North Hertfordshire District Council

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Coordinates: 51°58′34″N 0°13′48″W / 51.976°N 0.230°W / 51.976; -0.230

North Hertfordshire District Council
Logo
Type
Type
Non-metropolitan district council
Leadership
Chair of the Council
Val Bryant, Labour
since 26 May 2021
Leader of the Council
Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg, Labour
since 26 May 2021[1]
Structure
Seats49
United Kingdom North Hertfordshire District Council 2019.svg
Political groups
Administration (26)
  Labour (15)
  Liberal Democrats (11)

Opposition (23)

  Conservatives (23)
Elections
Last election
6 May 2021
Meeting place
North Hertfordshire District Council Offices.jpg
Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City
Website
http://www.north-herts.gov.uk

North Hertfordshire District Council is the local authority for the North Hertfordshire non-metropolitan district of England, the United Kingdom. North Hertfordshire covers the northern part of Hertfordshire, in the East of England region. The Council's offices are in Letchworth, one of the largest settlements in the district.

Composition[]

The Council consists of 49 elected members, representing twenty-four electoral wards. Nine of the wards elect two councillors each. Seven elect one, whilst eight elect three.

The Council has been under no overall control since 2019, being run by a Labour and Liberal Democrats joint administration. In the 2021 Council elections Labour lost the Letchworth Grange seat to the Conservative party. A total of 17 seats out of the 49 of the council were contested, including 2 bye-elections. The 16 other seats were held by the incumbent party.

Party Councillors Change
(2021)
Conservative 23 +1
Labour 15 -1
Liberal Democrats 11 -
Total 49 -
Source: BBC News

Political leadership[]

Since the Local Government Act 2000, the council has used the 'Leader and cabinet' model. The current leader, appointed in May 2021, is Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg (Labour, leading a Labour - Liberal Democrat coalition). Prior to 2000 the term 'leader' was used to indicate the leader of the largest political group, who in North Hertfordshire took the formal role of Chair of the Policy and Resources Committee.

Party Dates Name Formal role
No overall control (Conservative minority administration) 1974-1976 Robert Flatman Chair of Policy and Resources Committee
Conservative 1976-1992 Robert Flatman Chair of Policy and Resources Committee
Conservative 1992-1994 Geoffrey Woods Chair of Policy and Resources Committee
No overall control (Conservative minority administration) 1994-1995 Geoffrey Woods Chair of Policy and Resources Committee
No overall control (Labour minority administration) 1995-1996 David Kearns Chair of Policy and Resources Committee
Labour 1996-1999 David Kearns Chair of Policy and Resources Committee
Conservative 1999-2010 F. John Smith Leader of the Council
Conservative 2010-2019 Lynda Needham Leader of the Council
No overall control (Labour - Liberal Democrat coalition) 2019-2021 Martin Stears-Handscomb Leader of the Council
No overall control (Labour - Liberal Democrat coalition) 2021- Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg Leader of the Council
Source: Minutes of Annual Council Meetings 1974-2021, North Hertfordshire District Council. This list is the political leaders of the council rather than the largely ceremonial Chairman of the Council role, to which a different councillor is appointed each year.

Wards[]

North Hertfordshire consists of twenty four wards, electing 1, 2 or 3 members.

  • (3)
  • (3)
  • (3)
  • (2)
  • (2)
  • (2)
  • (2)
  • (1)

Premises[]

When the council was created in 1974, it inherited five sets of offices from the five former authorities, spread across the four towns of Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock and Royston. Initially the new council used the former Hitchin Rural District Council's offices (later called Centenary House) on Grammar School Walk in Hitchin as its headquarters, with the other offices providing additional accommodation. In 1975, the year after the new council's creation, it consolidated most of its functions into a six-storey building on Gernon Road in Letchworth, which had been built as part of the Central Area (later Garden Square) Shopping Centre. The building was named Council Offices and has served as the council's headquarters since then.[2][3][4] The council rented the building until 2013, when it purchased it for £3.6 million.[5]

Arms[]

Coat of arms of North Hertfordshire District Council
Notes
Granted 16 January 1975
Crest
On a wreath of the colours two sprigs of oak in saltire fructed Proper enfiling a mural crown Or perched thereon a hooded crow (Corvus cornix cornix) close Proper.
Escutcheon
Chevronny of six Or and Gules a pale Ermine on a chief Vert a fleece between two garbs of barley Or.
Supporters
On either side a hart attired of ten tynes Proper gorged with a coronet pendent therefrom a pentagon Or charged with a cogwheel Sable
Motto
Memores Acte Prudentes Futuri[6]

[]

Former logo used c. 1990–2021.

In 2021 the council adopted a new logo of four hearts (shown in the infobox above) and the style "North Herts Council" instead of its full formal name of "North Hertfordshire District Council". Prior to this, the council had used a logo of the initials "NHDC" in a green and purple square for approximately thirty years.[7]

References[]

  1. ^ "Minutes, Council 26 May 2021". North Herts Council. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  2. ^ Miller, Mervyn (2002). Letchworth: The First Garden City (2nd ed.). Chichester: Phillimore. pp. 177, 189. ISBN 1-86077-213-7.
  3. ^ London Gazette, 13 June 1975, page 7654, council address given as Grammar School Walk, Hitchin
  4. ^ London Gazette, 10 July 1975, page 8810, council address given as Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth.
  5. ^ Scott, James (12 December 2013). "NHDC buys own Letchworth GC offices for £3.6M". The Comet. Archant. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  6. ^ "East of England Region". Civic Heraldry of England. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Council Plan 2022–2027" (PDF). North Herts Council. Retrieved 22 November 2021.

External links[]

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