Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor bwrdeistref Sirol Blaenau Gwent) is the governing body for

Blaenau Gwent Blaenau Gwent (; ) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders the unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west and Powys to the north. Its main towns are Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw ...

, one of the Principal Areas of Wales.

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, subdivision ...

council with

borough status Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district. In Scotland, ...

Gwent County Council Gwent County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Gwent) was the upper-tier local authority that governed the county of Gwent in South Wales from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. For most of its existence, the county council was based in Cwmbra ...

provided county-level services for the area. The county council was abolished in 1996 and Blaenau Gwent became a principal area 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 te ...

status, with the council taking over the functions previously performed by the county council. Borough status allows Blaenau Gwent to give the chair of the council the title of mayor. However, the council discontinued the role of mayor in 2017, with the last mayor being Barrie Sutton. 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 2001 have been:

Current composition

As of 11 May 2022: Party with majority control in bold.

Elections

Summary of the council composition after council elections, click on the year for full details of each election.
Party with the most elected councillors in bold. Coalition agreements in notes column Prior to May 2017 the Labour Party had firm control of Blaenau Gwent council, with 30 seats. However, at the May 2017 council elections the numbers of Labour councillors was greatly reduced, with the Independents winning majority control. The

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

and Greens failed to win any seats. Labour regained a majority control of the council at the 2022 local elections. The former

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

leader of the council, Nigel Daniels, lost his seat. On 11 May 2022 Carl Bainton joined the Labour Group after being elected as an Independent councillor.

Premises

Until 2021 the council was based at Ebbw Vale Civic Centre, which had been built in the 1960s for the former Ebbw Vale Urban District Council. In 2021 the council voted to demolish the civic centre and moved its meeting place and headquarters to the General Office building adjoining

Ebbw Vale Town railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Ebbw Vale Town railway station, Blaenau Gwent - geograph.org.uk - 4613990.jpg , borough = Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent , country = Wales , c ...

. The General Office building had been built in 1916 as the offices for the Ebbw Vale Iron and Steel Company. The refurbished and extended building also serves as a conference centre and houses Gwent Archives.

Electoral wards

Following a review by the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales the number of electoral wards reduced from 16 to 14 at the 2022 local elections. The number of councillors dropped from 42 to 33. The following table lists the pre-2022 council wards, as well as 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. I ...

are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Criticism of councillors' conduct

Joanne Collins, the council's executive member for education and also a governor of her son's primary school took her family on holiday during school term time, "in direct contravention of her department's own policy", reported Private Eye in April 2020. The council reportedly distributes a pamphlet titled "School Attendance - a guide for parents of children starting school" that clearly states Blaenau Gwent Council "requested headteachers do not authorise any holidays in term time". The booklet had been published by Families First, a Welsh Government project, in conjunction with the council. Collins' action reportedly caused resentment among local families who had been refused permission to take a holiday during term time to save on cost. In response, council leader, Nigel Daniels, issued a statement to the ''South Wales Argus'' newspaper stating the "holiday in question was authorised ... and fully complied with the policy".Private Eye, Issue 1519, p.18

Arms

References

External links

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council
{{Authority control Politics of Blaenau Gwent