Sheffield City Council

Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently controlled by the Liberal Democrats and led by Paul Scriven.

History

The council was founded as the Corporation of Sheffield in 1843, when Sheffield was incorporated (see History of Sheffield). In 1889 it attained county borough status. In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972, reconstituted the City Council as the council metropolitan district, in the metropolitan county of South Yorkshire, governed also by South Yorkshire County Council. It established a system of 90 councillors, three to each of 30 districts. This was reduced in 1980 with the merger of the Attercliffe and Darnall wards to 87 councillors in 29 wards.

The abolition of metropolitan county councils in 1986 saw Sheffield City Council effectively regain its county borough status.

In 2004, the wards were completely reorganised, producing 28 new wards and 84 councillors.

Political control

Elections to Sheffield City Council are by thirds, in three years of every four. 2004 saw new boundaries and therefore all seats were contested.

See Sheffield local elections for more detail.

For twenty years from 1846, Isaac Ironside's Central Democratic Association was a force on the council. It then returned to typical Conservative-Liberal rivalry. Labour made little impact in its early years; by 1918, there were only three Labour councillors (and two Liberal-Labour, plus one Lib-Lab alderman). That all changed in 1919; Labour won almost all the seats up for election that year, giving them 12 and their coalition partners the Co-operative Party two. In response to their losses, the Conservative and Liberal groups merged to form the Citizens Association, retaining control with 32 councillors and 15 aldermen. The Lib-Labs remained unchanged in numbers and politically between the two groups.J. Mendelson, W. Owen, S. Pollard and V. M. Thornes, "The Sheffield Trades and Labour Council 1858 - 1958"]

Leaders

A list of leaders of Sheffield City Council from 1901. [Clyde Binfield et al, "The History of the City of Sheffield 1843-1993. Volume I: Politics"]

*1901: William Clegg (Liberal)
*1903: Herbert Hughes (Conservative)
*1905: William Clegg (Liberal)
*1907: Herbert Hughes (Conservative)
*1911: William Clegg (Liberal, Citizens from 1920)
*1926: Ernest Rowlinson (Labour)
*1932: Arthur Blanchard (Municipal Progressive)
*1933: Ernest Rowlinson (Labour)
*1941: William Asbury (Labour)
*1942: Frank Thraves (Labour)
*1946: J. H. Bingham (Labour)
*19??: Grace Tebbutt (Labour)
*1966: Ron Ironmonger (Labour)
*1968: ? (Conservative)
*1969: Ron Ironmonger (Labour)
*1974: George Wilson (Labour)
*1980: David Blunkett (Labour)
*1987: Clive Betts (Labour)
*1992: Mike Bower (Labour)
*1997: Jan Wilson (Labour)
*1999: Peter Moore (Lib Dem)
*2002: Jan Wilson (Labour)
*2008: Paul Scriven (Lib Dem)

ee also

*Lord Mayor of Sheffield

Council as service provider and employer

Sheffield City Council provides approximately 550 services to its citizens. It is also a major employer in the city, with more than 18,000 employees, including all state school staff in its role as Local Education Authority (LEA).

Services and employees are organised into 4 directorates:

*Chief Executive's Directorate - responsible for corporate resources, legal and governance, organisational development, communications, policy and performance
*Children and Young People's Directorate - equivalent to an LEA and responsible for early years, primary, secondary and special schools, looked-after children and youth offending
*Development, Environment and Leisure - responsible for planning, environmental regulation, parks and countryside, street maintenance and cleanliness, and cultural activities such as libraries and museums
*Neighbourhoods and Community Care - responsible for housing and neighbourhood renewal, local action and partnership, and adult social services, including physical disability, learning disability and older people

Other functions are performed by partners and contractors of the council:

* [http://www.sheffieldhomes.org.uk Sheffield Homes] manages the social housing stock
* [http://www.kiersheffield.co.uk/default.asp Kier Sheffield] maintains and repairs the social housing stock
*Veolia manages household waste disposal

References

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote_99/locals_99/html/constituency/215.stm 1999 results] [http://mdfs.net/Docs/Sheffield/Election/1999 (in detail)]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/uk_politics/vote2000/locals/105.stm 2000 results] [http://mdfs.net/Docs/Sheffield/Election/2000 (in detail)]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2002/local_elections/123.stm 2002 results] [http://mdfs.net/Docs/Sheffield/Election/2002 (in detail)]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/vote2003/locals/html/238.stm 2003 results] [http://mdfs.net/Docs/Sheffield/Election/2003 (in detail)]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/vote2004/locals/html/3753.stm 2004 results] [http://mdfs.net/Docs/Sheffield/Election/2004 (in detail)]
*2006 results [http://mdfs.net/Docs/Sheffield/Election/2006 (in detail)]
*2007 results [http://mdfs.net/Docs/Sheffield/Election/2007 (in detail)]
* [http://mdfs.net/Docs/Sheffield/Members/1974.htm Results 1974 - 2003]

External links

* [http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/ Sheffield City Council]
* [http://www.sheffieldlabourparty.co.uk/ Sheffield Labour Party]
* [http://www.sheffieldlibdems.org.uk/ Sheffield Lib Dems]
* [http://www.sheffieldgreenparty.org.uk/ Sheffield Green Party]
* [http://www.sheffieldconservatives.org/ Sheffield Conservatives]