D.15 Local government is responsible for the social, economic and environmental well being of the area it administers, and maintaining public services and facilities, from parks and education to social services and transport. This section looks at the structure, funding and roles of local government in the South West. It also looks at the local partnerships responsible for ensuring that government and communities work together.
D.16 There are two different structures of governance in the South West. The two-tier structure sees responsibilities shared between a county council and the area's component district councils. There are also single-tier unitary authorities, where all services are the responsibility of one council.
D.17 Currently, there are 41 local authorities in the South West. Four of these are county councils that between them contain a total of 25 district councils. Outside of the county governance structure, the region also has 12 unitary authorities.
D.18 The two youngest unitary authorities in the South West are Cornwall and Wiltshire, both of which came into effect in April 2009. Both were previously counties with districts within them, and made successful bids for unitary status following the 2006 Local Government White Paper.
D.19 As at May 2010, three of the 16 current county and unitary authorities have no overall political majority in terms of number of council seats (Bath and North East Somerset, Cornwall and South Gloucestershire). Ten of the 25 district councils also have no overall majority. The lack of an overall majority does not mean that there is a political stalemate, and the executive cabinets of many councils effectively share power between parties. Other councils may have single party cabinets, even though that party does not hold a majority of seats.
South West Unitary and County Authorities: Political Majorities at May 2010
South West Unitary and District Authorities, Political Majorities at May 2010
D.20 Torbay is the only South West council among twelve in England that have a directly elected mayor (as at May 2010). This is one of the three options for executive models, all with four-year terms. The other two options are a directly elected cabinet, or a cabinet appointed by a leader elected by the council. However, less populous authorities are still allowed to operate a non-cabinet reformed committee system. Some of the smaller South West districts operate with these 'alternative arrangements'.
D.21 The table below shows the change in political majorities among local authorities in the South West over the past three years (i.e. at the last four local election dates). Over this period, the largest number of councils have been Conservative controlled, whereas Labour have not held majorities on any councils.
Table 1: Political majorities of County, Unitary and District Councils in the South West: May 2007 - May 2010
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At May 2007
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At May 2008
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At June 2009
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May 2010
|
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Conservative
|
25
|
24
|
24
|
23
|
|
Labour
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Liberal Democrat
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5
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4
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2
|
3
|
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Independent
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2
|
3
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2
|
2
|
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No overall majority
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19
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20
|
13
|
13
|
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Source: Local Authority Websites
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