Cheshire West and Chester Council

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Cheshire West and Chester Council
Cheshire West and Chester Council logo
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 2009
Leadership
Rob Bisset,
Labour
since 18 May 2023[1]
Louise Gittins,
Labour
since 21 May 2019
Del Curtis
since 2023[2]
Structure
Seats70 councillors
Political groups
Administration (37)
  Labour (37)
Other parties (33)
  Conservative (23)
  Independent (6)
  Green (2)
  Liberal Democrats (1)
  Party of Women (1)
Elections
First past the post (single-member wards)
Plurality-at-large (multi-member wards)
Last election
4 May 2023
Next election
6 May 2027
Meeting place
Wyvern House, The Drumber, Winsford, CW7 1AH
Website
www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk

Cheshire West and Chester Council is the local authority for Cheshire West and Chester, a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. It has been under Labour majority control since 2023. Full council meetings are held at Wyvern House in Winsford, and the council's main offices are at The Portal in Ellesmere Port.

History[edit]

The council and district were created in 2009, covering the combined area of the former districts of Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston and Vale Royal. The new council also took on the functions of the abolished Cheshire County Council in the area. Cheshire West and Chester is both a non-metropolitan district and a non-metropolitan county, but there is no separate county council; instead the district council performs both district and county functions, making it a unitary authority.[3] For the purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty, Cheshire West and Chester remains part of the ceremonial county of Cheshire.[4]

The new district was awarded borough status from its creation on 1 April 2009. The council's full legal name is therefore Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council, although it styles itself Cheshire West and Chester Council.[5] As a borough, the chair of the council is allowed to take the title of mayor. Until 2015 the role of chair of the council was combined with the ceremonial position of Lord Mayor of Chester. The roles were then separated, with the chair of the council becoming a separate position but not taking the title of mayor.[6]

Governance[edit]

The council provides both district-level and county-level functions.[7] Most of the borough is covered by civil parishes, which form a second tier of local government for their areas.[8] The exceptions are Chester and Ellesmere Port which are unparished, with the Cheshire West and Chester councillors for those areas instead serving as charter trustees.[9][10]

Political control[edit]

The council has been under Labour majority control since the 2023 election.[11]

The first election to the council was held in 2008, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 2009.[3] Political control of the council since 2009 has been as follows:[12][13][14][15]

Party in control Years
Conservative 2009–2015
Labour 2015–2019
No overall control 2019–2023
Labour 2023–present

Leadership[edit]

The leaders of the council since its creation in 2009 have been:[16]

Councillor Party From To
Mike Jones Conservative 1 Apr 2009 21 May 2015
Samantha Dixon Labour 21 May 2015 21 May 2019
Louise Gittins Labour 21 May 2019

Composition[edit]

Following the 2023 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2024, the composition of the council was as follows:[17]

Party Councillors
Labour 37
Conservative 23
Independent 6
Green 2
Liberal Democrats 2
Party of Women 1
Total 70

Two of the independent councillors sit together as the "Independent Group"; the other four independents do not form part of a group.[18] The next election is due in 2027.

Premises[edit]

Full council meetings are held at Wyvern House on The Drumber in Winsford.[19] The council's administrative offices and other committee meetings are spread across several buildings. The official registered headquarters office is at The Portal on Wellington Road in Ellesmere Port.[20]

When created in 2009, the council inherited several administrative buildings from its predecessors, notably including Chester Town Hall and the adjoining offices at The Forum from Chester City Council, the Ellesmere Port Council Offices at 4 Civic Way in Ellesmere Port from Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council, and Wyvern House on The Drumber in Winsford from Vale Royal Borough Council. The abolished Cheshire County Council's former headquarters at County Hall passed jointly to both Cheshire West and Chester Council and its neighbour Cheshire East Council. County Hall was sold to the University of Chester in 2010, and Cheshire West and Chester Council moved its main offices to a new building called HQ Chester at 58 Nicholas Street in Chester, whilst retaining the other buildings as local offices and additional accommodation.[21][22][23][24]

HQ Chester: Council's main offices 2010–2022

The HQ Chester building did not contain a council chamber, and most full council meetings were held at Wyvern House in Winsford, except the annual council meeting which was usually held at Chester Town Hall. Committee meetings were held at various venues. This pattern continued until March 2020 when in-person meetings were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[25]

In 2022, the council moved its main offices to a new building called The Portal on Wellington Road in Ellesmere Port, and vacated most of the space it had formerly occupied at HQ Chester. Since 2022 full council meetings have been held at Wyvern House.[26]

Elections[edit]

See also: Cheshire West and Chester Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 70 councillors representing 45 wards, with each each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[27]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Council minutes, 18 May 2023". Cheshire West and Chester Council. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Council to consider new Chief Executive appointment". Cheshire West and Chester Council. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b "The Cheshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2008/634, retrieved 8 May 2024
  4. ^ "Lieutenancies Act 1997: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1997 c. 23 (sch. 1), retrieved 7 May 2024
  5. ^ Bulletin of changes to local authority arrangements, areas and names in England (PDF). London: Department for Communities and Local Government. 2009. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  6. ^ Holmes, David (26 May 2015). "Cheshire West and Chester Council have bad-tempered first meeting under Labour control". Chester Chronicle. Trinity Mirror. Archived from the original on 31 July 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70
  8. ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  9. ^ "City of Chester Charter Trustees". Cheshire West and Chester Council. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Ellesmere Port Charter Trustees". Cheshire West and Chester Council. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Labour celebrate council victories and seat gains across Cheshire". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  13. ^ "Cheshire West & Chester Council Elections 2019". The Standard. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  14. ^ "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  15. ^ "Cheshire West and Chester". BBC News Online. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  16. ^ "Council minutes". Cheshire West and Chester Council. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  17. ^ "Local elections 2023: full council results for England". The Guardian. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  18. ^ "Your councillors by party". Cheshire West and Chester Council. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  19. ^ "Caldendar". Cheshire West and Chester Council. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  20. ^ "Registered office address". Cheshire West and Chester Council. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  21. ^ Holmes, David (23 September 2010). "Cheshire West and Chester Council HQ is 21st century workplace". Cheshire Live. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  22. ^ "Chester West & Chester Council to sell County Hall to University of Chester and move into HQ building". Cheshire Live. 17 August 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  23. ^ Holmes, David (3 March 2011). "Cheshire's County Hall sale 'rushed', says auditor, but was still value for money". Cheshire Live. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  24. ^ "Customer service centres". Cheshire West and Chester Council. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  25. ^ "Council minutes". Cheshire West and Chester Council. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  26. ^ Porter, Gary (5 April 2022). "New Cheshire West and Chester Council HQ in Ellesmere Port to open in May". Cheshire Live. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  27. ^ "The Cheshire West and Chester (Electoral Changes) Order 2018", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2018/741, retrieved 9 May 2024
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