Plymouth City Council
| Plymouth City Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Leader of the Council |
Tudor Evans |
Chief Executive |
Tracey Lee |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 57 |
 | |
Political groups |
Labour Conservative UKIP |
| Elections | |
| First past the post | |
Last election | 7th May 2015 |
| Meeting place | |
| The Council House, Plymouth | |
| Website | |
|
www | |
Plymouth City Council is the unitary authority for Plymouth, Devon. It has traditionally been controlled by Labour or the Conservatives, with Liberal Democrats rarely winning seats upon the council.
The council is run by the "leader and cabinet" model, where the Leader of the Council - normally leader of the majority party - is selected by fellow councillors, who in turn selects the executive, commonly referred to as the Cabinet. The current Leader of the Council is Tudor Evans since May 2012, of the Labour Party and the Opposition group leader is Ian Bowyer of the Conservative Party.
History
Plymouth was recorded as a borough from 1276 and was incorporated in 1439. In April 1889, as a result of the reform of local government by the Local Government Act 1888, Plymouth became a self-administering county borough. In 1914, the Borough of Plymouth was united with the adjoining boroughs of Devonport and Stonehouse and in 1928, became a city by royal charter.[1] In 1971, a Local Government White Paper was published which would have left Plymouth, a town of 250,000 people, being administered from a council based at Exeter, a smaller city on the other side of Devon. This led to Plymouth lobbying for the creation of a new county of "Tamarside", to include Plymouth, Torpoint, Saltash, and their rural hinterland. This campaign was unsuccessful, and on April 1, 1974, Plymouth surrendered control of several areas to Devon County Council.
This continued until April 1, 1998, when, under the recommendations of the Banham Commission, Plymouth was designated to become a unitary authority, and Plymouth City Council was established.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms of the City of Plymouth show the four towers of the old Plymouth Castle, with the saltire of Saint Andrew, who is the patron of Plymouth's oldest church. The crest is a blue naval crown with a red anchor held in a lion's paw. The crown and anchor were part of the crest of the former County Borough of Devonport and represent the importance of the Royal Navy in the life of the city.[2] The Latin motto, Turris Fortissima est Nomen Jehova, means "The strongest tower is the name of the Lord".
Data protection
In 2012 Plymouth County Council was fined £60,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after it sent "confidential and highly sensitive personal data relating to two parents and their four children including allegations of child neglect" to the wrong recipient.[3] Commenting on Plymouth and other authorities who had made similar data protection breaches, the ICO said "It would be far too easy to consider these breaches as simple human error. The reality is that they are caused by councils treating sensitive personal data in the same routine way they would deal with more general correspondence. Far too often in these cases, the councils do not appear to have acknowledged that the data they are handling is about real people, and often the more vulnerable members of society."[3]
Powers and functions
Plymouth City Council appoints four members to the Devon and Somerset Combined Fire Authority.[4]
Elections
Elections to Plymouth City Council happen once every year in May, with one "exception" year every four years, with the result that councillors serve terms of four years. This is because the council is split into thirds, with one third elected each year except the "exception" year.
The council is traditionally dominated by the Labour and Conservative Parties, with independents and the Liberal Democrats rarely winning seats. In 2011, the United Kingdom Independence Party gained its first council seat in Plymouth, when Southway councillor Peter Berrow defected from the Conservatives to UKIP. He was, however, defeated in the subsequent election in May 2012.
At present, Labour has 28 councillors, the Conservatives have 26 and UKIP have 3.[5]
Lord Mayoralty
Plymouth has had a mayor in some form since 1439, and this tradition continued until 1934, when the king granted Plymouth the honour of having a Lord Mayor.
The role of the Lord Mayor is largely ceremonial, and has evolved into a figurehead position which is the public, non-political image of Plymouth City Council. The Lord Mayor chairs council meetings in the Council Chamber. The position usually rotates between the Conservatives and Labour, and is chosen on the third Friday of May. He then chooses the Deputy Lord Mayor.
