Norwich City Council is the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

for the city of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, Norfolk, England. It consists of 39 councillors, elected to represent 13

ward 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 pris ...

s, each with three councillors. It is currently under

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

control and led by Alan Waters. It forms the lower tier of local government in Norwich, responsible for local services such as housing, planning, leisure and tourism.

History

The council was established in 1974 following the implementation of 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 ...

, which replaced the

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 te ...

of Norwich. Since then the city has been governed by two tiers of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

. The upper tier is

Norfolk County Council Norfolk County Council is the top-tier local government authority for Norfolk, England. Its headquarters are based in the city of Norwich. Below it there are 7 second-tier local government district councils: Breckland District, Broadland Distr ...

, which manages strategic services such as schools, social services and libraries across the county of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. The lower tier is Norwich City Council, which manages local services such as housing, planning, leisure and tourism. In 2010 it was proposed to convert Norwich to a unitary authority, but this was blocked by the coalition government in 2010.

Composition

The current composition, following the 2022 City Council elections, is as follows: In February 2010 the strength of parties on the council was: Labour Party 15, Green Party 13, Liberal Democrats 6 and Conservatives 5. The Labour Party formed a minority administration, holding all seats on the eight-member executive. Following the High Court decision that the order for a unitary council was unlawful, the 13 councillors who should have stood at the May election were told that they were no longer councillors. An election for these 13 seats was held on 9 September 2010. The Conservatives lost one seat to Labour, and the Liberal Democrats lost one seat to the Greens, resulting in a new council composition of 16 Labour, 14 Green, five Liberal Democrat and four Conservative. In the May 2014 council elections, 14 seats were contested. There was no change in seats compared to the previous council composition, with Labour retaining control of the council. Following the May 2014 election, the composition was: Labour Party 21, Green Party 15, Liberal Democrats 3.

Coat of arms

The city council's arms consist of a red shield featuring a silver-domed castle above a royal lion. The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vi ...

of the arms is:

Gules, a castle triple-towered and domed Argent; in base a lion passant guardant Or.

The arms appeared on a 15th-century seal and were confirmed during a

heraldic visitation Heraldic visitations were tours of inspection undertaken by Kings of Arms (or alternatively by heralds, or junior officers of arms, acting as their deputies) throughout England, Wales and Ireland. Their purpose was to register and regulate the ...

in 1562 by

William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions in anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, the systemic circulation and propert ...

Clarenceux King of Arms Clarenceux King of Arms, historically often spelled Clarencieux (both pronounced ), is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Clarenceux is the senior of the two provincial kings of arms and his jurisdiction is that part of Engla ...

. According to

Wilfrid Scott-Giles Charles Wilfrid (or Wilfred) Scott-Giles (24 October 1893 – 1982) was an English writer on heraldry and an officer of arms, who served as Fitzalan Pursuivant Extraordinary. Life Charles Wilfrid Giles was born in Southampton on 24 October 1893, ...

, the royal lion was said to have been granted by Edward III. By the 19th century the city corporation had added supporters to the arms—two angels—which were surmounted by a fur cap. These apparently originated in a carving of about 1534 outside

Norwich Guildhall Norwich Guildhall is a municipal building on Gaol Hill in the city of Norwich, United Kingdom. It is a Grade I listed building. History The guildhall was commissioned after King Henry IV awarded a charter to the City of Norwich giving it auto ...

. A. C. Fox-Davies noted that "whether or not these figures were then intended for heraldic supporters is a matter for dispute. At any rate there is no official authority for their use". Following the abolition of the

of Norwich in 1974, an

Order in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...

transferred the ancient coat of arms (the shield alone) to the newly created city council. The city council has also received the grant of an heraldic badge, depicting the seal of 1404 encircled by the Lord Mayor's chain.

References

External links

Norwich City Council
{{Authority control Politics of Norwich Non-metropolitan district councils of England Councillors in Norfolk Local authorities in Norfolk Billing authorities in England Leader and cabinet executives 1974 establishments in England