Halton Borough Council | |
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Type | |
Type | |
History | |
Founded | 1 April 1974 |
Preceded by | |
Leadership | |
Stephen Young since 1 April 2022 | |
Structure | |
Seats | 54 councillors |
Political groups |
|
Length of term | Third of council elected three years out of four |
Elections | |
Plurality-at-large | |
Last election | 2 May 2024 |
Next election | 7 May 2026 |
Motto | |
Latin: Industria Navem Implet, lit. 'Industry Fills the Ship' | |
Meeting place | |
Town Hall, Heath Road, Runcorn, WA7 5TD | |
Website | |
www | |
Footnotes | |
[2] [3] [4] |
Halton Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Halton, incorporating the towns of Runcorn and Widnes and the parishes of Daresbury, Hale, Moore and Preston Brook. It is a constituent council of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. [5]
Prior to 1974, the River Mersey marked the border between the counties of Lancashire to the north and Cheshire to the south. Widnes was administered by the Municipal Borough of Widnes in Lancashire, and Runcorn by Runcorn Urban District Council in Cheshire.
The 1969 Redcliffe-Maud Report recommended reforms to local government in England, including the abolition of all existing local government areas. They were to be replaced by mostly unitary authorities with the exception of three two-tier metropolitan areas to be called Merseyside, SELNEC and West Midlands. The report proposed that Runcorn and Widnes should form part of the new Merseyside Metropolitan Area under a district called 'St Helens-Widnes'. [6]
The proposals were broadly accepted by the then Labour government but set aside by the incoming Conservative government following the 1970 general election which it had fought on a manifesto pledge to introduce a system of two-tier local government. [7] The Local Government Act 1972 created new metropolitan counties around Liverpool (as Merseyside) and Manchester (as Greater Manchester) but Runcorn and Widnes would not be allocated to either. Instead, Widnes and Warrington would be moved into the non-metropolitan county of Cheshire, with Widnes joining Runcorn to create the new non-metropolitan district of Halton. The name of the new district was inspired by the ancient Barony of Halton which had possessed land on both sides of the river. The district was established on 1 April 1974. In addition to Runcorn Urban District and the Municipal Borough of Widnes, parts of Runcorn Rural District and the parish of Hale from Whiston Rural District were incorporated into Halton.
On 1 April 1998, Halton became a unitary authority, independent of Cheshire County Council. However, it continues to be served by Cheshire Police and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, and forms part of Cheshire for ceremonial purposes. On 1 April 2014, Halton became part of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, joining the local authorities of Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, Knowsley and St Helens; the five metropolitan district councils which constitute the county of Merseyside. As a unitary authority, Halton's status is similar to the metropolitan district councils. [8]
Elections to the council are by thirds. This means that a third of the 54 councillors are elected every year over a four-year cycle (with no elections in the fourth year). Elections are usually held on the first Thursday in May.
Since the creation of the council in 1974, political control of the council has been held by the following parties: [9] [10]
Year | Control | |
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1974–present | Labour Party |
The Mayor of Halton is a ceremonial post with a term typically lasting for 12 months.
