Cheshire West and Chester Council | |
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Whole council elected every four years | |
Emblem
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Type | |
Type | |
Houses | 1 (Unicameral) |
Term limits
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None |
History | |
Founded | 1 April 2009 |
New session started
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19 May 2016 (Municipal year) |
Leadership | |
Leader
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Samantha Dixon, Labour
Since 21 May 2015 |
Chairman
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Bob Rudd, Labour
Since 21 May 2015 |
Chief Executive
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Gerald Meehan
Since July 2016 |
Structure | |
Seats | 75 |
Committees | 13 (excluding the cabinet) |
Joint committees
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Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership Cheshire Fire Authority Cheshire Police and Crime Panel Shared Services Joint Committee (with Cheshire East Council) |
38 / 75
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36 / 75
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1 / 75
|
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Elections | |
First past the post (single-member wards) Plurality-at-large (multi-member wards) |
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Last election
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2015 |
Next election
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2019 |
Meeting place | |
Chester Town Hall, Chester HQ, Chester Wyvern House, Winsford |
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Website | |
www |
Cheshire West and Chester Council is the local authority of Cheshire West and Chester. 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 was first elected on 1 May 2008 a year before coming into its legal powers on 1 April 2009.
The local authority derives its powers and functions from the Local Government Act 1972 and subsequent legislation. It has a 'general power of competence' as described in the Localism Act 2011, i.e. it is permitted to act in any manner whatsoever which is not unlawful. For the purposes of local government, Cheshire West and Chester is one of the fifty-five unitary authorities in England. This means that is the only principal authority in its territorial jurisdiction, and it has the statutory powers and functions of both a non-metropolitan county and a non-metropolitan district council. The only exceptions to this are the fire and police services, which are still provided on a Cheshire-wide basis by joint boards composed of elected councillors and are funded by a Council Tax precept. Conversely, it is unnecessary for Cheshire West and Chester Council to set a precept for itself as it is also a billing authority.
Since the first election of the council in 2008, political control has been held by the following parties:
Colour key (for political parties): Conservative Labour