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54-583: Birmingham City Council is the local authority for the city of Birmingham in the West Midlands , England. Birmingham has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been reformed several times. Since 1974 the council has been a metropolitan borough council . It provides the majority of local government services in the city. It is the most populous local government district in England, serving over 1.1   million people. The council has been

108-505: A Mayor of London and 25-member London Assembly . The first mayoral and assembly elections took place in 2000. The former Leader of the Greater London Council , Ken Livingstone , served as the inaugural Mayor, until he was defeated by future Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2008 . The incumbent, Sadiq Khan , was first elected in 2016 . The Mayor's functions include chairing Transport for London , holding

162-454: A Section 114 notice , being the local government equivalent of bankruptcy, stopping all future spending with the exception of money for statutory services, including the protection of vulnerable people. The leader of the Labour authority stated that the notice was a necessary step to get Birmingham back into a sound financial footing. The government subsequently appointed commissioners to oversee

216-648: A county borough , independent from the new Warwickshire County Council , whilst remaining part of the geographical county of Warwickshire . The dignity of a lord mayor was conferred in 1896, with James Smith being appointed the first Lord Mayor of Birmingham . The city boundaries have been enlarged many times. Notable expansions were in 1891 ( Balsall Heath , Harborne , Saltley and Little Bromwich ), 1909 ( Quinton ), 1911 ( Aston Manor , Erdington , Handsworth , Kings Norton , Northfield and Yardley ), 1928 ( Perry Barr ), 1931 ( Sheldon and parts of other parishes), and 1974 ( Sutton Coldfield ). The county borough

270-464: A 25 year deal with Amey plc to manage the city's highways, but, after allegations of sub-standard repairs to roads and pavements, the council invoked penalty clauses and entered into a prolonged legal dispute. In December 2018, Amey parent Ferrovial put the business up for sale, after allocating €237m for losses on Amey's highway maintenance contract with the Council. In February 2019, Amey was close to

324-483: A county council and a district council, which would share local authority functions. In May 2022, 21 non-metropolitan county councils and 164 non-metropolitan district councils remain. These are better known as simply county councils and district councils. The Local Government Act 1985 also abolished metropolitan county councils, but there are still 36 metropolitan district councils as of May 2022. There are also (as of April 2023) 62 unitary authorities. These carry out

378-525: A deal to exit its Birmingham contract, liabilities from which were preventing the company's sale by Ferrovial. A £215m deal to terminate Amey's Birmingham contract was confirmed in July 2019. The council was set to receive £160m in 2019 with a further £55m paid over the next six years, with services continuing on an interim basis until September 2019, and potentially until March 2020. However, in February 2020, it

432-547: A devolution deal, which are usually reserved to combined authorities for additional functions and funding. And, like some combined authorities and parish councils, local authorities do have a general power of competence . Separate to combined authorities, two or more local authorities can also work together through joint boards (for legally-required services: fire, public transport and waste disposal), joint committees (voluntarily) or through contracting out and agency arrangements. The Greater London Authority Act 1999 established

486-460: A local authority. Ten currently exist, with more planned. Parish councils form the lowest tier of local government and govern civil parishes . They may also be called a 'community council', 'neighbourhood council', 'village council', 'town council' or (if the parish holds city status) 'city council', but these names are stylistic and do not change their responsibilities. As of December 2021 there are 10,475 parishes in England, but they do not cover

540-562: A member of the West Midlands Combined Authority since 2016. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2012. It is based at the Council House on Victoria Square, Birmingham . On 6 September 2023, the council declared effective bankruptcy , and central government commissioners were subsequently appointed to run the council under emergency measures. Until the 18th century, Birmingham

594-633: A parish council must meet certain conditions of quality. Civil parishes developed in the nineteenth century and were based on the Church of England's parishes , which until then had both ecclesiastical and local government functions; parish councils were created by the Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73). The ecclesiastical parishes continue to exist, but neither they nor their parochial church councils have any local government role. There are 317 local authorities covering

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648-561: A whole has limited revenue-raising powers compared to other G7 countries. In the 20th century, local authorities found that the costs of providing services exceeded the revenues raised from local taxes and so grants from the UK Government (specifically the Treasury ) gradually increased. However, UK Government grants were cut by 40% in real terms between the financial years 2009/10 and 2019/20, although grant income did grow due to

702-481: Is a public interest in disclosing information about local government investments which will generally outweigh any concerns about whether disclosure could affect an investment's performance or be protected by confidentiality requirements. Local authorities cannot borrow money to finance day-to-day spending and so must rely on yearly income or reserves for this type of expenditure, although they can borrow to fund capital expenditure. Local government in England as

