South Gloucestershire Council
# South Gloucestershire Council

South Gloucestershire Council is the local authority of South Gloucestershire, England, covering an area to the north of the city of Bristol. As a unitary authority it has the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It is administratively separate from the county of Gloucestershire.

The council area elects 61 councillors from 28 wards. Following the May 2023 local elections, South Gloucestershire Council the council is run by a Liberal Democrat and Labour coalition. The chief executive is Dave Perry, appointed on 12 December 2018.

## Responsibilities

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the Local Government Act 1972 and subsequent legislation. For the purposes of local government, South Gloucestershire is a non-metropolitan area of England. As a unitary authority, South Gloucestershire Council has the powers and functions of both a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. In its capacity as a district council it is a billing authority collecting Council Tax and business rates, it processes local planning applications, and is responsible for housing, waste collection and environmental health. In its capacity as a county council, it is a local education authority, responsible for social services, libraries and waste disposal.

South Gloucestershire Council is a member of the West of England Combined Authority.

## Political control

The first election to the council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1996. Political control since 1996 has been as follows:

| Party in control | Years |
| - | - |
| No overall control | 1996–1999 |
| Liberal Democrats | 1999–2003 |
| No overall control | 2003–2015 |
| Conservative | 2015–2023 |
| No overall control | 2023–present |

### Leadership

Since 2023, the council has been led by Claire Young of the Liberal Democrats, with co-leader Ian Boulton of Labour serving as her deputy, ending 16 years of Conservative leadership.

The leaders of the council since 1999 have been:

| Councillor | Party | From | To |
| - | - | - | - |
| Neil Halsall | Liberal Democrats | 1999 | 13 Jul 2005 |
| Ruth Davis | Liberal Democrats | 13 Jul 2005 | 6 Jun 2007 |
| John Calway | Conservative | 6 Jun 2007 | Aug 2014 |
| Matthew Riddle | Conservative | 1 Sep 2014 | 16 May 2018 |
| Toby Savage | Conservative | 16 May 2018 | 7 May 2023 |
| Claire Young | Liberal Democrats | 24 May 2023 | |

### Chair

The chair of the council is chosen from among the councillors and is usually held by a different councillor each year. They are expected to maintain a politically neutral stance, although they do get a casting vote in the event of a tied vote. The chairs have been:

* 1995–1996: Eddie Gadsby
* 1996–1997: Les Bishop
* 1997–1998: Sue Hope
* 1998–1999: Rudi Springer
* 1999–2001: Arthur Adams
* 2001–2002: Alan Bracey
* 2002–2003: Jeanette Ward
* 2003–2004: Sue Walker
* 2004–2005: June Lovell
* 2005–2006: Alan Lawrance
* 2006–2007: Jim Cullimore
* 2007–2008: Sandra O'Neil
* 2008–2009: Brian Freeguard
* 2009–2010: Shirley Holloway
* 2010–2011: Janet Biggin
* 2011–2012: Mike Drew
* 2012–2013: Janet Biggin
* 2013–2014: Ian Boulton
* 2014–2015: Howard Gawler
* 2015–2017: Erica Williams
* 2017–2018: Ian Blair
* 2018–2019: Rachael Hunt
* 2019–2020: Brian Allinson
* 2020–2021: June Bamford
* 2021–2022: Ruth Davis
* 2022–2023: Sanjay Shambhu
* 2023–2024: Mike Drew

## Premises

The council generally holds its meetings in the council chamber at the Civic Centre on High Street, Kingswood. When the council was created in 1996 it inherited the Kingswood Civic Centre from Kingswood Borough Council and offices at Castle Street in Thornbury from Northavon District Council. In 2010 the council opened a new office on Badminton Road in Yate, which houses many of the council's administrative functions. The Thornbury building was subsequently closed and redeveloped. In addition to the two main buildings at Kingswood Civic Centre and Badminton Road in Yate the council also has a number of smaller offices and one-stop shops in Yate and Patchway.