The Lord Mayor's official residence is 3 Elliot Terrace, located on the Hoe. Once a home of Waldorf and Nancy Astor, it was given by Lady Astor to the City of Plymouth as an official residence for future Lord Mayors and is also used today for civic hospitality, as lodgings for visiting dignitaries and High Court judges and it is also available to hire for private events. The Civic Centre municipal office building in Armada Way became a listed building in June 2007 because of its quality and period features. The Council is selling the building to private developers and staff have moved into new accommodation elsewhere in the city. It has retained the adjacent Council House, where it continues to hold its meetings.
Councillors
Elected members of the council hold office for four years and are elected "by thirds", meaning that most of the council's electoral areas have three councillors each and elections for one councillor per area are held in three years out of four. If an area has only two councillors, elections are held in two years out of four. As of 3 May 2012, the councillors for Plymouth were as follows:
| Ward | Councillor (2010) | Councillor (2011) | Councillor (2012) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budshead | Grant Monahan (Con) | Jonathan Drean (Con) | Jon Taylor (Lab) |
| Compton | Ted Fry (Con) | David Stark (Con) | Richard Ball (Con) |
| Devonport | Bill Stevens (Lab) | Mark Coker (Lab)* | Kate Taylor (Lab) |
| Drake | Steven Ricketts (Con) | Chaz Singh (Lab) | N/A |
| Efford and Lipson | David Haydon (Lab) | Pauline Murphy (Lab) | Brian Vincent (Lab)* |
| Eggbuckland | Ian Bowyer (Con)*** | Lynda Bowyer (Con) | Paul Jarvis (Lab) |
| Ham | Ian Gordon (Lab) | Tudor Evans (Lab)** | Tina Tuohy (Lab) |
| Honicknowle | Nicky Williams (Lab)* | Mark Lowry (Lab)* | Peter Smith (Lab)* |
| Moor View | Mike Wright (Lab) | Alison Casey (Lab) | Mike Fox (Lab) |
| Peverell | Martin Leaves (Con) | Dr. John Mahony (Con) Lord Mayor | Patricia Nicholson (Con) |
| Plympton Chaddlewood | Glenn Jordan (Con) | N/A | Dr. David Salter (Con) |
| Plympton Erle | N/A | Terri Beer (Con) | Ian Darcy (Con) |
| Plympton St. Mary | David James (Con) | Patrick Nicholson (Con) | Sam Leaves (Con) |
| Plymstock Dunstone | Vivien Pengelly (Con) | Nigel Churchill (Con) | Kevin Wigens (Con) |
| Plymstock Radford | Wendy Foster (Con) | Ken Foster (Con) | Michael Leaves (Con) |
| Southway | Tom Browne (Con) | John Smith (Lab) | Lorraine Parker (Lab) |
| St. Budeaux | Sally Bowie (Lab) | George Wheeler (Lab) | Danny Damarell (Lab) |
| St. Peter and the Waterfront | Susan McDonald (Lab)* | Chris Penberthy (Lab)* | Ian Tuffin (Lab) |
| Stoke | Jill Dolan (Ind) | Philippa Davey (Lab) | Sam Davey (Lab) |
| Sutton and Mount Gould | Mary Aspinall (Lab) | Jean Nelder (Lab) | Eddie Rennie (Lab) |
* Denotes Cabinet member ** Denotes Leader of the Council *** Denotes Leader of the Opposition
The councillors denoted as being elected in 2010 will next be for election in May 2014.
Lender option borrower option loans
Plymouth City Council is paying interest rates of 3.65 per cent to 4.82 per cent on long term lender option borrower option loans (LOBOs), totalling £100 million. It has 14 active LOBOs.[6]
References
- ↑ "Plymouth". www.devon.gov.uk. Devon County Council. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- ↑ "Coat of Arms". www.plymouth.gov.uk. Plymouth City Council. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- 1 2 "ICO hits the road to crack 'underlying problem' at data-leak councils". The Register. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- ↑ "Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority".
- ↑ Plymouth City Council
- ↑ Sam Blackledge 14 July 2015 Plymouth Herald Plymouth council paying interest on £100million in 'LOBO' loans
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