration (21)
     Labour (21)
Confidence and Supply (12)
     Liberal Democrats (12)
Other parties (24)
     Conservative (23)
     Independent (1)
Meeting place
Civic Offices, Milton Keynes
Website
milton-keynes.gov.uk
Footnotes
Labour Party minority administration with Liberal Democrat confidence and supply (but not coalition)

Milton Keynes Council is the local council of the Borough of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. Milton Keynes is divided into 19 wards, electing 57 councillors.

History

The council was formed by the Local Government Act 1972 as the Milton Keynes District Council. The current local council was first elected in 1973, a year before formally coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the District of Milton Keynes on 1 April 1974. The council gained borough status, entitling it to be known as Milton Keynes Borough Council and to annually appoint a Mayor of Milton Keynes.

It was envisaged through the Local Government Act 1972 that Milton Keynes as a non-metropolitan district council would share power with the Buckinghamshire County Council. This arrangement lasted until 1997 when the district council gained responsibility for services that had been provided within Milton Keynes by the county council. Since gaining county council functions the council has gone by the name Milton Keynes Council.

Powers and functions

The local council derives its powers and functions from the Local Government Act 1972 and subsequent legislation. For the purposes of local government, Milton Keynes is within a non-metropolitan area of England. In its capacity as a district council it is a billing authority collecting Council Tax and business rates, it processes local planning applications, it is responsible for housing, waste collection and environmental health. In its capacity as a county council it is a local education authority, responsible for social services, libraries and waste disposal. The council also appoints members to Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Authority and the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel.

Political control

One third of the council is elected each year for three years, followed by one year without election. Since 1996 political control of the council has been held by the following parties:[2]

Party in controlYears
Labour1996–2000
No overall control2000–2002
Liberal Democrats2002–2006
No overall control2006–present

Since May 2014, the Labour Party has held office as a minority administration. Since the 2018 local elections, the Conservative Party hold the most seats but failed thereafter to gain support from either of the other two parties so as to form an administration. The Labour Party continues in office with confidence and supply support from the Liberal Democrats.

A smart city

Milton Keynes Council is part of a project called MK:Smart which aims to transform Milton Keynes into one of the world's 'smart cities' – a model for how information technology and data analytics can be used to drive sustainable growth. The project aims to develop new and smarter ways of managing key infrastructure such as transport, water and energy supplies.

One of these projects is the LUTZ Pathfinder pod, an autonomous (self-driving) vehicle built by the Transport Systems Catapult. Trials took place in Milton Keynes in 2016.[3][4]

References

  1. ↑ http://milton-keynes.cmis.uk.com/milton-keynes/Councillors/tabid/63/ctl/ViewCMIS_Person/mid/383/id/380/ScreenMode/Alphabetical/Default.aspx
  2. ↑ "Milton Keynes". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  3. ↑ Burn-Callander, Rebecca (11 February 2015). "This is the Lutz pod, the UK's first driverless car". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  4. ↑ Davies, Rob (11 October 2016). "Self-driving car tested for first time in UK in Milton Keynes". the Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.