Sheffield 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 metropolitan borough of Sheffield in

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. I ...

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 ...

. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under No Overall Control, with Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundati ...

each holding chair positions in a proportionate number of committees, with Labour chairing four Committees, the Liberal Democrats chairing three and the

Greens Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...

chairing two.

History

The council was founded as the Corporation of Sheffield in 1843, when Sheffield was incorporated (see

History of Sheffield The history of Sheffield, a city in South Yorkshire, England, can be traced back to the founding of a settlement in a clearing beside the River Sheaf in the second half of the 1st millennium AD. The area now known as Sheffield had seen human o ...

). In 1889, it attained

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 t ...

status and in 1893

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 1974, 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 ...

, reconstituted the City Council as a metropolitan district council of

, governed also by South Yorkshire County Council. It established a system of 90 councillors, three to each of 30 wards. This was reduced in 1980 with the merger of the Attercliffe and Darnall wards to 87 councillors in 29 wards. In 1986, the abolition of metropolitan county councils saw Sheffield City Council become 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 ...

, the modern equivalent of the county borough it had been before 1974. In 2004, the local wards were completely reorganised, producing 28 new wards and 84 councillors. In April 2014, the Sheffield City Council voted to recognize the right to self-determination of Somaliland, an

autonomous region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy� ...

in northwestern

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

, the first city council to do so. The gesture is purely ceremonial and carries no legal weight. The UK government and the international community officially recognise Somaliland as a part of Somalia. In August 2019, a governance petition was submitted to the council, asking for a referendum on changing the council's governance system. The petition, organised by the Sheffield community group It's Our City!, was signed by over 26000 people (approximately 6.6% of the Sheffield City Council electorate). In September 2019 this petition was accepted as valid under the provisions of the Localism Act 2011, forcing the council to hold a referendum on changing the council's

executive arrangements 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 ...

from the Leader and Cabinet system to a Committee system. The referendum was postponed from May 2020 (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 ...

) and took place on 6 May 2021, with 65% voting for change to a Committee system.

Political control

Since 2021 the council has been under no overall control. At the 2021 elections, Labour lost its majority on the council, and its leader, Bob Johnson, lost his seat on the council. A coalition between Labour and the

was formed to run the council, with Labour's new leader Terry Fox taking the role of

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 ...

. Following the 2022 election, the Liberal Democrats joined Labour and the Greens in the ruling administration.

Council as service provider and employer

Sheffield City Council provides approximately 550 services to its citizens. It is also a major employer in the city, with more than 8,000 employees, including all state school staff in its role as Local Education Authority (LEA). In April 2021 the Sheffield Star published a list of seven Council employees earning more than £100k-a-year. Services and employees are organised into four portfolios: *Resources Portfolio – responsible for corporate resources and organisational development. *Children, Young People and Families's Portfolio – equivalent to an LEA and responsible for early years, primary, secondary and special schools, children and families' social care, looked-after children and youth offending. *Place Portfolio – responsible for planning, housing, maintaining and repairing the social housing stock, environmental regulation, parks and countryside, street maintenance and cleanliness, and cultural activities. *Communities Portfolio – responsible for libraries, local governance, community safety and adult social services, including physical disability, learning disability and older people. The Council is responsible for 16 cemeteries across the city. Other functions are performed by partners and contractors of the council: *

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manage the city's 'Streets Ahead' project including management of highways. * Veolia manages household waste disposal. *

Capita Capita plc, commonly known as Capita, is an international business process outsourcing and professional services company headquartered in London. It is the largest business process outsourcing and professional services company in the United ...

provides HR, payroll and IT services for council employees. However this will be delivered 'in house' by Sheffield City Council from April 2020.

References

External links

Sheffield City CouncilSheffield Labour PartySheffield Lib DemsSheffield Green PartySheffield Conservatives
{{Authority control Local government in Sheffield Metropolitan district councils of England Councillors in South Yorkshire Local education authorities in England Local authorities in South Yorkshire Billing authorities in England Leader and cabinet executives 1974 establishments in England

History

Political control

Council as service provider and employer

See also

References

External links