Brighton and Hove City Council is the local authority of the city of

Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and H ...

. It is a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Council Tax billing,

libraries A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...

, social services, processing planning applications, highways, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority.

Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the Local Government Act 1972 and subsequent legislation. For the purposes of local government, Brighton and Hove is within a non-metropolitan area of England. As a

, Brighton and Hove City Council has the powers and functions of both a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. In its capacity as a district council it is a billing authority collecting Council Tax and business rates, it processes local planning applications, it is responsible for

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether ...

, waste collection and environmental health. In its capacity as a county council it is a

local education authority Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wit ...

, responsible for social services, libraries and waste disposal.

Museums service

The council's museums service takes the name Royal Pavilion & Museums, and operates the

Royal Pavilion The Royal Pavilion, and surrounding gardens, also known as the Brighton Pavilion, is a Grade I listed former royal residence located in Brighton, England. Beginning in 1787, it was built in three stages as a seaside retreat for George, Princ ...

Brighton Museum and Art Gallery Brighton Museum & Art Gallery is a municipally-owned public museum and art gallery in the city of Brighton and Hove in the South East of England. It is part of the "Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton and Hove". It is free for local residents ...

, Hove Museum and Art Gallery, the

Booth Museum of Natural History Booth Museum of Natural History is a charitable trust managed, municipally-owned museum of natural history in the city of Brighton and Hove in the South East of England. Its focus is on Victorian taxidermy, especially of British birds, as well ...

and Preston Manor.

Political control

The current makeup of the council is: Since the first election to the council in 1996 political control of the council has been held by the following parties: The Green led council from 2011 to 2015 was the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. The Greens regained control of the Council in 2020, after the incumbent Labour administration collapsed and made way for a Green minority government.

Councillors and wards

When Brighton Borough Council and Hove Borough Council merged in 1996 the wards were carried over from the respective councils who had both been under East Sussex County Council. There were originally 26 wards each with three councillors each, totalling 78 councillors in the newly created Brighton and Hove Borough Council: Brunswick and Adelaide, Goldsmid, Hangleton, Hanover, Hollingbury, Kings Cliff, Marine, Moulsecoomb, Nevill, North Portslade, Patcham, Portslade South, Preston, Queens Park, Regency, Rottingdean, Seven Dials, St. Peters, Stanford, Stanmer, Tenantry, Vallance, Westbourne, Westdene, Wish, Woodingdean

Brighton and Hove City Council election 2003 map

The 2001 boundary review reduced the wards to 21 wards with a mix of two or three councillors each totalling 54 councillors for the then city council. These boundary were used in the 2003 election for the first time with the following wards: Brunswick and Adelaide, Central Hove, East Brighton, Goldsmid, Hangleton and Knoll, Hanover and Elm Grove, Hollingbury and Stanmer (which then became Hollingdean and Stanmer in 2007), Stanford (which became Hove Park in 2007), Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, North Portslade, Patcham, Preston Park, Queen's Park, Regency, Rottingdean Coastal, South Portslade, St Peter's and North Laine, Westbourne, Wish, Withdean, Woodingdean. Latest results for Brighton and Hove City Councillors by ward: Brighton_and_Hove_City_Council_election_2019_map

Brighton_and_Hove_City_Council_election_2019_map

Duke and Duchess of Sussex debate

In December 2018 Brighton and Hove City Council held a debate in response to a petition on behalf of residents which called on the council to reject the usage of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex title, which is "disrespectful to the county of East Sussex".

References

{{Authority control Unitary authority councils of England Local education authorities in England Local authorities in East Sussex Billing authorities in England Brighton and Hove