Southampton City Council

Southampton City Council
Southampton City Council logo
Council logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Valerie Laurent,
Conservative
since 17 May 2023
Satvir Kaur,
Labour
since 18 May 2022
Mike Harris
since 20 July 2022
Structure
Seats51 councillors
Southampton City Council composition
Political groups
Administration
Labour (35)
Other parties
Conservative (9)
Liberal Democrat (3)
Green Party (1)
Vacant
Vacant (3)
Elections
First-past-the-post
Last election
4 May 2023
Meeting place
Southampton-CivicCentre-South.jpg
Civic Centre, Civic Centre Road, Southampton, SO147LY
Website
www.southampton.gov.uk Edit this at Wikidata

Southampton City Council is the local authority of the city of Southampton. 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. The council uses a leader and cabinet structure. Labour has been in control of the council since 2022.

History

The City of Southampton shown within Hampshire

Southampton was an ancient borough, with the earliest known borough charter dating from 1154. Southampton City Council has records in its archives of council meetings as early as 1199. It was reformed in 1836 to become a municipal borough governed by a corporation, also known as a town council. When elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, Southampton was considered large enough to run its own services and so it was made a county borough, independent from Hampshire County Council.

Southampton was granted city status on 11 February 1964, after which the corporation was also known as Southampton City Council. Local government restructuring in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 made the City of Southampton a non-metropolitan district within Hampshire, putting it under the authority of Hampshire County Council for the first time. Southampton regained its independence from Hampshire County Council on 1 April 1997 when it was made a unitary authority.

Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the Local Government Act 1972 and subsequent legislation. For the purposes of local government, Southampton is within a non-metropolitan area of England. As a unitary authority, Southampton City 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, it 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.

In August 2018 the council launched its own not-for-profit energy company 'CitizEn', created with the ambition to offer competitive rates for energy to tackle fuel poverty in the city. The company was set up in cooperation with Nottingham City Council’s company Robin Hood Energy. The council is currently in talks with Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council for them to become a partner in the scheme.

Local Authority Trading Company

In response to the 2008 financial crash and the Great Recession the then city council, under the administration of the Conservative Party, began a process of privatisation of council services. From 2017 the Labour administration had begun a process taking municipal control of services that were privatised, so that all profits are reinvested into council services. These services were set up and the Southampton "Local Authority Trading Company" (LATCo) was created. Potential areas for the LATCo to cover include: street parking; public transport; adult and children’s transport; fleet services; housing management and operations; street cleansing; waste management; parks and open spaces; and facilities management.

In 2018 the council began the process of incorporating services which Capita had provided for the council for 11 years, including "customer services, HR pay, revenues and benefits, procurement, health and safety, print, post room and IT services". This also includes the incorporation of 300 jobs under the council's LATCo.

Joint Committees

Southampton had sent a representative to the South East England Regional Assembly during its existence between 1998 and 2010. Created by the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 and based in Guildford, the voluntary assembly met six times a year and was responsible for the South East England Development Agency, a project which oversaw investment projects in the south east region. The council remains a member of the South East England Councils.

Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is chaired by several businesses, universities and councils including Southampton City Council and primarily focuses on economic growth in the Hampshire region. The Solent LEP's Growth Hub is based in Southampton. There was an ambition to create a combined authority for the South Hampshire area, including Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight which would include the potential for a combined authority mayor. This program was controversial, and was finally blocked by Hampshire County Council in 2017. There continues to be interest in partnership between Southampton City Council, Eastleigh Borough Council and neighbouring components of other Hampshire districts (New Forest District Council and Test Valley Borough Council).

Southampton City Council is also a founding member of the 'Key Cities' group. It is a lobbying group of 24 other cities across Great Britain, formed in 2013, that lobbies the government for greater devolution and funding

Political control

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms took effect has been as follows:

Non-metropolitan district

Party in control Years
Labour 1974–1976
Conservative 1976–1984
Labour 1984–1987
No overall control 1987–1988
Labour 1988–1997

Unitary authority

Party in control Years
Labour 1997–2000
No overall control 2000–2008
Conservative 2008–2012
Labour 2012–2021
Conservative 2021–2022
Labour 2022–present

Leadership

The role of Lord Mayor is largely ceremonial in Southampton, with a different councillor usually being appointed to the role each year. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1996 have been:

Councillor Party From To
John Arnold Labour 1996 1999
June Bridle Labour 1999 21 May 2003
Adrian Vinson Liberal Democrats 21 May 2003 16 May 2007
Alec Samuels Conservative 16 May 2007 20 Feb 2008
June Bridle Labour 20 Feb 2008 4 May 2008
Alec Samuels Conservative 14 May 2008 14 Jul 2010
Royston Smith Conservative 14 Jul 2010 16 May 2012
Richard Williams Labour 16 May 2012 25 Apr 2013
Jacqui Rayment Labour 25 Apr 2013 15 May 2013
Simon Letts Labour 15 May 2013 6 May 2018
Christopher Hammond Labour 16 May 2018 19 May 2021
Daniel Fitzhenry Conservative 19 May 2021 18 May 2022
Satvir Kaur Labour 18 May 2022

Elections

Following the last boundary changes in 2023, the council comprises 51 councillors representing 17 wards, with three councillors being elected for each ward. For each election, a third of the council or one representative for each ward is elected for a term of four years. Over four years there are three elections and a fourth gap year. The wards are:

National referendums in Southampton

2011 Alternative Vote referendum

On Thursday 5 May 2011 Southampton voted in the 2011 Alternative Vote referendum under the provisions of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 where voters were asked to decide on the question "At present, the UK uses the 'first past the post' system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the 'alternative vote' system be used instead?" by voting for either "Yes" or "No".

Referendum results
Choice Votes %
Referendum failed No 39,257 62.99
Yes 23,062 37.01
Valid votes 62,319 99.41
Invalid or blank votes 380 0.61
Total votes 62,699 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 164,726 38.06
Source: Electoral Commission
National referendum results (without spoiled ballots):
Yes:
23,062 (37.01%)
No:
39,257 (62.99)

2016 EU membership referendum

On Thursday 23 June 2016 Southampton voted in the 2016 EU Referendum under the provisions of the European Union Referendum Act 2015 where voters were asked to decide on the question "Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?" by voting for either "Remain a member of the European Union" or "Leave the European Union". The result produced a "Leave" majority on a turnout of 68% across the city, lower than the national average of 72%. The Labour MP for Southampton Test Alan Whitehead supported "remain", whilst Royston Smith the MP for Southampton Itchen supported "leave".

United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016
Southampton
Choice Votes %
Leave the European Union 57,927 53.80%
Remain a member of the European Union 49,738 46.19%
Valid votes 107,665 99.91%
Invalid or blank votes 110 0.1%
Total votes 107,772 100.00%
Registered voters and turnout 158,171 68.2%
Southampton referendum result (without spoiled ballots):
Leave:
57,927 (53.80%)
Remain:
49,738 (46.19%)

This page was last updated at 2023-06-23 03:34 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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