Somerset County Council
| Somerset County Council | |
|---|---|
Coat of arms
|
|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
|
Leader
|
John Osman (Conservative)
|
|
Chairman
|
David Fothergill (Conservative)
|
| Structure | |
|
31 / 55
|
|
|
14 / 55
|
|
|
4 / 55
|
|
|
3 / 55
|
|
|
3 / 55
|
|
| Elections | |
| First past the post | |
|
Last election
|
2 May 2013 |
|
Next election
|
4 May 2017 |
| Meeting place | |
 |
|
| County Hall, Taunton | |
| Website | |
| somerset.gov.uk | |
Somerset County Council (established in 1889) is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county.
Created by the Local Government Act 1888, with effect from 1889, the County Council administered the whole ceremonial county of Somerset, except for the county borough of Bath. With the creation of the county of Avon in 1974, a large part of the north of the county (now the unitary authorities of North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset) was taken out of Somerset and moved into the new county. However, Avon was disbanded on 1 April 1996 and the two new administratively independent unitary authorities were established.
The area now covered by the county council consists of the five remaining non-unitary districts of Somerset – Mendip, Sedgemoor, South Somerset, Taunton Deane, and West Somerset.
County Councils were first introduced in England and Wales with full powers from 22 September 1889 as a result of the Local Government Act 1888, taking over administrative functions until then carried out by the unelected Quarter Sessions. The areas they covered were termed administrative counties and were not in all cases identical to the traditional shire counties, but in Somerset the whole 'ceremonial county' came under the authority of the new council.
...
Wikipedia