Torfaen County Borough Council () is the governing body for

Torfaen Torfaen (; cy, Torfaen ) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. Torfaen is bordered by the county of Monmouthshire to the east, the city of Newport to the south, and the county boroughs of Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent to the south-w ...

, one of the

Principal Areas of Wales Since 1 April 1996, Wales has been divided into 22 single-tier principal areas ( cy, Awdurdodau unedol), styled as counties or county boroughs ( or ) for local government purposes. The elected councils of these areas are responsible for the pr ...

History

The borough council was created in 1974 under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

as a lower-tier

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

council with borough status. Gwent County Council provided county-level services for the area. The county council was abolished in 1996 and Torfaen became a

principal area {{Short description, Formal legal term for a county in England and Wales In England and Wales local government legislation, a principal area is one of the sub-national areas established for control by a principal council. They include most of the a ...

with

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 t ...

status, with the council taking over the functions previously performed by the county council. Borough status allows Torfaen to give the chair of the council the title of mayor. However, the council discontinued the role of mayor in 2018. A presiding member role has been created instead to chair meetings.

Political control

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been held by the following parties: Lower-tier borough County borough

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1984 have been:

Current composition

As at 5 May 2022: Party with majority control in bold.

Elections

Summary of the council composition after council elections: Party with the most elected councillors in bold. Coalition agreements in notes column

Premises

The council is based at the Civic Centre on Hanbury Road in Pontypool, comprising Pontypool Town Hall, built in 1856, and a large extension to it which was built in 1991. Between 1996 and 2012, the council also used the six-storey former Gwent County Hall at

Croesyceiliog Croesyceiliog (, ''Cockerel's Cross'') is a suburb of Cwmbran, Wales. Housing Croesyceiliog is primarily a residential district and contains a wide variety of housing from Victorian terraces and even older Welsh cottages to property built bet ...

Cwmbran Cwmbran ( ; cy, Cwmbrân , also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales. Lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was designated as a New Town in 1949 to prov ...

, sharing the building with

Monmouthshire County Council Monmouthshire County Council (or simply Monmouthshire Council) ( cy, Cyngor Sir Fynwy) is the governing body for the Monmouthshire principal area – one of the unitary authorities of Wales. The current unitary authority was created in 1996 a ...

. County Hall closed because of " concrete cancer" and was later demolished, with the council consolidating its offices at the Civic Centre in Pontypool.

Mayoralty

The roles of mayor and deputy mayor were removed from the council in May 2018 as part of the 2018/19 budget. Instead, the council created the post of Presiding Member and Deputy Presiding Member to chair council meetings. From May 2018, the roles and functions undertaken by a mayor have been undertaken by the leader of the council and cabinet members.

Past Mayors

The mayors of Torfaen from 1974 until the post's abolition in 2018 were: 1974–1974: G M Day
1974–1975: D B Richards
1975–1976: M L Lee
1976–1977: D W Puddle
1977–1978: G S R Powell
1978–1979: S E A James
1979–1980: A J Davies
1980–1981: G S Evans
1981–1982: K Morgan
1982–1983: P Roberts
1983–1984: G I Davies
1984–1985: C Little
1985–1986: H J Rosser
1986–1986: C G Thomas
1986–1988: D J Lloyd
1988–1989: W M Howell
1989–1990: B J Cunningham
1990–1991: S Richards
1991–1992: D J Rex
1992–1993: T Davies
1993–1994: F H Bacon
1994–1995: M H Morgan
1995–1996: D Miller
1996–1997: S Smith
1997–1998: S J Brooks
1998–1999: K Edmunds
1999–2000: B I Ryan
2000–2001: G R Clark
2001–2002: C Thomas
2002–2003: Jack Everson
2003–2004: Doug Davies
2004–2005: Yvonne Warren
2005–2006: Lyndon Irwin
2006–2007: Mary Barnett
2007–2008: Bill King
2008–2009: Nye James
2009–2010: Bob Jones
2010–2011: Tom Huish
2011–2012: Philip Seabourne
2012–2013: Wayne Tomlinson
2013–2014: Neil Mason
2014–2015: Mandy Owen
2015–2016: Giles Davies
2016–2017: Veronica Crick
2017–2018: Jessica Powell

Electoral divisions

The county borough is divided into 20

electoral wards The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ward is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil parishes and borough and distr ...

, returning 40 councillors. There are 6 elected community councils in the region. The following table lists council wards, communities and associated geographical areas. Communities with a

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. ...

are indicated with a '*':

References

External links

Torfaen County Borough Council
{{Authority control Torfaen

1996 establishments in Wales