756-517: Is clear both practically and democratically that the overly centralised arrangements of government in England are problematic" and that reform was also needed of funding structures. As of May 2024, the various combined authorities, county, district, and sui generis councils formed an administrative hierarchy as shown in the table below. Unitary authorities are legally either district councils which also perform county functions or county councils which also perform district functions; they therefore straddle

810-462: Is the regional authority for Greater London , with responsibility for transport, policing, fire and rescue, development and strategic planning. Combined authorities are statutory bodies which allow two or more local authorities to voluntarily pool responsibilities and negotiate a devolution deal with the UK Government for the area they cover, giving it powers beyond those typically held by

864-637: The Board of Control for Lunacy and Mental Deficiency . Pinsent's time on the council overlapped with that of Margaret Frances Pugh, who was elected on 22 November 1911 to serve in the North Erdington ward. She resigned in November 1913. Birmingham's third woman councillor, Clara Martineau, was elected on 14 October 1913 in the Edgbaston ward, and served until 1932, when she died, aged 57. Her father

918-563: The COVID-19 pandemic . Local government receives two types of grants: the Revenue Support Grant, which can be spent on any service according to the wishes of the local government body in question, and specific grants, which are usually 'ring fenced' to specifically defined service areas. Council tax was introduced in 1993 to replace the ' poll tax '. It is a domestic property tax, based on eight bands (A to H) depending on

972-717: The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and London Fire Commissioner to account and keeping strategies up to date, including the London Plan . Meanwhile, it is the Assembly's role to regularly hold the Mayor and their key advisers to account and it can also amend the budget or a strategy by a two-thirds majority, though this has not ever happened as of March 2022. Combined authorities can be created at

1026-548: The Localism Act 2011 . In every area, one local authority acts as the billing authority (the district council in two-tier areas), which prepares and collects council tax bills. Other parts of local government (like county councils in two-tier areas, police and crime commissioners, fire authorities, parish councils and combined authorities) act as precepting authorities, which notify the relevant billing authority of their decision on council tax and later receive this money from

1080-649: The New Frankley civil parish in Birmingham, and has been part of the city since 1995. The parish has a population of 122. Frankley is listed within the hundred of Cane in Worcestershire in the 1086 Domesday Survey. In the mid-12th century Cane was combined with other Domesday hundreds to form the hundred of Halfshire , which was extant through the 19th century. Adam de Harvington , or de Herwynton, (died c.1345), Lord Treasurer of Ireland , owned

1134-483: The manor of Frankley in the fourteenth century. The 15th-century church building lies to the north of the village. The building is constructed from sandstone in a red and grey colour, until 1965 the tower contained two bells. A new church hall was constructed in 2005. The village gives its name to Frankley services, a motorway service area on the M5 motorway to the north west of the village. The services opened with

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1188-636: The sui generis City of London Corporation . The other sui generis local authorities are the Council of the Isles of Scilly , Middle Temple and Inner Temple . Outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly , the Local Government Act 1972 divided England into metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties, which would have one county council and multiple district councils each. That meant that each area would be covered by two tiers of local authorities - both

1242-468: The 1974 reforms has been as follows: The role of Lord Mayor of Birmingham is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council . The first leader of the council after the 1974 reforms, Clive Wilkinson, had been the leader of the old county borough of Birmingham since December 1973. The leaders since 1973 have been: Following the 2022 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to September 2024,

1296-573: The Electoral Commission has recommended that all authorities use whole council elections every 4 years. Local authorities have a choice of executive arrangements under the Local Government Act 2000 : mayor and cabinet executive, leader and cabinet executive, a committee system or bespoke arrangements approved by the Secretary of State. As of April 2023, just 15 local authorities have directly-elected mayors . Some functions are just

1350-527: The Labour Party as of 2024 except for Tees Valley . Each combined authority's executive consists of a representative from each of its constituent local authorities, plus (if applicable) the mayor. Functions can be devolved directly to the mayor, to the combined authority as a whole, or have a different decision-making requirement. The budget and functions of each combined authority can be vastly different, but possible functions include responsibility for

1404-575: The Secretary of State the power to provide for a directly-elected combined authority mayor . And, as of May 2022, nine out of the 10 combined authorities have mayors, including Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester and Andy Street in the West Midlands . In the 2024 local elections , new Combined Authorities were elected; they were the new York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority , North East Mayoral Combined Authority , East Midlands Combined County Authority . They are all controlled by

1458-405: The agreement of the relevant local authorities, and under the Localism Act 2011 eligible parish councils can be granted a " general power of competence " (GPC) which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this

