Stoke-on-Trent City Council

Stoke-on-Trent City Council
Whole council elected every four years
Type
Type	Unitary authority
History
Founded	1 April 1974
Leadership
Lord Mayor	Cllr Lillian Dodd
Leader of the Council	Cllr Ann James, Independent Since 17 May 2018 [1]
Deputy Leader	Cllr Abi Brown, Conservative
Structure
Seats	44 councillors
Political groups	Administration      City Independents (15)      Conservative (7) Other Parties      Labour (20)     For Britain (1)      Non-aligned (1)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	Plurality-at-large
Last election	7 May 2015
Next election	2 May 2019
Meeting place
Civic Centre, Glebe Street, Stoke-on-Trent
Website
www.stoke.gov.uk

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is the local authority of Stoke-on-Trent, a unitary authority in the West Midlands region. As a unitary authority it has the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. As such, it is administratively separate from the rest of Staffordshire.

The council area elects 44 Councillors from 29 wards. Following the May 2015 local elections, Stoke-on-Trent City Council comprises 20 Labour councillors, 16 City Independent councillors, 7 Conservative councillors and one UKIP councillor. It is led by a coalition of Independent and Conservative councillors.^[2]

Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the Local Government Act 1972 and subsequent legislation. For the purposes of local government, Stoke-on-Trent is a non-metropolitan area of England. As a unitary authority, Stoke-on-Trent City Council has the powers and functions of both a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. 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.

Political control

Since the first election in 1973 political control of the council was held by the following parties:^[3] The council is currently under the leadership of leader Cllr Ann James (City independents) and deputy leader Cllr Abi Brown (Conservative).

References