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Worcestershire County Council

Worcestershire County Council
Coat of arms or logo
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Tracey Onslow,
Conservative
since 16 May 2024[1]
Simon Geraghty,
Conservative
since 14 January 2016
Paul Robinson
since March 2018
Structure
Seats57 councillors
Political groups
Administration (39)
  Conservative (39)
Other parties (18)
  Green (5)
  Labour (5)
  Independent (4)
  Liberal Democrats (3)
  Reform UK (1)
Length of term
4 years
Elections
First past the post
Last election
6 May 2021
Next election
1 May 2025
Meeting place
County Hall, Spetchley Road, Worcester, WR5 2NP
Website
www.worcestershire.gov.uk

Worcestershire County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Worcestershire in England. Its headquarters are at County Hall in Worcester, the county town. The council consists of 57 councillors and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party.

The county council was first created in 1889. In 1974 the council was abolished when Worcestershire and neighbouring Herefordshire were merged to form a new county called Hereford and Worcester. In 1998 Worcestershire and Herefordshire became separate counties again, and Worcestershire County Council was re-established.

History

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See also: Evolution of Worcestershire county boundaries since 1844

Elected county councils were created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, taking over many administrative functions which had previously been performed by unelected magistrates at the quarter sessions. The boroughs of Worcester and Dudley were considered large enough to provide their own county-level services and so they were made county boroughs, independent from Worcestershire County Council. The county council was elected by and provided services to the rest of the county, which area was termed the administrative county. The 1888 Act also said that any urban sanitary districts which straddled county boundaries were to be placed entirely in the county which had the majority of that district's population, which saw Worcestershire gain the part of Redditch which had been in Warwickshire.[2]

The first elections to the county council were held in January 1889 and it formally came into being on 1 April 1889. On that day it held its first official meeting at Worcester Guildhall. The first chairman was George Hastings, who was the Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for East Worcestershire.[3]

There were a number of changes to the boundaries of the administrative county over the years. It ceded territory in the north-east to Birmingham on several occasions, and the complicated boundaries in the south with Gloucestershire and Warwickshire were simplified in the 1930s. In 1966 Oldbury was transferred to the new County Borough of Warley, which was ceremonially associated with Worcestershire but outside the administrative county controlled by the county council.

The administrative county of Worcestershire was abolished in 1974. The boroughs of Halesowen and Stourbridge were transferred to the new West Midlands county, and the rest of administrative county merged with Herefordshire and the county borough of Worcester to form a new non-metropolitan county called Hereford and Worcester. Hereford and Worcester County Council therefore took over the old Worcestershire County Council's functions for most of its area.[4]

Hereford and Worcester only existed as a county for 24 years. It was abolished in 1998 as part of the 1990s United Kingdom local government reforms and divided into separate counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, with Worcestershire County Council being re-established as the upper-tier local authority for Worcestershire.[5]

Governance

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Worcestershire County Council provides county-level services. District-level services are provided by the six district councils:

Much of the county is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[6]

Political control

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The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2005.

The first elections to the re-established Worcesteshire County Council were held in 1997, initially operating as a shadow authority until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1998. Political control of the council since 1998 has been as follows:[7]

Party Tenure
No overall control 1998–2005
Conservative 2005–present

Leadership

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The leaders of the council since 1998 have been:[8]

Councillor Party From To
Carol Warren[9][10] Labour 1 Apr 1998 2001
George Lord[11][12][13] Conservative 2001 6 Nov 2010
Adrian Hardman[14][15] Conservative 18 Nov 2010 14 Jan 2016
Simon Geraghty Conservative 14 Jan 2016

Composition

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Following the 2021 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to June 2024 the composition of the council was:[16]

Party Councillors
Conservative 39
Green 5
Labour 5
Independent 4
Liberal Democrats 3
Reform UK 1
Total 57

One of the independent councillors sits in a group with the Green Party. The next election is due in 2025.[16]

Cabinet

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Worcestershire County Council currently operates using a Leader and Cabinet system.

