Slough Borough Council

Slough Borough Council
Slough Borough Council logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Balwinder Dhillon,
Conservative
since 16 May 2024[1]
Dexter Smith,
Conservative
since 18 May 2023
Managing Director Commissioner
Will Tuckley
since 20 November 2024 [2]
Structure
Seats42 councillors
Political groups
Administration (20)
  Conservative (20)
Other parties (22)
  Labour (11)
  Independent (8)
  Liberal Democrats (3)
Length of term
Whole council elected every four years
Elections
Plurality-at-large
Last election
4 May 2023
Next election
6 May 2027
Meeting place
Observatory House, 25 Winsdor Road, Slough, SL1 2EL
Website
www.slough.gov.uk

Slough Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Slough in Berkshire, England. Slough has had an elected council since 1863, which has been reformed several times. Since 1998 the council has been a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council.

The council has been under no overall control since 2023, being led by a Conservative minority administration. It is based at Observatory House in the town centre.

History

Further information: Municipal Borough of Slough

Slough's first local authority was a local board, established in 1863.[3] Such boards were reconstituted as urban district councils in 1894. The urban district boundaries were enlarged several times, notably in 1930 when it absorbed areas including Langley and Cippenham.[4]

Slough Town Hall, Bath Road: Council's headquarters 1937–2011

In 1938 the urban district was incorporated to become a municipal borough. It was then governed by a body formally called the 'mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Slough', generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council.[5]

The municipal borough was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. It was replaced by a slightly larger non-metropolitan district of Slough, which covered the old borough plus the Britwell and Wexham Court areas, and was transferred from Buckinghamshire to Berkshire.[6] Slough's borough status was transferred to the new district, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Slough's series of mayors dating back to 1938.[7]

From 1974 until 1998, Slough Borough Council was a lower-tier authority, with Berkshire County Council providing county-level services in the borough. The borough was enlarged in 1995 to take in Colnbrook with Poyle.[8]

Berkshire County Council was abolished in 1998. Slough Borough Council then became a unitary authority, taking over the former county council's functions in the borough.[9]

Governance

As a unitary authority, Slough Borough Council provides both district-level and county-level functions. There are three civil parishes in the borough at Britwell, Colnbrook with Poyle, and Wexham Court, which form an additional tier of local government for their area. The rest of the borough is unparished.[10]

Political control

Since the 2023 election the council has been under no overall control, being led by the Conservatives with support from the Liberal Democrats.[11]

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

Lower-tier non-metropolitan district

Party in control Years
Labour 1974–1976
Conservative 1976–1983
Labour 1983–1998

Unitary authority

Party in control Years
Labour 1998–2004
No overall control 2004–2008
Labour 2008–2023
No overall control 2023–present

Leadership

The role of Mayor of Slough is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1997 have been:[13]

Councillor Party From To
Geoff Cutting Labour 17 May 1997
John Connolly Labour 20 May 1999 Jun 2001
Rob Anderson[14] Labour Jun 2001 Jun 2004
Richard Stokes Liberal 6 Jul 2004 15 May 2008
Rob Anderson[15] Labour 15 May 2008 6 Jun 2016
Sohail Munawar[16] Labour 6 Jun 2016 28 Nov 2017
James Swindlehurst Labour 28 Nov 2017 7 May 2023
Dexter Smith Conservative 18 May 2023

Composition

Following the 2023 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to June 2024, the composition of the council was:[17][18]

Party Councillors
Conservative 20
Labour 11
Independent 8
Liberal Democrats 3
Green 1
Total 27

Of the eight independent councillors, seven sit together as the 'Slough Independent Group'. The next election is due in May 2027.[18]

Bankruptcy (2021)

On 2 July 2021, Slough Borough Council issued a notice under Section 114 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, having the effect of preventing any new expenditure on non-statutory services, after serious financial problems had been identified.[19] In October 2021, the government announced plans to appoint external commissioners to help run the council after a series of reports highlighted major problems at the local authority.[20][21][22]

Elections

See also: Slough Borough Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023, the council has comprised 42 councillors representing 21 wards, with each ward electing two councillors. Elections are held every four years.[23]

Premises

The council is based at Observatory House at 25 Windsor Road in the town centre. It was built in the 1990s as commercial offices. The council bought the building in July 2018 for a reported £41.3 million and converted it to become their offices and meeting place, with the first council meetings in the building being held in September 2019.[24][25]

The council was previously based at Slough Town Hall at 19 Bath Road, which was built in 1937 and served as the council's headquarters until 2011. The council was then temporarily based at St Martin's Place at 51 Bath Road from 2011 to 2019, holding meetings at various venues in the town whilst looking for a new home closer to the town centre.[26][27]

References

  1. ^ Clark, Nick; Gudge, Ethan (21 May 2024). "Town elects new mayor despite behaviour concerns". BBC News. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  2. ^ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/slough-borough-council-letter-to-the-managing-director-commissioner-20-november-2024
  3. ^ "No. 22753". The London Gazette. 14 July 1863. p. 3517.
  4. ^ "Slough Civil Parish". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Slough Urban District / Municipal Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  6. ^ "The English Non-Metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 18 July 2024
  7. ^ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  8. ^ "The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey (County Boundaries) Order 1994", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1994/330
  9. ^ "The Berkshire (Structural Change) Order 1996", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1996/1879, retrieved 31 May 2023
  10. ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  11. ^ Waites, Daisy (25 May 2023). "Slough: Labour slam 'chaotic' coalition after all male leaders elected". Slough Observer. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  13. ^ "Council minutes". Slough Borough Council. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Councillor Robert Anderson". Slough Borough Council. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Slough Borough Council leader Rob Anderson resigns". BBC News. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  16. ^ Hockaday, James (29 November 2017). "New leader of Slough Borough Council chosen after Sohail Munawar reigns". Maidenhead Advetiser. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
  18. ^ a b "Slough". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  19. ^ Bottomley, Shay (2 July 2021). "Slough Borough Council bans new spending after Section 114 notice". Slough Express. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  20. ^ "'Dysfunctional' Slough council placed under government supervision". BBC News. 26 October 2021.
  21. ^ Rees, Tom (26 October 2021). "Labour-controlled council taken over after property bets leave £100m black hole". The Telegraph.
  22. ^ "LocalGov.co.uk - Your authority on UK local government - Commissioners to monitor Slough improvement plan". 26 October 2021.
  23. ^ "The Slough (Electoral Changes) Order 2023", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2023/203, retrieved 18 July 2024
  24. ^ Hockaday, James (2 November 2018). "More than £41m spent on new Slough Borough Council headquarters". Maidenhead Advetiser. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  25. ^ "Health Scrutiny Panel, 10 September 2019". Slough Borough Council. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  26. ^ "Slough Town Hall: Official opening ceremony by Mrs A. G. Trevener". Middlesex Advertiser and County Gazette. Uxbridge. 2 April 1937. p. 4. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  27. ^ "School chosen for Slough Town Hall site". BBC. 17 March 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2021.