Cheshire West and Chester Council is the local authority of

Cheshire West and Chester Cheshire West and Chester is a unitary authority with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 local government changes, by virtue of an order under the Local Governm ...

. 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 governme ...

, 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, social services, processing planning applications, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority. The council was first elected on 1 May 2008, a year before coming into its legal powers on 1 April 2009. After an election in May 2019, no party holds overall control.

Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from 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 ...

and subsequent legislation. It has a '

general power of competence "Everything which is not forbidden is allowed" is a legal maxim. It is the concept that any action can be taken unless there is a law against it. It is also known in some situations as the "general power of competence" whereby the body or person ...

' as described in the Localism Act 2011, i.e. it is permitted to act in any manner whatsoever which is not unlawful. For the purposes of local government,

is one of the fifty-five unitary authorities in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. This means that is the only principal authority in its territorial jurisdiction, and it has the statutory powers and functions of both a

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term ''shire county'' is, however, an unoffi ...

and a

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non ...

council. The only exceptions to this are the fire and police services, which are still provided on a

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

-wide basis by joint boards composed of elected councillors and are funded by a

Council Tax Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge, which in turn re ...

precept. Conversely, it is unnecessary for Cheshire West and Chester Council to set a precept for itself as it is also a billing authority.

Premises

When created in 2009, the council inherited several administrative buildings from its predecessors, notably including Chester Town Hall and the adjoining offices at The Forum from Chester City Council, the Council Offices at 4 Civic Way in Ellesmere Port from

Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council Ellesmere ( ) may refer to: Places Australia * Ellesmere, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland * the former name of Scottsdale, Tasmania, Australia Canada * Ellesmere Island, an Arctic island of Canada and named for ...

, and Wyvern House on The Drumber in

Winsford Winsford is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the River Weaver south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around ...

from

Vale Royal Borough Council A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municipa ...

. The abolished Cheshire County Council's former headquarters at County Hall passed jointly to both Cheshire West and Chester Council and its neighbour Cheshire East Council. County Hall was sold to the University of Chester in 2010, and Cheshire West and Chester Council moved its main offices to a new building called HQ Chester at 58 Nicholas Street in Chester, whilst retaining the other buildings as local offices and additional accommodation. The HQ Chester building did not contain a council chamber, and most full council meetings were held at Wyvern House in Winsford, except the annual council meeting which was usually held at Chester Town Hall. Committee meetings were held at various venues. This pattern continued until March 2020 when in-person meetings were suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. Since the resumption of in-person meetings in May 2021, most committee meetings have been held at Ellesmere Port Library, whilst larger venues have been hired for full council meetings. In 2022 the council moved its main offices to a new building called The Portal on Wellington Road in Ellesmere Port (opposite the library), and vacated most of the space it had formerly occupied at HQ Chester.

Political control

Since the 2019 election election the council has been under no overall control, with Louise Gittins of Labour serving as

leader of the council In England, local authorities are required to adopt one of three types of executive arrangements, having either an "elected mayor and cabinet", a "leader and cabinet", or a "committee system". The type of arrangement used determines how decisions ...

. The next election is due in 2023. Council seats since 2008

Cabinet

Source:

Councillors

Notes

References

{{Authority control Leader and cabinet executives Unitary authority councils of England Local education authorities in England Local authorities in Cheshire Billing authorities in England 2009 establishments in England Cheshire West and Chester