Worcestershire County Council's cabinet is composed of ten Conservative councillors and the Conservative Leader of the council. Cabinet members work closely with the directors and professional officers of the council to ensure the successful implementation of the decisions they make.[17]

Title Councillor
Leader of the Council Simon Geraghty
Adult Services Adrian Hardman
Children and Families Steve Mackay
Communities Marcus Hart
Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Marc Bayliss
Education Tracey Onslow
Health and Wellbeing Karen May
Highways and Transport Mike Rouse
Corporate Services and Communication Adam Kent
Environment Richard Morris

Elections

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See also: Worcestershire County Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2005 the council has comprised 57 councillors representing 52 electoral divisions, with each division electing one or two councillors. Elections are held every four years.[18]

Premises

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The county council has its headquarters at County Hall on Spetchley Road on the outskirts of Worcester.[19] The building was purpose-built as the headquarters of Hereford and Worcester County Council and had been completed in 1978.[20] The building transferred to the re-established Worcestershire County Council as part of the 1998 reforms.[5]

Shire Hall: Meeting place of the first incarnation of the county council
County Buildings, St Mary's Street: County Council's headquarters 1930–1974

Having held its first meeting in 1889 at Worcester Guildhall, the first Worcestershire County Council later established its usual meeting place at Shire Hall, Worcester, a courthouse which had been built in 1835.[21] County Buildings was built alongside Shire Hall in 1930 to house the council's administrative offices.[22][23] County Buildings and Shire Hall continued to be used by the successor Hereford and Worcester County Council until the new County Hall at Spetchley Road was completed in 1978.[24]

References

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  1. ^ Wilkinson-Jones, Phil (16 May 2024). "Worcestershire County Council appoints new chairman and vice chairman". Worcester News. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Local Government Act 1888", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1888 c. 41, retrieved 27 August 2023
  3. ^ "Worcestershire County Council". Berrow's Worcester Journal. 6 April 1889. p. 7. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  4. ^ Local Government Act 1972
  5. ^ a b "The Hereford and Worcester (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1996/1867, retrieved 17 November 2023
  6. ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  7. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Council minutes". Worcestershire County Council. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  9. ^ McVey, Clare (1 April 1998). "Fiasco on eve of counties' long-awaited separation". Birmingham Post. p. 3. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Severn - Carol Warren (Labour)". Worcester News. 25 May 2001. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Lord is new leader". Worcester News. 4 July 2001. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  12. ^ Paine, David (12 November 2010). "Councillors focus on leadership after resignation of Dr George Lord". Worcester News. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  13. ^ "Worcestershire sex assault council leader dies". BBC News. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  14. ^ "County Council selects Adrian Hardman as leader". Worcester News. 19 November 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  15. ^ Farrington, Dayna (29 December 2015). "Adrian Hardman to quit as Worcestershire County Council leader after drink drive charge". Bromsgrove Advertiser. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  16. ^ a b "Worcestershire". Local Councils. Thorncliffe.
  17. ^ Manninen, Terhi. "Cabinet". C.
  18. ^ "The County of Worcestershire (Electoral Changes) Order 2005", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2005/174, retrieved 2 February 2024
  19. ^ "Complaints Department". Worcestershire County Council. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  20. ^ "Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visits Worcester County Hall". Getty Images. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  21. ^ Historic England. "Shire Hall, Worcester (1389831)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  22. ^ "Adding a New Layer: 20th Century Heritage in Worcestershire - Civil Buildings". Explore the Past. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  23. ^ Local List of Heritage Assets (PDF). Worcester City Council. 2017. p. 16. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  24. ^ The Municipal Year Book. London: Municipal Journal. 1976. p. 517.
[edit]
New creation Cam
1889 – 1974 		Succeeded by
Preceded by County council
1998 – present 		Current