Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council is the

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

of the

Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham The Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham is a metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its main settlement of Rotherham. The wider borough spans a larger area and covers the outlying towns of Maltby, Swinton, Wath-upo ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, England. It is a

metropolitan borough council A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropol ...

and provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The council has been under Labour majority control since the modern borough was created in 1974. Council meetings are held at Rotherham Town Hall and the council's main offices are at Riverside House.

History

The town of

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

had been a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

from 1871. In 1902 it was elevated to become a county borough, taking over county-level functions from West Riding County Council. The county borough was abolished in 1974 and replaced by the larger

, which also took in the areas of the abolished urban districts of Maltby, Rawmarsh, Swinton, and Wath upon Dearne, plus the Kiveton Park Rural District and Rotherham

Rural District A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

. The enlarged district was named Rotherham after its largest town. The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Rotherham's series of mayors dating back to 1871. Until 1986 the council provided district-level services, with county-level services provided by South Yorkshire County Council. Following the abolition of the county council in 1986, Rotherham also took on county-level services, with some functions provided in joint arrangements with the other South Yorkshire boroughs. In February 2015 the council had certain decision-making powers suspended and transferred to commissioners appointed by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

after the council was severely criticised by the Casey report into the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal. The commissioners were wound up in September 2018, when normal powers were restored to the council.

Governance

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the Local Government Act 1972 and subsequent legislation. For the purposes of local government, Rotherham is within a metropolitan area of England. It provides the majority of local government services in Rotherham, including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, processing planning applications, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority. The council appoints members to South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority, the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel and it is a constituent council of the

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) is the Combined authorities and combined county authorities, combined authority for South Yorkshire in England, with powers over transport (public transport and major trunk roads only), econ ...

. Parts of the borough are covered by

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

es, which form a second tier of local government for their areas.

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since the creation of the metropolitan borough in 1974.

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Rotherham. Political leadership is instead provided by the

leader of the council Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

. The leaders since 1990 have been:

Composition

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was: The next election is due in May 2028.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2020 the council has comprised 59

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s representing 25 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Premises

The council meets at Rotherham Town Hall on The Crofts in the centre of Rotherham, which had been built as a courthouse in 1929 and was bought by the council in 1985 to use as a town hall. The council has its main offices at a modern building called Riverside House on Main Street, which it moved to in 2011. Prior to moving to Riverside House the main offices were at the Civic Building on Walker Place, a 1970s building which was subsequently demolished to make way for a supermarket.

References

External links

Council website
* {{Metropolitan districts of England Metropolitan district councils of England Local authorities in South Yorkshire Leader and cabinet executives Local education authorities in England Billing authorities in England 1974 establishments in England

Borough Council A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...