Thanet District Council

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Thanet District Council
Thanet District Council logo.svg
Type
Type
Non-metropolitan district council
of Thanet District
History
Founded1 April 1974
Leadership
Chairman
Jason Savage,   Conservative
Leader
Ash Ashbee,   Conservative
Structure
Seats56
ThanetDistrictCouncil2019.svg
Political groups
Administration (30)
Opposition (26)
Elections
Last election
2 May 2019
Website
www.thanet.gov.uk

Thanet District Council is the local government body for the Thanet district in Kent, England.[2][3] Its administrative centre is Margate. On a national level, Thanet forms part of two parliamentary constituencies at Westminster and is represented in Parliament by two MPs.[4]

History[]

The district was formed by the merger of:

Isle of Thanet Rural District was created by the Local Government Act 1894 and was abolished in 1935.

Responsibilities[]

Thanet district council is responsible for providing clear leadership to the community and continuously to improve the delivery of local services.[dubious – discuss] These services include: leisure, environmental health, housing — including the provision of social housing and housing benefit and rubbish collection. (First tier authorities have no responsibility for highways and under statute this function cannot be passed between different levels of local government.) Kent County Council is responsible for more strategic services such as education, libraries, main roads, social services, trading standards and transport.

Organisation[]

The powers of the council are specified in its constitution in accordance with the Local Government Act 2000.[5]

The council is a cabinet-style council with a leader and the cabinet itself, which is formed by the majority party in the district. Decisions on the council's services are made by the executive (or cabinet) which comprises five councillors. Each member of the cabinet holds a separate portfolio. The leader and cabinet are responsible for policies, plans and strategies, and for recommending them to the overall council, which is convened as a whole, at regular council meetings. The full council consists of 56 councillors.

The cabinet is held to account by the remainder of the councillors acting as overview and scrutiny who verify that decisions are appropriate and can prevent a decision taking immediate effect. The council is chaired by Cllr Jason Savage and led by Cllr Ash Ashbee.[6][7][8]

Mayors[]

Mayors are ceremonial figures whose only real power is to chair sessions of their councils.

  • Mayor of Margate: Councillor Julie Dellar[9]
  • Mayor of Ramsgate: Councillor Raushan Ara[10]
  • Mayor of Broadstairs: Councillor Paul Moore[11]

Officers[]

Councillors are responsible for the appointment and oversight of officers, who are delegated to perform most tasks. The chief executive officer, has overall responsibility for council employees and operates in conjunction with department heads.

  • Chief executive officer: Madeline Homer
  • Director of operations: Gavin Waite[12]

Parishes[]

The civil parishes located in the district are:

Elections[]

Main article: Thanet local elections

Elections are held every four years. The last council election took place on 3 May 2019. This election which saw UKIP, the party with the largest number of seats in 2015, lose all of their councillors.[13]

Initially after the 2019 election, the Conservative party led the council with a minority[14] - however, after a vote of no confidence in October 2019, Labour now operate a confidence-and-supply arrangement with the Greens and Thanet Independents.[15]

Electoral wards[]

The district is divided into 23 electoral wards, mainly located in the coastal resorts of Margate, Cliftonville, Broadstairs and Ramsgate.[16]

History of control[]

Election Party
1973 Conservative
1976
1979
1983
1987 No overall control
1991 Conservative
1995 Labour
1999
2003 Conservative
2007
2011 No overall control
2015 UKIP
2017 No overall control
2019

References[]

  1. ^ Council, Thanet District (4 May 2019). "Election Results by Party, 2 May 2019". democracy.thanet.gov.uk.
  2. ^ "Thanet District Council". www.thanet.gov.uk.
  3. ^ A-Z of Thanet District Council services
  4. ^ Your MP’s for Thanet
  5. ^ "Constitution" (PDF). Thanet District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Your Councillors - Thanet". Thanet District Council. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Leader of the Council". 11 October 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Chairman of Council". democracy.thanet.gov.uk. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  9. ^ "The Current Mayor, Cllr Julie Dellar - The Mayor and Charter Trustees of Margate, Thanet". www.margate.org.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  10. ^ Bailes, Kathy (15 May 2019). "Ramsgate councillors elect Raushan Ara as the new town mayor". The Isle Of Thanet News. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  11. ^ "Town Mayor - Broadstairs & St Peter's Town Council". www.broadstairs.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Councillor wants colleagues to die". Kent Online. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  13. ^ "Thanet council election results". Kent Online. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Conservatives lead minority council - but what does it mean for you?". Kent Online. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  15. ^ "Council leader ousted after no-confidence vote". 11 October 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Your Councillors". democracy.thanet.gov.uk. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
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