Leicestershire County Council is the

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

for the English

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term ''shire county'' is, however, an unoffi ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire ...

. It was originally formed in 1889 by the

Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

. The county is divided into 52

electoral division An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polit ...

s, which return a total of 55 councillors. The council is controlled by the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. The leader of the county council is currently Nick Rushton, who was elected to the post in September 2012. The headquarters of the council is County Hall beside the A50 at Glenfield, just outside the city of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

in Blaby district.

History

From its establishment in 1889 to 1974, the county council covered the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

of Leicestershire, excluding

. In 1974, the Local Government Act reconstituted Leicestershire County Council, adding the former

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...

of Leicester, and the small county of

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

to the area. On 1 April 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 all of which charge a mandatory tax in return for a service. In urban areas the work of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

council is likely to be undertaken by the county or district council. The seven district councils in Leicestershire are: * Blaby District Council *

Charnwood Borough Council Charnwood may refer to: County of Leicestershire, United Kingdom * Borough of Charnwood, a local government district in the county of Leicestershire, England ** Charnwood Borough Council elections * Charnwood (ward), an electoral ward and admini ...

* Harborough District Council * Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council * Melton Borough Council * North West Leicestershire District Council * Oadby & Wigston Borough Council These district councils are responsible for local planning and

building control Building automation (BAS), also known as building management system (BMS) or building energy management system (BEMS), is the automatic centralized control of a building's HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), electrical, lighting, ...

, local roads,

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

environmental health Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment affecting human health. In order to effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements that must be met in ...

, markets and fairs,

refuse collection Waste collection is a part of the process of waste management. It is the transfer of solid waste from the point of use and disposal to the point of treatment or landfill. Waste collection also includes the curbside collection of recyclable ...

and

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The Energy recycling, recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability t ...

cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...

and

crematoria Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre ...

, leisure services, parks, and tourism

Political control

Leicestershire County Council consists of 55 elected members, from 52 wards. The most recent election was the May 2017 elections, where all seats were up for re-election. Following these elections the current political composition of the council is as follows. Elections were held for the reconstituted county council (including Leicester and Rutland) in 1973, leading to no overall control. 1977 saw the

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. The council's cabinet has, as of May 2021, the following members, with the following portfolios: * Nick Rushton – Leadership of the Council locally, regionally and nationally. Growth & Infrastructure. *Deborah Taylor – Deputy Leader. Children and Family Services (the designated lead member for children and young people), Community Safety and Safeguarding, Regulatory Services, County Council representative on Police and Crime Panel. *Peter Bedford - Post-Covid Recovery and Ways of Working. (The portfolio includes responsibilities for Transformation previously within the Resources portfolio). *Lee Breckon - Resources i.e. Functions of the Corporate Resources Department: finance, property, ICT and human resources, and the operational aspects of those functions. *Ozzy O'Shea – Highways, Transportation and Flooding (This includes the flooding responsibilities of the Environment and Transport Department, and the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy). *Blake Pain - Environment and the Green Agenda. (Responsibility for waste management and disposal sits with this portfolio, as does the County planning function, the Environment Strategy and related strategies). *Pam Posnett - Community and Staff Relations (Includes Broadband). *Christine Radford - Adults and Communities *Louise Richardson - Health. Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board. *Richard Shepherd - Support for Resources portfolio.

Departments

There are six departments: *Corporate Resources (including property, finance, HR, communications, country parks and traded services) *Environment and Transport (including highways, transport and waste) *Adults and Communities (including adult social care, museums, libraries and adult learning) *Children and Family Services (including children's social care and school support) *Public health (which commissions a wide range of public health services, including smoking cessation, school nurses and sport and fitness programmes) *Chief Executive's (including policy, democratic services, trading standards, registration services, planning, legal services)

Key responsibilities

In the five years to 2015, the council's roles and responsibilities changed significantly, due to austerity savings, the transfer of public health from the NHS to the council and many schools becoming academies, independent of the council. However, that still left a number of key responsibilities. As of December 2015, these are: social care for adults and children; support for schools; highways and transport; public health; waste disposal; economic development; libraries and museums; strategic planning; trading standards; country parks; registration of births, marriages and deaths; and community leadership.

Financial situation

The council claims to be the lowest-funded county council, yet one of the top three best performers, across a wide range of indicators. From 2010–2015, the council has had to save £100 million – two-thirds as efficiency savings and the remainder from services. The council has predicted it will have to save more from services as austerity continues, with a further £100 million-plus of savings required over the next four years. As of 2015/16, the council's annual budget was £348 million and it had just over 5,000 full-time equivalent staff.

Electoral divisions

Notable members

Charles Manners, 10th Duke of Rutland Charles John Robert Manners, 10th Duke of Rutland, (28 May 1919 – 4 January 1999), styled Marquess of Granby until 1940, was a British peer and landowner. Biography He was the son of John Manners, 9th Duke of Rutland, by his wife Kathleen M ...

, was a county councillor 1945–1985 and Chairman 1974–1977.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1889 establishments in England County councils of England Leader and cabinet executives Local authorities in Leicestershire Local education authorities in England Major precepting authorities in England Organisations based in Leicestershire