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West Sussex County Council

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West Sussex County Council
Coat of arms or logo
Coat of arms
Logo
Council logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Pieter Montyn,
Conservative
since 22 March 2024[1]
Paul Marshall,
Conservative
since 18 October 2019[2][3]
Leigh Whitehouse
since 2024[4]
Structure
Seats70 councillors
Political groups
Administration (44)
  Conservative (44)
Other parties (26)
  Liberal Democrat (11)
  Labour (9)
  Independent (2)
  Green (1)
  Local Alliance (1)
  Reform UK (2)
Length of term
4 years
Elections
First past the post
Last election
6 May 2021
Next election
1 May 2025
Meeting place
County Hall, West Street, Chichester, PO19 1RQ
Website
www.westsussex.gov.uk

West Sussex County Council is the upper tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex in England.

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 directors are responsible for the day-to-day running of the council.

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

History

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Further information: History of local government in Sussex

Sussex was historically divided into six sub-divisions known as rapes. From the 12th century the practice arose of holding the quarter sessions separately for the three eastern rapes and the three western rapes, with the courts for the western rapes of Arundel, Bramber and Chichester being held at Chichester. This position was formalised by the County of Sussex Act 1865, with the eastern and western divisions of Sussex treated as separate counties for the purposes of taxation, law enforcement, asylums and highways, whilst still deemed to be one county for the purposes of lieutenancy, militia and the coroner.[5]

Elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 to take over the administrative business of the quarter sessions. The eastern and western divisions of Sussex therefore became the administrative counties of East Sussex and West Sussex with separate county councils. The two administrative counties were still treated as one county for certain ceremonial purposes, notably sharing the Lord Lieutenant of Sussex and Sheriff of Sussex.[6]

Council House, Chichester: Council's first meeting place.

The first elections were held in January 1889 and West Sussex County Council formally came into its powers on 1 April 1889. It held its first official meeting on 4 April 1889 at the Assembly Rooms in the Council House, Chichester. Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond, a Conservative peer, was appointed the first chairman of the council.[7]

Local government was reformed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, which made West Sussex a non-metropolitan county. As part of the 1974 reforms it gained the Mid Sussex area (including Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath) from East Sussex and Gatwick Airport from Surrey. East Sussex and West Sussex also became separate ceremonial counties, with West Sussex gaining its own Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff. The lower tier of local government was rearranged at the same time, with the county being divided into seven non-metropolitan districts.[8]

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.

Governance

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West Sussex County Council provides county-level services, such as education, transport, strategic planning, emergency services, social services, public safety, the fire service and waste disposal.[9] District-level services are provided by the area's seven district councils:

Much of the county is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[10]

Political control

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The council has been under Conservative majority control since 1997.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:[11][12][13]

Party in control Years
Conservative 1974–1993
No overall control 1993–1997
Conservative 1997–present

Leadership

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The leaders of the council since 1985 have been:[14]

Councillor Party From To
John Sheridan[15][16] Conservative pre-1985 1989
Ian Elliott[17][18] Conservative 1989 1993
Amanda Clare[19] Liberal Democrats 1993 1997
Graham Forshaw Conservative 1997 2001
Harold Hall[20] Conservative 2001 2003
Henry Smith Conservative 2003 28 May 2010
Louise Goldsmith[21] Conservative 28 May 2010 Oct 2019
Paul Marshall Conservative 18 Oct 2019

Composition

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Following the 2021 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to October 2024, the composition of the council was:[22]

Party Councillors
Conservative 44
Liberal Democrats 11
Labour 9
Independent 2
Green 1
Local Alliance 1
Reform UK 2
Total 70

The Green, Local Alliance and two independent councillors sit together as the "Green and Independent Alliance" group.[23] The next election is due in 2025.

Elections

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See also: West Sussex County Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2017 the county has been divided into 70 electoral divisions, each electing one councillor. Elections are held every four years.[24]

Premises

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West Sussex County Council offices in Horsham

The council is based at County Hall, Chichester, which was purpose-built for the council between 1933 and 1936, with various extensions having been added to the complex since.[25] It also has offices in Horsham and smaller area offices or customer service centres in Worthing, Bognor Regis and Crawley.[26]

Having held its first few meetings at the Council House in Chichester, the council resolved in November 1889 to hold meetings alternately there and at Horsham Town Hall.[27][28] This pattern continued until 1916 when the council bought a large seventeenth century house called Wren House (since renamed Edes House) on West Street in Chichester, converting it to be their meeting place and main offices.[29] Wren House was purchased with a view to later building a new headquarters in the grounds of the house, which ultimately came to fruition when County Hall opened in 1936.[30][31]

Chairmen and chairwomen

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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[32]) was the only chairman elected as a Liberal.

