Elected county councils were created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, taking over many administrative functions which had previously been performed by unelected magistrates at the quarter sessions. The cities of Birmingham and Coventry were considered large enough to provide their own county-level services and so were made county boroughs, independent from Warwickshire County Council.[a] The county council was elected by and provided services to the rest of the county, which area was termed the administrative county. The 1888 Act also said that any urban sanitary districts which straddled county boundaries were to be placed entirely in the county which had the majority of that district's population, which saw Warwickshire cede its part of Tamworth to Staffordshire and its part of Hinckley to Leicestershire.[3]
The first elections to the county council were held in January 1889 and it formally came into being on 1 April 1889. On that day it held its first official meeting at the Shire Hall in Warwick, the courthouse which had served as the meeting place for the quarter sessions which preceded the county council. John Dugdale, the ConservativeMP for Nuneaton, was appointed the first chairman of the council.[4]
In 2024 the Council became the centre of a national controversy following comments made by three Conservative Councillors during a Children’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee discussing spending on Special Educational NeedS (SEND). [10]
The comments by Cllr Brian Hammersley, Cllr Clare Golby and Cllr Jeff Morgan were considered to be 'derogatory'[11] and attracted national and local media and video footage of the meeting was shared on social media. Following the media attention the Council published a statement and apologies from the three Councillors. [12]
The Conservative Group received criticism for their decision not to discipline the Councillors by removing the whip and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was asked to intervene by the Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western during Prime Minister Question Time.[13] A letter about the incident was published by Disability Rights UK and co signed by 12 other disability charities. [14]Following a large number of official complaints the Council hired solicitor firm to conduct an investigation into the complaints.[15] There report is expected to be published in June 2024.[16]
A petition with over 30,000 signatures calling for the three Councillors to resign was submitted to the Council with Leader Izzi Seccombe accepting the petition but declining to debate the petition.[17] As a result of the comments a joint Labour and Liberal Democrat motion was submitted for all elected members to receive training on SEND. This received cross party support and was unanimously voted for. [18]
Governance
Warwickshire County Council provides county-level services. District-level services are provided by the five district councils:
Since the last boundary changes in 2017 the council has been divided into 57 electoral divisions, each electing one councillor. Elections are held every four years.[28]
Premises
Shire Hall, Warwick: The older part of the building facing Northgate Street.
The county council is based at the Shire Hall in Market Place, Warwick, a complex of buildings built over many years. The oldest part was a courthouse built in 1758 facing Northgate Street.[29] As the county council's functions grew it built new offices in 1929–32 on the adjoining site of the former county jail, retaining the jail's 1783 façade to Northgate Street. A large extension completed in 1958 included a new council chamber, and a further extension in 1966 created a new frontage and main entrance for the building facing Market Place.[30]
References
^Coventry had previously been a similar county corporate, having its own quarter sessions from 1451 until 1842, when it had been brought back under the jurisdiction of the Warwickshire quarter sessions.
