Leicestershire County Council

Infobox UK local authority
name = Leicestershire County Council
hq = County Hall, Glenfield
area = Leicestershire
start = 1889
end =
lawstart = Local Government Act 1888
lawend =
arms=


type = County council

Leicestershire County Council is the county council for the English non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire. It was originally formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county is divided into 52 electoral divisions, which return a total of 55 councillors. The council is controlled by the Conservative Party, and is led by David Parsons. The headquarters of the council is County Hall at Glenfield, just outside the city of Leicester. Leicestershire County Council is one of a growing minority of local councils to prohibit flying the national flag on Local Government buildings, which has caused controversy.

Area

From its establishment in 1889 to 1974 the county council covered the administrative county of Leicestershire, excluding Leicester. In 1974 the Local Government Act reconstituted Leicestershire County Council, adding the former county borough of Leicester, and the small county of Rutland to the area. On April 1, 1997 these were removed from the County Council area again, to become unitary authorities.

Districts and Boroughs

Leicestershire has three tiers of local government. These tiers are the county council, seven district or borough councils and parish councils. In urban areas the work of the parish council is likely to be undertaken by the county or district council. The seven district councils in Leicestershire are [ [http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/your_council/local_democracy/council_local_gov.htm Leicestershire County Council site] ] :
* Blaby District Council
* Charnwood Borough Council
* Harborough District Council
* Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council
* Melton Borough Council
* North West Leicestershire District Council
* Oadby & Wigston Borough CouncilThese district councils are responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism [http://tellmeabout.thelocalchannel.co.uk/home.aspx?p=0&m=86 The Local Channel accessed 20th June 2007] ]

They leave the subjects of education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport policy and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning for Leicestershire to the County Council.

Political control

The most recent election was the May 2005 elections, where all seats were up for re-election. Leicestershire County Council consists of 55 elected members.

Elections were held for the reconstituted county council (including Leicester and Rutland) in 1973, leading to No Overall Control. 1977 saw the Conservative Party take control, but they lost it again in 1981. Elections in 1985, 1989, 1993 and 1997 continued No Overall Control. The Conservatives took control in 2001, helped in part by the removal of the strongly Labour-voting Leicester from the county. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/locals/html/3867.stm Local election results: Leicestershire, BBC, May 2005] accessed June 2007]

Departments

There are six departments:

*Corporate Resources (including Property, Financial Services and ICT Services)
*Highways, Transportation and Waste Management
*Adult Social Care
*Children's and Young People's Service
*Community Services (Libraries, Environment and Heritage, Trading Standards etc.)
*Chief Executives (Policy, publicity)

Increasingly governance is breaking away from the departmental structure and becoming programme-based. There are currently six major programmes:

*Organisational Efficiency (mostly financial projects)
*People and Performance (human resources)
*Customer First (service shops and call centres)
*Work Well (mobile and flexible working)
*Highways Service Efficiency
*Waste Strategy

Electoral divisions

References

External links

* [http://www.leics.gov.uk Leicestershire County Council]