North_Somerset_Council
North Somerset Council is the local authority of North Somerset, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, processing planning applications, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority. The council meets at Weston-super-Mare Town Hall.
North Somerset Council | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1 April 1996 (1996-04-01) |
| Preceded by | Avon County Council Woodspring District Council |
| Leadership | |
Jo Walker since January 2019[2] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 50 councillors |
Political groups |
|
Length of term | Whole council elected every four years |
| Elections | |
| First-past-the-post | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
| Meeting place | |
| Town Hall, Walliscote Grove Road, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1UJ | |
| Website | |
| www | |
North Somerset Council provides both county-level and district-level services. The whole area is also covered by civil parishes, which form a second tier of local government.[3]
Political control
The council has been under no overall control since 2019.
The first election to Woodspring District Council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[4][5]
Woodspring district
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 1974–1995 | |
| No overall control | 1995–1996 | |
North Somerset unitary authority
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | 1996–1999 | |
| Conservative | 1999–2003 | |
| No overall control | 2003–2007 | |
| Conservative | 2007–2019 | |
| No overall control | 2019–present | |
Leadership
The leaders of the council since 2005 have been:[6]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Hockridge[7] | Liberal Democrats | 2005 | 14 Apr 2007 | |
| Nigel Ashton[8] | Conservative | 2007 | 14 May 2019 | |
| Don Davies | Independent | 14 May 2019 | 10 May 2022 | |
| Steve Bridger | Independent | 10 May 2022 | 12 May 2023 | |
| Mike Bell[9] | Liberal Democrats | 12 May 2023 | ||
Composition
Following the 2023 North Somerset Council election and a by-election in November 2023, the composition of the council was:
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 13 | |
| Labour | 10 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 9 | |
| Green | 8 | |
| Independent | 7 | |
| Portishead Independents | 3 | |
| Total | 50 | |
Of the independent councillors, three sit in a group with the Liberal Democrats, one sits with the Portishead Independents, two sit with the Conservatives and the other does not belong to a group.[10] The next election is due in 2027.
Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 50 councillors representing 35 wards, with each ward electing one or two councillors. Elections are held every four years.[11]
The council is based at Weston-super-Mare Town Hall on Walliscote Grove Road. The building had been the headquarters of the old Weston-super-Mare Borough Council, one of Woodspring's predecessors, having been built in 1856 for the town's improvement commissioners, predecessors of the borough council.[12]
- "Council minutes, 23 May 2023". North Somerset Council. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
- Wright, Tom (17 October 2018). "New chief executive appointed by North Somerset Council". Weston Mercury. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
- "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- "England council elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
- "Council minutes". North Somerset Council. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- "North Somerset council boss dies". BBC News. 16 April 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- Angear, Simon (19 January 2018). "Council leader slams his own party for treating elderly 'without dignity'". Weston Mercury. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- "Partnership Administration announced for North Somerset". North Somerset Council. 12 May 2023. Archived from the original on 14 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- "Your councillors by political grouping". North Somerset Council. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
- "The North Somerset (Electoral Changes) Order 2014", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2014/3291, retrieved 13 December 2023
- Historic England. "The Town Hall (1138148)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