Chairs of West Sussex County Council in date order[33]
Years Chairperson
2021 – 2024 Peter John James Bradbury
2019 – 2021 Janet Elizabeth Duncton
2017 – 2019 Lionel Harvey Barnard
2015 – 2017 Patricia Annette Cooper Arculus
2013 – 2015 Amanda Jane Jupp
2011 – 2013 Michael William George Coleman
2001 – 2008 Margaret Delia Johnson
1997 – 2001 Ian Richard Wellesley Elliott
1993 – 1997 Clifford Robinson
1989 – 1993 Martyn Howard Long
1985 – 1989 Peter Geoffrey Shepherd
1981 – 1985 Christopher Stewart Buckle
1977 – 1981 Charles James Lucas
1974 – 1977 Edward John Frederick Green
1969 – 1974 Peter Mursell
1967 – 1969 Lancelot Lawrence Thwaytes
1962 – 1967 Peter Mursell
1946 – 1962 Herbert Shiner[34]
1917 – 1946 Charles Wyndham, 3rd Baron Leconfield
1907 – 1917 Charles Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond
1903 – 1907 Edward Turnour, 5th Earl Winterton
1889 – 1903 Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Council minutes, 22 March 2024". West Sussex County Council. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  2. ^ "New Leader of West Sussex County Council elected". West Sussex County Council. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  3. ^ "West Sussex County Council names new leader as Paul Marshall". 14 October 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  4. ^ Maisner, Stuart (22 March 2024). "New chief executive appointed at county council". BBC News. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  5. ^ "County of Sussex Act 1865". A Compendious Abstract of the Public General Acts. London: Law Journal Reports. 1865. pp. 91–94. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Local Government Act 1888", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1888 c. 41, retrieved 19 August 2023
  7. ^ "The County Council". Chichester Observer. 10 April 1889. p. 8. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  8. ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 31 May 2023
  9. ^ "Understand how your council works". GOV.UK. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  12. ^ "West Sussex". BBC News Online. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
  13. ^ "West Sussex". BBC News Web site. BBC. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  14. ^ "Council minutes". West Sussex County Council. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Tories 'only choice'". Arun Gazette. Littlehampton. 29 March 1985. p. 9. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Direct plea to MPs". East Grinstead Observer. 2 March 1989. p. 5. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  17. ^ "Housing swamp: Creeping concrete fears". East Grinstead Observer. 15 December 1989. p. 15. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  18. ^ "Your instant news update". East Grinstead Observer. 7 April 1993. p. 9. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  19. ^ "Council minutes, 16 February 2018" (PDF). West Sussex County Council. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  20. ^ "Devoted to family, his job and people". Sussex World. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  21. ^ "Former leader of West Sussex County Council quits Tory party". Sussex World. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  22. ^ "County Council structure". West Sussex County Council. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  23. ^ "Your councillors by party". West Sussex County Council. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  24. ^ "The West Sussex (Electoral Changes) Order 2016", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2016/1224, retrieved 25 January 2024
  25. ^ "Chichester Conservation Area Character Appraisal" (PDF). Chichester District Council. 2016. p. 22. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  26. ^ "County Council office". West Sussex County Council. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  27. ^ "The West Sussex Times". The West Sussex Times. Horsham. 16 November 1889. p. 2. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  28. ^ Kelly's Directory of Sussex. 1911. p. 13. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  29. ^ "The history of Edes House". Chichester Observer. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  30. ^ "A County Council Bargain! New offices scheme: The purchase of a site a Chichester agreed to". Worthing Gazette. 2 August 1916. p. 2. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  31. ^ "The New County Hall: Council's first meeting". Hampshire Telegraph and Post. Portsmouth. 31 July 1936. p. 11. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  32. ^ Death of Robinson's wife Mima in local press report
  33. ^ Names and dates as listed on the carved boards in County Hall, Chichester
  34. ^ West Sussex Records Office
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