1512-604: The billing authority. Between financial years 2009/10 and 2021/22, council tax rates increased by 30% in real terms, in light of reduced grants from the UK Government. Business rates is a tax on business premises. It is based on the rateable value of the premises (set by the Valuation Office Agency ) and a business rate multiplier. It is set and collected by billing authorities. Reforms in 2013 now mean that local authorities keep 50% of business rate revenues raised locally. The UK Government then distributes

1566-400: The city council sit on the board of the combined authority as Birmingham's representatives. There are two civil parishes in the city at Sutton Coldfield and New Frankley in Birmingham , which form an additional tier of local government for their areas; the rest of the city is unparished . The council has been under Labour majority control since 2012. Political control of the council since

1620-472: The composition of the council was: The next election is due in May 2026. Since the last boundary changes in 2018, the council has comprised 101 councillors representing 69 wards , with each ward electing one or two councillors. Elections are held every four years. The wards and councillors are: The council meets and has some offices at the Council House on Victoria Square in the city centre. The building

1674-533: The corporation or town council. William Scholefield became the first mayor and William Redfern was the first town clerk. The corporation absorbed the functions of the street commissioners in 1852. Birmingham was granted city status on 14 January 1889, after which the corporation was also known as the city council. When elected county councils were established in April 1889, Birmingham was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services, and so it became

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1728-596: The council claimed the government was preparing to "pull the plug" on £600m of highways funding. Kier were awarded the restructured contract, set to start in February 2024, but the deal was subject to government approval. Local government in England Civil parishes are the lowest tier of local government, and primarily exist in rural and smaller urban areas. The responsibilities of parish councils are limited and generally consist of providing and maintaining public spaces and facilities. Local authorities cover

1782-478: The council has been a member of the West Midlands Combined Authority , which has been led by the directly elected Mayor of the West Midlands since 2017. The combined authority provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for certain functions across the county, but Birmingham City Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions. On 5 September 2023, Birmingham City Council issued

1836-671: The council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the West Midlands County Council . The county council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to the county's seven borough councils, including Birmingham City Council, with some services provided through joint committees. In 1995, New Frankley and the Kitwell Estate were transferred into the city from the parish of Frankley in Bromsgrove District . Since 2016

1890-555: The council's financial difficulties following the issuing of the Section 114 notice in 2023. Past chief executives have included: Notable services provided and facilities managed by Birmingham City Council include: The city's museums were transferred to the independent Birmingham Museums Trust in 2012. The council sold its Ogwen Cottage Outdoor Pursuits Centre, by auction, in October 2014. In 2010, Birmingham City Council agreed

1944-400: The county and district columns. Metropolitan districts and London boroughs are also shown straddling the county and district columns. In much of the country there is also a lower tier of civil parishes . This administrative hierarchy differs from the ceremonial hierarchy . Frankley Frankley is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire. The modern Frankley estate is part of

1998-632: The entirety of England, and are responsible for services such as education, transport, planning applications, and waste collection and disposal. In two-tier areas a non-metropolitan county council and two or more non-metropolitan district councils share responsibility for these services. In single-tier areas a unitary authority , London borough , or metropolitan borough provides all services. The City of London and Isles of Scilly have unique local authorities. The London boroughs, metropolitan boroughs, and some unitary authorities collaborate through regional authorities. The Greater London Authority (GLA)

2052-576: The financial year 2019/20, local authorities received 22% of their funding from grants, 52% from council tax and 27% from retained business rates. In the financial year 2023/24, 51% of revenue expenditure is expected to come from UK Government grants, 31% from council tax and 15% from retained business rates. Local government can also receive some money from fees and charges for the use of services, returns and interest from investments , commercial income, fixed penalty notices and capital receipts. The Information Commissioner's Office has ruled that there

2106-540: The first female chief executive, was in post from 2002 until 2005. Bert Carless , a migrant from Jamaica, was elected the City's first non-white councillor in 1979. He was later made an Honorary Alderman . Birmingham City Council provides metropolitan borough services. Some strategic functions in the area are provided by the West Midlands Combined Authority; the leader and deputy leader of

2160-703: The functions of both county and district councils and have replaced two-tier local government in some areas. The creation of these first became possible under the Local Government Act 1992 , but now takes place under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 . In the 2023/24 financial year, 33% of budgeted service expenditure across local government as a whole is set to be on education , 19% on adult social care , 13% on police , 11% on children's social care and 24% on all other services. Notably, Cornwall Council has been subject to

2214-523: The people within government are unsure at times where powers and responsibility, and hence accountability, rest, this lack of clarity is magnified for individuals who have little knowledge or experience of the structures. This has the potential to leave individuals less likely to be able to access what they need from government, leaving them often unable to know who is responsible, and as a result are not properly able to hold their democratic representatives to account. The Committee also said that "[t]he evidence

