26-618: The Borough of Stafford is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire , England. It is named after Stafford , its largest town, which is where the council is based. The borough also includes the towns of Stone and Eccleshall , as well as numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. The neighbouring districts are Newcastle-under-Lyme , Stoke-on-Trent , Staffordshire Moorlands , East Staffordshire , Lichfield , Cannock Chase , South Staffordshire , Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire . The town of Stafford
52-434: A borough or district council. In these cases local government functions are divided between county and district councils, to the level where they can be practised most efficiently: Many districts have borough status , which means the local council is called a borough council instead of district council and gives them the right to appoint a mayor . Borough status is granted by royal charter and, in many cases, continues
78-595: A coalition of Labour, the Greens and local party the Stafford Borough Independents formed to take control of the council, led by Labour councillor Aidan Godfrey. The first elections to the enlarged borough council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: The role of mayor
104-717: A cost of £38 million and completed in October 2011. The new offices were officially opened by the Countess of Wessex as "Staffordshire Place" in May 2013. Following the departure of council officers and their departments to Staffordshire Place, the later buildings at 15 and 16 Martin Street on the south side of Martin Street were sold and converted into a series of private residences known as "Martin Street Mansions". However,
130-425: A district will consist of a market town and its more rural hinterland. However districts are diverse with some being mostly urban such as Dartford, and others more polycentric such as Thurrock. Non-metropolitan districts are subdivisions of English non-metropolitan counties which have a two-tier structure of local government. Two-tier non-metropolitan counties have a county council and several districts, each with
156-457: A style enjoyed by a predecessor authority, which can date back centuries. Some districts such as Oxford or Exeter have city status , granted by letters patent , but this does not give the local council any extra powers other than the right to call itself a city council . By 1899, England had been divided at district level into rural districts , urban districts , municipal boroughs , county boroughs and metropolitan boroughs . This system
182-595: A town, allowing it to take the style "town council". Eccleshall is also commonly described as a town, having held a market charter from at least 1154, but its parish council has not formally declared it to be a town, nor is it a post town . The small parishes of Ellenhall and Marston have a parish meeting rather than a parish council. The parishes are: 52°48′18.05″N 2°6′59.99″W / 52.8050139°N 2.1166639°W / 52.8050139; -2.1166639 Non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts , or colloquially " shire districts ", are
208-491: A type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially shire counties ) in a two-tier arrangement. Non-metropolitan districts with borough status are known as boroughs , able to appoint a mayor and refer to itself as a borough council. Some shire counties now have no sub divisions so are a single Non-metropolitan district such as Cornwall. Typically
234-500: A unitary authority or those that transferred from one county to another, including those that changed name. Nor does it include unitary authorities that have been abolished ( Bournemouth and Poole ). County Buildings, Stafford County Buildings is a municipal facility at Martin Street in Stafford , Staffordshire . The building, which is the meeting place for both Staffordshire County Council and Stafford Borough Council ,
260-612: Is a Grade II* listed building . In the 19th century the Shire Hall in Market Square became well established as the venue for judicial meetings and civic functions in the county. Following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888 , which established county councils in every county, there was a need to find offices and a meeting place for Staffordshire County Council . The council initially met at
286-552: Is based at the Civic Centre on Riverside in the centre of Stafford. The building was purpose-built for the council and completed in 1978. Full council meetings are held at County Buildings on Martin Street. Prior to the completion of the Civic Centre in 1978 the council had its main offices at Borough Hall and met at the Guildhall in Market Square, which had been built in 1935 on the site of an earlier guildhall. Borough Hall
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#1732793704339312-568: Is largely ceremonial in Stafford. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council . The leaders since 1974 have been: Following the 2023 election and a subsequent change of allegiance in May 2024, the composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2027. Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 40 councillors representing 23 wards , with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. The council
338-604: The District Councils' Network , special interest group which sits within the Local Government Association . The network's purpose is to "act as an informed and representative advocate for districts to government and other national bodies, based on their unique position to deliver for local people." This is a list of two-tier non-metropolitan counties and their districts. All unitary authorities are also non-metropolitan districts, which, with
