West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is the authority that governs the

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 ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

. The county also contains seven district and borough councils, and 158 town, parish and neighbourhood councils. The county council has 70 elected councillors. The Chief Executive and their team of Directors are responsible for the day-to-day running of the council. The county elects eight

members of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MPs) to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. Since 1997, West Sussex County Council has been controlled by the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. In 2019, the council's Children Services department was described in a Children's Commissioner's report as "clearly failing across all domains in the strongest terms" leading to the resignation of then council leader Louise Goldsmith.

History

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 ...

created the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

of West Sussex, with its own county council, from the three western

rapes Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, Abusive power and control, ...

of the ancient county of

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, that is the rapes of

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much large ...

and Bramber. Except for the three

county boroughs 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 ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

and

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

, the three eastern rapes of

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

Pevensey Pevensey ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The main village is located north-east of Eastbourne, one mile (1.6 km) inland from Pevensey Bay. The settlement of Pevensey Bay forms part of ...

and

came under the control of

East Sussex County Council East Sussex County Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex. East Sussex is divided into five local government districts. Three are larger, rural, districts (from west to east: Lewes; Wealden; and Rother). ...

. Until 1898 it existed alongside the Urban and Rural Sanitary Districts when these were abolished in favour of a new network of urban and rural districts. 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 ...

abolished the previous structure of local government in England and Wales. At this time West Sussex became a

, divided into districts. This act created the two-tier system of government that exists in West Sussex to this day.

Chairmen and chairwomen of West Sussex County Council

Since 2011 most chairs of the council serve a two-year term, previously the term was more usually four years though before 1962 the position could essentially last almost a lifetime. Peter Mursell was the only individual to serve two non-consecutive terms, the second being after his 1969 knighthood. Cliff Robinson (died 2009) was the only chairman elected as a Liberal.

Political control

Paul Marshall (Conservative) has been leader of West Sussex County Council since 2019. He replaced Louise Goldsmith who had been leader since May 2010.

Responsibilities

The council is responsible for public services such as education, transport, strategic planning, emergency services, social services, public safety, the fire service and waste disposal.

District councils

Adur District Council Adur may refer to: Places * Adur, Anekal, a village in the southern state of Karnataka, India * Adur, Azerbaijan, a village in the Quba Rayon * Adur, Bangalore South, a village in the southern state of Karnataka, India * Adur, Haveri, a village in ...

* Arun District Council *

Chichester District Council Chichester is a local government district in West Sussex, England. Its council is based in the city of Chichester and the district also covers a large rural area to the north. History The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Go ...

Crawley Borough Council Crawley Borough Council is the local authority for the borough of Crawley, in the county of West Sussex, England. The council consists of 35 councillors, either two or three for each of the 13 wards in the district. It is currently controlled by t ...

Horsham District Council Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby town ...

* Mid Sussex District Council *

Worthing Borough Council Worthing Borough Council is a district council in the county of West Sussex, based in the borough of Worthing. The borough council was created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 out of the existing Worthing Municipal Council, which also ...

Parish councils

See List of civil parishes in West Sussex

The Council

The whole County Council is the ultimate decision-making body and the principal forum for major political debate. Its 70 members meet six times a year. The County Council reserves to itself decisions on key policy plans, questions members of the Cabinet, debates major pieces of work by

Select Committees Select or SELECT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Select'' (album), an album by Kim Wilde * ''Select'' (magazine), a British music magazine * ''MTV Select'', a television program * ''Select Live'', New Zealand's C4 music program ...

and notices of motion. It appoints the Leader who decides the composition and areas of competence of the Cabinet, to which responsibility is delegated for carrying out many of the County Council's existing policies. It also appoints the Scrutiny Committees which examine and review decisions and actions of the Cabinet and Cabinet Members, as well as some non-Executive committees and a Standards Committee. The current leader is Paul Marshall.

Cabinet

The West Sussex Cabinet has ten members selected from the Conservative majority. The Cabinet proposes the key policy decisions of the Council, which are subject to agreement by the full County Council of 70 members. Each member has a portfolio of work for which they take personal responsibility.

Elections

County council elections took place on 6 May 2021. For detailed results for each electoral division see

2021 West Sussex County Council election The West Sussex County Council election took place on 6 May 2021 alongside other local elections. All 70 seats to West Sussex County Council were elected. Labour gained 4 seats in the Worthing division, while the Green Party and Local Alliance ga ...

Elections took place on 4 May 2017. Results are below. Since the divisions had been slightly reorganised and there was one less division than previously the gains and losses are not strictly meaningful. County council elections took place on 2 May 2013. For detailed results for each electoral division see 2013 West Sussex County Council election.

References

External links

West Sussex County Council
– Official website {{England county councils Local government in West Sussex County councils of England 1889 establishments in England Local education authorities in England Local authorities in West Sussex Major precepting authorities in England Leader and cabinet executives