Telford and Wrekin Council

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the Local Government Act 1972 and subsequent legislation. For the purposes of local government, the Telford and Wrekin is within a non-metropolitan area of England.

As a unitary authority, Telford and Wrekin Council has the powers and functions of both a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. In its capacity as a district council it is a billing authority collecting Council Tax and business rates, it processes local planning applications, it is responsible for housing, waste collection and environmental health. In its capacity as a county council it is a local education authority, responsible for social services, libraries and waste disposal.

The council is currently made up of: 35 Labour councillors, 14 Conservative councillors, 4 Liberal Democrats councillors and 1 Independent councillors. There are currently no councillors elected for any other political party – UKIP, green, etc.

There are seven roles within the council. A councillor apart from the party under administration of the Council (Labour) may be appointed to: Leader of the Council (Shaun Davies), Deputy leader of the Council (Richard Overton), Mayor of the Borough of Telford & Wrekin (Amrik Jhawar), Deputy mayor of the Borough of Telford & Wrekin (Raj Mehta), Speaker of the Council (Vanessa Holt), Deputy Speaker of the Council (Hilda Rhodes) and a Council cabinet member.

The cabinet is the main decision-making body of the Council with executive powers for all matters, except those held by the full council or those reserved to regulatory committees (such as planning and licensing applications). The cabinet has a key role in budget proposal and policy framework for the Council to adopt.

The cabinet is chaired by Shaun Davies (Leader of the Council) with ten cabinet members each having responsibility for a particular area of the Council's work.