364-463: The Martin Street; the central section of seven bays featured a doorway with an architrave and segmental pediment with mullioned windows on the first floor. The left hand section, which slightly projected forward, featured a window split by Ionic order columns while the right hand section, which also slightly projected forward, featured a venetian window . Internally, the principal room
390-567: The Shire Hall, but shortly after the council's creation it was decided to procure new county offices: the site they selected in Martin Street immediately adjoined the Shire Hall and had previously been occupied by several a row of retail properties. The new County Buildings, which were designed by Henry Hare in the Baroque revival style , were completed in 1895. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with fifteen bays facing onto
416-454: The areas for Wales and England had been enacted separately and there were no Welsh metropolitan areas, the term 'non-metropolitan district' does not apply to Wales. A similar system existed in Scotland , which in 1975 was divided into regions and districts, this was also abolished in 1996 and replaced with a fully unitary system . In England most of the district councils are represented by
442-569: The country. As part of those reforms the borough was enlarged to include the Forebridge area on the south bank of the River Sow , which had been added to the Stafford parliamentary borough (constituency) in 1832. The municipal borough was subsequently enlarged several times to take in the town's growing suburbs, notably in 1917 when it gained areas including Tillington , and in 1934 when it gained areas including Baswich . The modern district
468-468: The county council retained the main 1895 building on the north side of Martin Street which contains the main civic rooms, and continued to hold full meetings of the county council in the council chamber there. The civic rooms in County Buildings were also made available for weddings and civil partnerships. The building is also used for full council meetings of Stafford Borough Council, following
494-487: The exception of those of Berkshire , are coterminous with non-metropolitan counties. For a full list of districts of all types including unitary authorities, metropolitan districts and London boroughs , see Districts of England . This is a list of former two-tier districts in England which have been abolished, by local government reorganisations such as the 2009 structural changes to local government in England . It does not include districts that still exist after becoming
520-406: The new borough's parishes had been within the historic Hundred of Pirehill . Stafford Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Staffordshire County Council . Much of the borough is also covered by civil parishes , which form a third tier of local government. The council has been under no overall control since 2022. Following the 2023 election
546-526: The two-tier structure, but reforms in the 1990s and 2009 reduced their number to 192. A further 55 non-metropolitan districts are now unitary authorities, which combine the functions of county and borough/district councils. In Wales , an almost identical two-tier system of local government existed between 1974 and 1996 (see Districts of Wales ). In 1996, this was abolished and replaced with an entirely unitary system of local government, with one level of local government responsible for all local services. Since
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#1732793704339572-620: Was abolished by the London Government Act 1963 and the Local Government Act 1972 . Non-metropolitan districts were created by this act in 1974 when England outside Greater London was divided into metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan counties. Metropolitan counties were sub-divided into metropolitan districts and the non-metropolitan counties were sub-divided into non-metropolitan districts. The metropolitan districts had more powers than their non-metropolitan counterparts. Initially, there were 296 non-metropolitan districts in
598-562: Was an ancient borough , being described as a borough in the Domesday Book of 1086. Its earliest surviving charter was issued by King John in 1206. Stafford was formally incorporated in 1614 by a charter from James I , which also granted the right to appoint a mayor. The borough was reformed in 1836 to become a municipal borough under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 , which reformed many boroughs across
624-411: Was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 covering four former districts, which were all abolished at the same time: The new district was named Stafford after its largest town. Stafford's borough status transferred to the new district from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Stafford's series of mayors dating back to 1614. Many of
650-449: Was subsequently converted into an events venue and the Guildhall was converted into a shopping centre, being largely rebuilt behind the 1935 frontage. The main part of the Stafford urban area, roughly corresponding to the pre-1974 borough, is an unparished area . Nearly half the modern borough's population lives in this area. The rest of the borough is divided into civil parishes . The parish council for Stone has declared that parish to be
676-474: Was the council chamber which featured plasterwork by Frederick Schenck as well as figures sculpted by William Aumonier. Additional offices in a similar style were subsequently built on the opposite southern side of Martin Street in 1913 and 1925. In April 2009 the council announced plans for a new headquarters in Tipping Street: the new offices were designed by 3DReid, built by Volker Fitzpatrick at
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