About Plymouth City Council

Every aspect of life in Plymouth is touched by the work of the City Council. It provides the 256,700 residents in Plymouth with more than 300 services, ranging from looking after the streets and supporting public transport to lending books and running swimming pools.

The Council is a unitary authority, which means it is responsible for all local services in Plymouth including transport, social care and education.

Around 10,000 employees see residents through the good times at register offices for weddings, licensing for nightclubs and sports facilities and the difficult times such as helping the homeless and dealing with child welfare issues.

Many of the services we provide are statutory responsibilities and the Council itself has identified others as priorities. For example, we have a legal duty to dispose of the city's waste while we are not legally obliged to provide public toilets.

The following is just a sample of some of the things we do:

• Maintain 900kms of roads
• Serve an average of 51,378 free school meals a month
• Teach 37,644 children and young people in our schools
• Collect 111,820 tonnes of waste
• Look after 5,061 in our children’s centres
• Maintain 950 hectares of parks, open spaces and woodland
• Help more than 11,000 older and vulnerable adults

The Council shares a vision with its partners 'to be one of Europe's most vibrant waterfront cities, where an outstanding quality of life is enjoyed by everyone.'

Local Democracy

Councillors are elected by the people of Plymouth to represent each of the city's 19 wards, make decisions about the policies of the Council, its budget and how services are run.

Elections are held for three years out of four, with a third of the 57 seats being up for re-election each year.

The political group with the majority of seats on the Council select a leader who is then formally elected as Council Leader by the Full Council.

A Cabinet is selected by the ruling group. The Cabinet meets in public every four weeks to make key decisions. Each Cabinet member has a special area of responsibility or 'portfolio'. Cabinet members are also given the authority to make detailed decisions that affect their area of responsibility.

The leader and Cabinet make most of key decisions about how the Council is run and how the budget is allocated.

Following the local elections in May 2007 the Council has a Conservative administration. The Conservative group has 31 seats and the Labour group has 25 seats. There is one UKIP councillor. The next local elections will be held in May 2012, when one third of the seats will be contested.

The Lord Mayor

Plymouth has had a mayor for centuries but the king granted Plymouth the honour of having a Lord Mayor in 1935.

The title is now a ceremonial one. The Lord Mayor is the first citizen of the city and during the term of office he or she supports local organisations and businesses by launching, attending and hosting functions on behalf of the City Council.

Although during the year in office the Lord Mayor traditionally takes no active part in the political affairs of the City Council, he or she does chair meetings of the Full Council which take place on an eight weekly cycle.

Our priorities

The Council has adopted the vision statement of Plymouth 2020, the Local Strategic Partnership, which brings it together with organisations from the public, private, voluntary and community sectors to work towards common aims for the city, which is:

'By 2020 Plymouth will be one of Europe's finest, most vibrant waterfront cities, where an outstanding quality of life is enjoyed by everyone.'

The aim is to make the city one that is healthy, wealth, safe and wise.

The Council has agreed four priorities with its partners to achieve this. These are to:

• Deliver growth: Develop Plymouth as a thriving growth centre by creating the conditions for investment in quality new homes, jobs and infrastructure
• Raise aspirations:  Promote Plymouth and encourage people to aim higher and take pride in the city
• Reduce inequality: Reduce the inequality gap, particularly in health, between communities
• Provide value for communities: Work together to maximise resources to benefit customers and make internal efficiencies

The Councils's Corporate Plan sets out how the council will deliver these priorities.

The Council has a strong track record of achievement and in 2010 it was won one of the top awards in local government, the MJ Best Achieving Council of the Year.