Term | Mayor |
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2024/25 | Kevan Wainwright |
2023/24 | Valerie Hill |
2022/23 | Mark Dennett |
2021/22 | Christopher Rowe |
2019/21 | Margaret Horabin |
2018/19 | John Bradshaw |
2017/18 | Alan Lowe |
2016/17 | Ged Philbin |
2015/16 | Ellen Cargill |
2014/15 | Shaun Osborne |
2013/14 | Margaret Ratcliffe JP |
2012/13 | Tom McInerney |
2011/12 | Keith Morley |
2010/11 | Marie Wright |
2009/10 | Frank Fraser |
2008/09 | Kath Loftus |
2007/08 | Mike Hodgkinson |
2006/07 | John Swain |
2005/06 | Peter Lloyd Jones |
2004/05 | Pat Tyrrell |
2003/04 | Ron Hignett |
2002/03 | Glyn Redican |
2001/02 | Chris Loftus |
2000/01 | Julie Devaney |
1999/00 | Robert Gilligan |
1998/99 | Anthony McDermott |
1997/98 | Ian Evans |
1996/97 | Francis Nyland |
1995/96 | Stan Hill |
1994/95 | Liam Temple |
1993/94 | Jack Pimblett |
1992/93 | John Weaver |
1991/92 | Olive Smith |
1990/91 | William Flynn |
1989/90 | David Cargill |
1988/89 | Allen Inett |
1987/88 | Reginald Eastup |
1986/87 | Stan Broome |
1985/86 | John Hughes |
1984/85 | Kenneth Ebbrell |
1983/84 | Owen Ludlow |
1982/83 | Raymond Aston |
1981/82 | Robert Beswick |
1980/81 | Catherine Gerrard |
1979/80 | Edwin Gleave |
1978/79 | Arthur Parr |
1977/78 | Albert Dodd |
1976/77 | William Howell |
1975/76 | Charles Helsby |
1974/75 | Alan Millar |
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Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shropshire to the south; to the west it is bordered by the Welsh counties of Flintshire and Wrexham, and has a short coastline on the Dee Estuary. Warrington is the largest settlement, and the city of Chester is the county town.
Metropolitan counties are a subdivision of England which were originally used for local government. There are six metropolitan counties: Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands and West Yorkshire.
Merseyside is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Welsh county of Flintshire across the Dee Estuary to the southwest, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Liverpool.
The counties of England are divisions of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are two main legal definitions of the counties in modern usage: the 84 counties for the purposes of local government, and the 48 counties for the purposes of lieutenancy, also termed the ceremonial counties.
Halton is a unitary authority district with borough status in Cheshire, North West England. It was created in 1974 as a district of the non-metropolitan county of Cheshire, and became a unitary authority area on 1 April 1998 under Halton Borough Council. Since 2014, it has been a member of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The borough consists of the towns of Runcorn and Widnes and the civil parishes of Daresbury, Hale, Halebank, Moore, Preston Brook, and Sandymoor. The district borders Merseyside, the Borough of Warrington and Cheshire West and Chester.
Warrington Borough Council is the local authority of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is a unitary authority, 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.
Whiston Rural District was a rural district of the administrative county of Lancashire, England. It was created in 1895 by renaming the Prescot Rural District when the parish of Prescot was removed from that rural district and created a separate urban district. Later the parish of Speke was incorporated into the City of Liverpool and Ditton into the Municipal Borough of Widnes. In 1922 the parish of Kirkby was added from the disbanded Sefton Rural District and removed again in 1958 when it was created a separate urban district. It was named after and administered from Whiston. In 1934 and 1954 parts of Windle and Eccleston were removed and placed in St Helens CB
Halton is a constituency in Cheshire, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Derek Twigg of the Labour Party.
Liverpool City Region is a combined authority area in North West England. It has six council areas; five Merseyside metropolitan boroughs and the Cheshire unitary authority of Halton. The region had a population of 1,571,045 in 2022.
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Lancashire County Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England, which occupies most of the ceremonial county of the same name. The council is based in County Hall, Preston, and consists of 84 councillors.
Cheshire County Council was the county council of Cheshire. Founded on 1 April 1889, it was officially dissolved on 31 March 2009, when it and its districts were superseded by two unitary authorities; Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East.
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Halton Borough Council elections are generally held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time. Halton Borough Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Halton in Cheshire, England. Since the last boundary changes in 2020, 54 councillors have been elected from 18 wards.
Widnes is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021 census had a population of 62,400.
A combined authority (CA) is a type of local government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. CAs are created voluntarily and allow a group of local authorities to pool appropriate responsibility and receive certain devolved functions from central government in order to deliver transport and economic policy more effectively over a wider area. In areas where local government is two-tier, both must participate in the combined authority.
The Borough of Warrington is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The borough is centred around the town of Warrington, and extends out into outlying villages of Lymm and Great Sankey and the town of Birchwood.
The ceremonial county of Cheshire, which comprises the unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington, has returned 11 MPs to the UK Parliament since 1997.
Widnes and Halewood is a proposed constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it will first be contested at the next general election.