Ceredigion County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Ceredigion) is the governing body for the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cer ...

, since 1996 one of the

unitary authorities of Wales Since 1 April 1996, Wales has been divided into 22 unitary authority, 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 resp ...

. The council's main offices are in

Aberaeron Aberaeron, previously anglicised as Aberayron, is a town, community, and electoral ward between Aberystwyth and Cardigan, in Ceredigion, Wales. Ceredigion County Council offices are in Aberaeron. The name of the town is Welsh for ''mouth of ...

History

The current council was created on 1 April 1996 under the

Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (c. 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to create the current local government structure in Wales of 22 unitary authority areas, referred to as ...

, replacing

Ceredigion District Council Ceredigion District Council was one of six district-level authorities in the county of Dyfed, Wales, from 1974 until 1996. The district had an identical area to the pre-1974 administrative county of Cardiganshire. From its creation in 1974 the ...

and also taking over county-level functions in the area from Dyfed County Council, which was abolished. The 1994 act specified that the new authority was to have both an English and a Welsh name: Cardiganshire / Sir Aberteifi. The new authority was elected in 1995, but acted as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing district and county councils until the new arrangements took effect the following year. During that time, the shadow authority requested a change of name from Cardiganshire / Sir Aberteifi to Ceredigion for both languages. The government confirmed the change with effect from 2 April 1996, one day after the new council came into being.

Public health

The county had the lowest rates of people infected with or dying from COVID-19 in the British mainland, up to June 2020. The area is naturally rural and holiday attractions and the university were closed down very early. The council set up its own contact tracing system in March 2020.

Political control

The first election to the new council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1996 has been held by the following parties:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1996 have been:

Current composition

As of 5 May 2022. Party with majority control in bold

Council elections

Elections take place every five years. The last full county election took place on 5 May 2022. The next election is due in May 2027. Party with the most elected councillors in bold. Coalition agreements in notes column.

Premises

Since the local government reorganisation in 1996, the council has had its meeting place and main offices at Neuadd Cyngor Ceredigion ( en, Ceredigion Council Hall) at Penmorfa in

. The building was erected in the early 1990s for the council's predecessor,

. When the council was created in 1996 it inherited various offices from its predecessor authorities, including

Swyddfa'r Sir Swyddfa'r Sir ( en, County office) is a Grade II listed former hotel, former main offices of Ceredigion County Council and former Magistrates Court building located in Aberystwyth, well known as the outside of the police station in the BBC Wales po ...

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

, which had been built as the Queen's Hotel in 1866 and had served as the headquarters of the former

Cardiganshire County Council Cardiganshire County Council was the local government authority for the county of Cardiganshire, Wales, between 1889 and 1974. It was superseded by Dyfed County Council. Overview The administrative county of Cardigan and its local authority, the C ...

from 1950 until 1974, then served as an area office for

Dyfed County Council Dyfed County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dyfed) was the county council of the non-metropolitan county of Dyfed in south west Wales. It operated between 1974 and 1996. The county council was based at County Hall, Carmarthen. History Dyfed County Co ...

from 1974 until 1996. The council also inherited

Aberystwyth Town Hall Aberystwyth Town Hall ( cy, Neuadd y Dref Aberystwyth) is a municipal structure in Queen's Square, Aberystwyth, Wales. The structure, which was the headquarters of Aberystwyth Borough Council, has operated since 2012 as a public library and a p ...

, which had been the headquarters of Ceredigion District Council. Both these Aberystwyth offices closed in 2009 when the council opened a new Aberystwyth area office at Canolfan Rheidol in Llanbadarn Fawr on the outskirts of Aberystwyth. The council also has area offices in

Lampeter Lampeter (; cy, Llanbedr Pont Steffan (formal); ''Llambed'' ( colloquial)) is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigion ...

and Cardigan.

Electoral divisions

The county is divided into 40

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 dist ...

returning 42 councillors. There are 50 communities in the area, some of which have their own elected council. Many communities are coterminous with council wards. 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. In ...

are indicated with an asterisk.

Arms

References

External links

Ceredigion County Council
{{Dyfed elections County councils of Wales 1996 establishments in Wales