City Of Wolverhampton Council
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

City of Wolverhampton Council is the governing body of the city of
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
, England. It was previously known as Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council (WMBC) prior to the award of
city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...
in 2000, and also as Wolverhampton City Council before adopting the "City of Wolverhampton" branding in 2015.


Organisation

The council offices are at the Civic Centre, which is located in St. Peter's Square in the city centre. The Labour Party currently controls the council and have been in majority on the council since 1974, with the exceptions of 1978–1979, 1987, 1992–1994 and 2008–2010. The leader of the council is Ian Brookfield. The deputy leader is Stephen Simkins after Louise Miles lost her Oxley seat to 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 ...
at the Local Elections in 2021. The council has a Leader and Cabinet model of executive arrangements, with each Cabinet Member having political responsibility for assigned service areas. The council has a total of 60 Councillors (currently 44 Labour and 16 Conservative). Tim Johnson serves as the council's Chief Executive Officer and chairs the Authority's Strategic Executive Board of Directors comprising Mark Taylor (Deputy Chief Executive Officer), David Pattison (Director of Governance, Monitoring Officer and Solicitor to the City Council), Emma Bennett (Director of Children's Services, including Education provision) and Claire Nye (Director of Finance and Section 151 Officer). At the Local Government's prestigious Municipal Journal National Awards in 2017, the council won Local Authority of the Year, Most Improved Local Authority of the Year, Leadership Team of the Year and Governance & Scrutiny Team of the Year. Other key achievements in 2017 included the council's Children's Services being rated as "Good" following an OFSTED inspection, the council has been accredited with "Achieving" status for its commitment to equality & diversity following a Local Government Association peer assessment and the council's Mayoralty team was awarded "Civic Team of the Year" by the National Association of Civic Officers. The council's housing stock is managed by
Wolverhampton Homes Wolverhampton Homes is an Arms-length management organisation, Arms-length Management Organisation (ALMO) which manages properties owned by Wolverhampton City Council, in Wolverhampton, England. It was established in 2005 and is a registered mem ...
.


Council affiliation


Wards

There are 20
wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...
of City of Wolverhampton Council: A map showing the ward boundaries is available.


History

Wolverhampton gained the beginnings of modern local government in 1777, when the Wolverhampton Improvement Act was passed by Parliament. This allowed for the establishment of 125 Town Commissioners who undertook a variety of local improvement work such as punishing bear baiting, improving drainage, widening streets and by the end of the century street lighting had been provided at every street corner and over the doorway of every inn, and water supply had been improved by the sinking of ten new wells and the provision of a great water tank in the market place. Policing had been improved with the appointment of ten watchmen and attempts were also made to regulate the markets and inspect hazardous food. Wolverhampton was incorporated as a
municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...
in 1848 under the
Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will 4 c 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The legisl ...
and the first meeting of the council, consisting of 12 Aldermen and 36 Councillors, was held on 22 May 1848. The town was then made a
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 ter ...
in 1889 under the
Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
. In 1933, the boundaries of the borough expanded, taking in areas from
Cannock Rural District Cannock was a rural district in Staffordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was created by the Local Government Act 1894, based on the Cannock rural sanitary district, and had the town of Cannock on its eastern border. In 1934 it was expanded b ...
and
Seisdon Rural District Seisdon was a rural district in Staffordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It lays west of Wolverhampton and was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 based on the Seisdon rural sanitary district. Villages in the district included Kinver, W ...
, with very little of the surrounding urban area being affected, with only
Heath Town Heath Town is a district of the City of Wolverhampton, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, located east of the city centre. It is also a Ward (politics), ward of City of Wolverhampton Council. The ward forms part of the Wolverham ...
Urban District being abolished. The bulk of the
urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...
s of Bilston (a borough itself after 1933),
Tettenhall Tettenhall is an historic village within the City of Wolverhampton, England. Tettenhall became part of Wolverhampton in 1966, along with Bilston, Wednesfield and parts of Willenhall, Coseley and Sedgley. History Tettenhall's name derives fro ...
and
Wednesfield Wednesfield is a town and historic village in the City of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, It is east-northeast of Wolverhampton city centre and about from Birmingham and is part of the West Midlands conurbation. It was historically wi ...
were added to the borough in 1966, along with the northern section of the urban district of
Coseley Coseley ( ) is a village in the north of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, in the English West Midlands. Part of the Black Country, it is situated approximately north of Dudley itself, on the border with Wolverhampton. Though it is a part of ...
and parts from the north of
Sedgley Sedgley is a town in the north of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, Sedgley is on the A459 road between Wolverhampt ...
and the west of
Willenhall Willenhall is a market town situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands, England, with a population taken at the 2011 census of 28,480. It is situated between Wolverhampton and Walsall, historically in the county of St ...
. The vast majority of these areas were traditionally part of the Parish of Wolverhampton, and were part of the original Parliamentary Borough. Wolverhampton had no further changes made to its boundaries during the 1974 reorganisation of local government, the borough already having a population larger than the 250,000 required for education authorities. This contrasted with both the
Redcliffe-Maud Report The Redcliffe-Maud Report (Cmnd. 4040) was published in 1969 by the '' Royal Commission on Local Government in England'', under the chairmanship of Lord Redcliffe-Maud. Although the commission's proposals were broadly accepted by the Labour gove ...
, and the initial White Paper for the 1974 reformsHMSO. ''Local Government in England: Government Proposals for Reorganisation''. Cmnd. 4584 where large areas of the present
South Staffordshire South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. The district lies to the north and west of the West Midlands county, bordering Shropshire to the west and Worcestershire to the south. It contains notable settlements ...
district were to be added to the borough. During the 1974 reforms it was placed within the West Midlands Metropolitan County.


Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Wolverhampton was granted on 31 December 1898, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the council. The various symbols within the arms are representative of the history of the city. The book represents the education within the city, specifically the 16th century
Wolverhampton Grammar School Wolverhampton Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Wolverhampton, England. History Initially a grammar school for boys, WGS was founded in 1512 by Sir Stephen Jenyns, a master of the ancient guild of Merchant Taylors, who ...
; the woolpack represents the mediaeval woollen trade within the city; the column is a representation of the Saxon pillar that can be found within the churchyard of St. Peter's Collegiate Church in the city centre; whilst the keys are representative of the church itself and its dedication to St. Peter. The padlock represents one of the major industries of the area at the time of the granting of the arms – that of lock-making; whilst the brazier at the top is indicative of the general metal-working industries in the area. The cross is ascribed to King Edgar. The motto on the coat of arms is 'Out of Darkness Cometh Light'. Prior to 1898 there was a former coat of arms that had been in use since 1848, though these arms were never officially granted.Wolverhampton Borough Council Coat of Arms
/ref>


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolverhampton Council, City of
Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
Local authorities in the West Midlands (county) Metropolitan district councils of England