Wolverhampton City Council

Wolverhampton City Council

File:Wolverhampton City Council coat of arms.jpg The coat of arms of Wolverhampton City Council
Type	Local Government
Headquarters	Civic Centre
Location	St. Peter's Square, Wolverhampton, England
Region served	City of Wolverhampton
Mayor	Councillor Michael Heap
Website	wolverhampton.gov.uk
Formerly called	Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council

Wolverhampton City Council is the governing body of the City of Wolverhampton, England.

The council offices are located in the Civic Centre, which is located in St. Peter's Square in the city centre.

The Labour Party currently control the council and have been in majority on the council since 1974, with the exceptions of 1978–1979, 1987, 1992–1994 and 2008–2010.

Councillor Michael Heap is Mayor of Wolverhampton for 2014/15.

Wolverhampton City Council was assessed in 2007 by the Audit Commission and judged to be "improving well" in providing services for local people; this rating was given to 59% of local authorities. Overall, the council was awarded "three star" status meaning it was "performing well" and "consistently above minimum requirements", similar to 46% of all local authorities. It was noted that it was rated as "good" for children's and young people's services; whilst the Supporting People programme was judged to be "poor".

The Council's housing stock is managed by Wolverhampton Homes.

Party political make-up of Wolverhampton City Council

	Party	Seats			Current Council (2012-13)
		2007	2008	2012
	Labour	36	28	44
	Conservative	21	27	13
	Lib Dems	4	5	3
	Independent	1	0	0

Wards

There are 20 wards of Wolverhampton City Council:

Ward name	Area (ha)/mi2	Population (2011 census)	Population (2001 census)	Population change
Bilston East	384 hectares (1.48 sq mi)	13,363	10,741	+24.41%
Bilston North	290 hectares (1.1 sq mi)	12,213	13,527	-9.71%
Blakenhall	342 hectares (1.32 sq mi)	12,022	11,301	+6.38%
Bushbury North	481 hectares (1.86 sq mi)	11,936	12,021	-0.71%
Bushbury South and Low Hill	342 hectares (1.32 sq mi)	14,983	14,103	+6.24%
East Park	342 hectares (1.32 sq mi)	12,497	10,452	+19.57%
Ettingshall	417 hectares (1.61 sq mi)	13,482	10,839	+24.38%
Fallings Park	244 hectares (0.94 sq mi)	12,410	10,996	+12.86%
Graiseley	225 hectares (0.87 sq mi)	12,284	11,691	+5.07%
Heath Town	270 hectares (1.0 sq mi)	13,965	10,876	+28.40%
Merry Hill	246 hectares (0.95 sq mi)	12,189	11,893	+2.49%
Oxley	421 hectares (1.63 sq mi)	12,797	12,848	-0.39%
Park	385 hectares (1.49 sq mi)	12,294	12,844	-4.28%
Penn	308 hectares (1.19 sq mi)	12,718	12,392	+2.63%
St Peter's	496 hectares (1.92 sq mi)	12,645	14,472	-12.62%
Spring Vale	327 hectares (1.26 sq mi)	12,243	12,588	-2.74%
Tettenhall Regis	457 hectares (1.76 sq mi)	11,911	12,000	-0.74%
Tettenhall Wightwick	436 hectares (1.68 sq mi)	10,872	10,832	+0.37%
Wednesfield North	210 hectares (0.81 sq mi)	11,235	10,978	+2.34%
Wednesfield South	437 hectares (1.69 sq mi)	11,411	11,195	+1.93%
Wolverhampton City Council area	6,944 hectares (26.81 sq mi)	249,470	236,582	+5.45%

A map showing the ward boundaries is available.

History

File:Wolverhampton 1921.jpg

Wolverhampton in 1921

File:Town Hall , North St. , Wolverhampton - geograph.org.uk - 538393.jpg

The old Town Hall (magistrates court)

Wolverhampton gained the beginnings of modern local government in 1777, when the Wolverhampton Improvement Act was passed by Parliament. This allowed for the establishment of 125 Town Commissioners who undertook a variety of local improvement work such as punishing bear baiting, improving drainage, widening streets and by the end of the century street lighting had been provided at every street corner and over the doorway of every inn, and water supply had been improved by the sinking of ten new wells and the provision of a great water tank in the market place. Policing had been improved with the appointment of ten watchmen and attempts were also made to regulate the markets and inspect hazardous food.

Wolverhampton was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1849 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The town was then made a County Borough in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888.

In 1933, the boundaries of the borough expanded, taking in areas from Cannock Rural District and Seisdon Rural District, with very little of the surrounding urban area being affected, with only Heath Town Urban District being abolished.

The bulk of the urban districts of Bilston (a borough itself after 1933), Tettenhall and Wednesfield were added to the borough in 1966, along with the northern section of the urban district of Coseley and parts from the north of Sedgley and the west of Willenhall. The vast majority of these areas were traditionally part of the Parish of Wolverhampton, and were part of the original Parliamentary Borough.

Wolverhampton was one of only two County Boroughs (the other being Liverpool) to have no changes made to the boundary during the 1974 reorganisation of local government, the borough already having a population larger than the 250,000 required for education authorities. This contrasted with both the Redcliffe-Maud Report, and the initial White Paper for the 1974 reforms where large areas of the present South Staffordshire district were to be added to the borough. During the 1974 reforms it was placed within the West Midlands Metropolitan County.

Coat of arms

File:Wolverhampton Borough Council Coat of Arms.jpg

Commemorative plaque showing the coat of arms of Wolverhampton Council pre 1898

The coat of arms of Wolverhampton Council was granted on 31 December 1898, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the council.

The various symbols within the arms are representative of the history of the city. The book represents the education within the city, specifically the 16th century Wolverhampton Grammar School; the woolpack represents the mediaeval woollen trade within the city; the column is a representation of the Saxon pillar that can be found within the churchyard of St. Peter's Collegiate Church in the city centre; whilst the keys are representative of the church itself and its dedication to St. Peter. The padlock represents one of the major industries of the area at the time of the granting of the arms – that of lock-making; whilst the brazier at the top is indicative of the general metal-working industries in the area. The cross is ascribed to King Edgar.

The motto on the coat of arms is 'Out of Darkness Cometh Light'.

Prior to 1898 there was a former coat of arms that had been in use since 1848, though these arms were never officially granted.

Lender option borrower option loans

Wolverhampton City Council has 21 long term lender option borrower option loans (LOBOs) worth £93.8 million with interest rates of between 3.6% and 4.95%. Projected repayments are £273.8 million at £4 million repayment per year.