Cheshire East Council
Arms of Cheshire East Council
Coat of arms
Corporate logo
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 2009
Preceded by
4 councils
Leadership
Mayor
Rod Fletcher, Liberal Democrats
since May 2023
Sam Corcoran, Labour
since 22 May 2019[1]
Chief executive
Rob Polkinghorne
since 3 January 2024[2]
Structure
Seats82 councillors[3]
Political groups
  Conservative (33)
  Labour (31)
  Residents of Wilmslow (5)
  Tytherington Independents (2)
  Liberal Democrats (2)
  Alderley Edge First (1)
  Independent (8)
Length of term
4 years
Elections
Plurality-at-large
Last election
4 May 2023
Next election
6 May 2027
Motto
Working together for excellence
Meeting place
Westfields, Middlewich Road, Sandbach CW11 1HZ
Website
cheshireeast.gov.uk
Footnotes
[4]

Cheshire East Council is the local authority of the Borough of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. 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 was first elected on 1 May 2008, a year before coming into its powers on 1 April 2009. After an election in May 2019, no party holds overall control.[5] The civil parish of Sandbach hosts the administrative headquarters for the council.

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, Cheshire East is within a non-metropolitan area of England. As a unitary authority, Cheshire East 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.

Political control

Until May 2019 the council was controlled by the Conservatives. At the 2019 elections the council was left under no overall control. On 22 May 2019, the newly elected councillors met for the first time and elected Labour's Sam Corcoran as leader, after the party came to an agreement with independent councillors.[5]

Premises

The council's main administrative offices are at Westfields on Middlewich Road in Sandbach.[6] The building was opened in 2008 as the headquarters of the former Congleton Borough Council, one of Cheshire East's predecessors.[7] Council and committee meetings are held at various venues across the borough, including Crewe Municipal Buildings, Macclesfield Town Hall, and Sandbach Town Hall.[8]

On 30 November 2023 Cheshire East Council councillors decided to close the council's Westfield headquarters, it is planned for the new headquarters of the council to be Delamere House in Crewe.[9]

Police investigations

Cheshire East Council has been the subject of a number of police investigations. At one point there were seven investigations, four of which are outlined below:

  • Investigation into (former) Leader of the Council (Michael Jones) illegally awarding a contract to a friend (Amanda Moris of Core Fit) – launched 2015, dropped 2020 because of lack of evidence[10]
  • Investigation into a grant to Berkeley Academy in Wistaston for £70,000 awarded outside of contract rules[11] – dropped because of insufficient evidence[12]
  • An investigation into allegations of manipulation of air pollution data[13] – dropped[14]
  • Land transfer for the ANSA Waste Management Facility in Middlewich[15] – dropped.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Council minutes, 22 May 2019" (PDF). Cheshire East Council. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "Cheshire East Council appoints Rob Polkinghorne as chief executive". Cheshire East Council. 13 December 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  3. ↑ "Local Democracy- Voting and Elections". Cheshire East Council. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "Council and Democracy". Cheshire East Council. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  5. 1 2 Phil McCann (22 May 2019). "Cheshire East Council elects first Labour leader". BBC. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  6. ↑ "Westfields Council HQ". Cheshire East Council. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  7. ↑ "New council HQ formally opened". North Wales Live. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  8. ↑ "Council meeting calendar". Cheshire East Council. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  9. ↑ Watterson, Kaleigh (30 November 2023). "Council agrees to close its own headquarters". BBC News. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  10. ↑ "Ex-Cheshire East Council leader fraud probe dropped". BBC News. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "Three police probes into Cheshire East Council". BBC News. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  12. ↑ "Police probe into two Cheshire East Council allegations dropped". Nantwich News. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  13. ↑ "Cheshire East council admits air pollution data was falsified". The Guardian. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  14. ↑ "Cheshire East Council: Police drop probes into land purchases". BBC News. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  15. ↑ "OPINION: Time for a change". Northwich Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  16. ↑ "No police action after investigations into Cheshire East Council". The Nantwich News. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
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