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2268-773: The relevant police force and/or fire brigade , bus franchising and spatial strategy. Lower-tier of a two-tier system. Upper-tier of a two-tier system. De facto unitary authorities since abolition of metropolitan county councils . Metropolitan county councils were abolished in 1986 and most of their functions were devolved to the metropolitan boroughs making them unitary authorities in all but name. Some combined and regional authorities may assume responsibility for policing, e.g. South Yorkshire . Some combined and regional authorities may assume responsibility for policing, e.g. Greater Manchester . In England, local authorities have three main sources of funding: UK Government grants, council tax and business rates . In

2322-478: The remaining 50% of business rate revenues according to its own judgement. It was initially planned to increase the proportion of business rates that local authorities retain to 100%, but this was indefinitely delayed in 2021. In 2022, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee said that it had "significant concerns about the current governance arrangements for England": If

2376-527: The request of two or more local authorities. Combined authorities do not replace the local authorities in question, but can receive separate functions and funding. As of May 2022, there are 10 combined authorities covering some of England. The Secretary of State was first granted the power to create combined authorities by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 . The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 gave

2430-513: The responsibility of the executive of a local authority, but local authorities must also have at least one overview and scrutiny committee to hold the executive to account. The London Government Act 1963 established 32 London borough councils. It also established the Greater London Council , covering the whole of Greater London , but this was later abolished by the Local Government Act 1985 . Greater London also includes

2484-566: The running of the council under emergency measures. The first woman elected to the council, on 1 November 1911, was Ellen Pinsent . She represented the Edgbaston Ward as a Liberal Unionist . She had earlier been co-opted as a member of the council's Education Committee and served as Chairman of the Special School Sub-Committee. She stood down from the council in October 1913 upon appointment as Commissioner for

2538-411: The value of the property on 1 April 1991. Various discounts are set out in law and exist at the discretion of billing authorities. On a yearly basis, local government bodies review and consider whether to increase or decrease the level of council tax to fund their spending plans. The level at which a local authority can increase council tax each year without holding a local referendum is regulated by

2592-560: The whole of England. There are five main types of local authorities: London borough councils , two-tier county and district councils , metropolitan district councils and unitary authorities . Some local authorities have borough , city or royal borough status, but this is purely stylistic. All local authorities are made up of councillors , who represent geographical wards . There are 7,026 wards as of December 2021. Local authorities run on four year cycles and councillors may be elected all at once, by halves or by thirds; although

2646-430: The whole of the country as many urban parishes were abolished in 1974. The only specific statutory function of parish councils, which they must do, is establishing allotments . However, there are a number of other functions given by powers in the relevant legislation, which they can do, such as providing litter bins and building bus shelters . Their statutory functions are few, but they may provide other services with

2700-446: Was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , being replaced by a metropolitan district of Birmingham, covering the area of the old county borough plus the borough of Sutton Coldfield. The new district was one of seven metropolitan districts within the new metropolitan county of the West Midlands. Birmingham's borough and city statuses and its lord mayoralty passed to the new district and its council. From 1974 until 1986

2754-569: Was announced the Birmingham contract would end in March 2020; Kier Group was appointed as interim contractor for 15 months while the council sought a permanent replacement for Amey. In February 2022, the city council formally began the process of identifying a contractor to deliver £2.7 billion of works over 12 years, and invited Kier and Canadian firm SNC-Lavalin to tender for the city’s restructured highways PFI contract, covering more than 2,500km of road and 5,000km of footway. However, in October 2023,

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2808-534: Was first completed in 1879 for the old borough council and has been extended several times since. The council has several other office buildings, notably at 10 Woodcock Street, completed in 2011. There are two customer services centres, at 67 Sutton New Road in Erdington and at 1a Vineyard Road in Northfield. The possible closure and sale of some of the council's buildings is being considered as part of addressing

2862-544: Was former Mayor Sir Thomas Martineau , Lord Mayor Ernest Martineau was her brother, and Alderman Sir George Kenrick was her uncle. Mary Cottrell became the first female Labour councillor in February 1917, when she was elected unopposed to the Selly Oak ward. The first female Lord Mayor, Marjorie Brown, held the post from 1973 to 1974. Theresa Stewart became the first female leader in October 1993, until 1999; and Lin Homer

2916-501: Was governed by manorial courts and its parish vestry . A body of improvement commissioners called the Birmingham Street Commissioners was established in 1769 to provide services in the rapidly growing town. Birmingham was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1838, after which it was governed by a body formally called 'the mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Birmingham', generally known as

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