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Brighton and Hove City Council
Coat of arms
Type
Type	Unitary authority
History
Founded	1 April 1997
Leadership
Mayor	Mohammed Asaduzzaman, Labour since 16 May 2024
Leader	Bella Sankey, Labour since 25 May 2023
Chief executive	Jess Gibbons since 18 March 2024
Structure
Seats	54 councillors
Political groups	Administration (37)   Labour (37) Other parties (17)   Green (8)   Conservative (5)   Brighton & Hove Independents (2)   Independent (2)
Joint committees	Greater Brighton City Board
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	Plurality block voting
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Hove Town Hall, Norton Road, Hove, BN3 3BQ
Website
www.brighton-hove.gov.uk

Brighton and Hove City Council is the local authority for Brighton and Hove, a local government district with city status in the ceremonial county of East Sussex, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2023. It is based at Hove Town Hall.

History

The district of Brighton and Hove was created in 1997 as a merger of the former Borough of Brighton and Borough of Hove, both of which had been lower-tier districts with East Sussex County Council providing county-level services prior to 1997. The new district was removed from the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex to also become its own non-metropolitan county, but with no county council; instead the district council performs both district and county functions, making it a unitary authority. For the purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty, Brighton and Hove remains part of the wider ceremonial county of East Sussex.

The new district was awarded borough status from its creation on 1 April 1997, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. The borough was additionally awarded city status on 31 January 2001, since when the council has been called Brighton and Hove City Council.

In December 2023 the council leader declared that the council was facing bankruptcy. The same month, two councillors, mother and daughter Bharti Gajjar and Chandni Mistry, were removed from the Labour group after allegations concerning their places of residence. In March 2024 Bharti Gajjar and Chandni Mistry resigned from the council. They resigned shortly afterwards, leading to ward by-elections.

Governance

The council provides both district-level and county-level services. In its capacity as a district council it is a billing authority collecting council tax and business rates, and it is responsible for town planning, housing, waste collection and environmental health. In its capacity as a county council it is a local education authority, and is responsible for social services, libraries and waste disposal. There is one civil parish in the city at Rottingdean which provides an additional tier of local government for that area; the rest of the city is an unparished area.

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since the 2023 election.

The first election to the council was held in 1996, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1997. Political control of the council since 1997 has been as follows:

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Brighton and Hove. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The first leader following the merger, Steve Bassam, had been the last leader of the old Brighton Borough Council. In 2011, Bill Randall of the Green Party was appointed leader, being the party's first council leader in the United Kingdom. The leaders since the council's creation in 1997 have been:

Composition

Following the 2023 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to July 2024, the composition of the council was as follows:

The next election is due in 2027.

Premises

The council inherited Brighton Town Hall (completed 1832) and the adjoining 1980s Priory House and Bartholomew House from the old Brighton Borough Council, and Hove Town Hall (completed 1974) from the old Hove Borough Council.

Council meetings are generally held at Hove Town Hall, which also houses the council's main offices. Brighton Town Hall and Bartholomew House continue to be used as a register office, customer service centre and additional offices. Priory House was closed as council offices in 2011 and subsequently converted to residential use.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 54 councillors representing 23 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Museums service

The council's museums service takes the name Royal Pavilion & Museums, and operates the Royal Pavilion, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Hove Museum and Art Gallery, the Booth Museum of Natural History and Preston Manor.

References

1. Booker-Lewis, Sarah (16 May 2024). "Councillors elect Brighton and Hove's first Muslim mayor". Brighton and Hove News. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
2. Benn, Dan (8 December 2023). "New Chief Executive appointed to council". Public Sector Executive. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
3. "New council chief executive joins today". Brighton and Hove City Council. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
4. ^ "The East Sussex (Boroughs of Brighton and Hove) (Structural Change) Order 1995", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1995/1770, retrieved 7 May 2024
5. "Lieutenancies Act 1997: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1997 c. 23 (sch. 1), retrieved 7 May 2024
6. "Understanding borough status; national context" (PDF). West Suffolk Council. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
7. "No. 56109". The London Gazette. 5 February 2001. p. 1431.
8. "Brighton & Hove City Council finances perilous, says leader". BBC News. 2 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
9. "Rogue councillors criticised for ignoring voters". 12 February 2024.
10. "Brighton Labour councillors expelled after residence claims". BBC News. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
11. "Residency row councillors give resignation reasons". BBC News. 5 April 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
12. "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70
13. "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
14. Booker-Lewis, Sarah (30 May 2023). "Brighton and Hove's new leader elected". The Argus. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
15. "Brighton & Hove". BBC News Online. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
16. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
17. "Go Green for first Green-led council in UK". www.greenparty.org.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
18. "Council minutes". Brighton and Hove City Council. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
19. "Local elections 2023: full council results for England". The Guardian. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
20. Historic England. "Town Hall and attached railings (Grade II) (1379974)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
21. "Hove Town Hall". My Brighton and Hove. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
22. "Calendar". Brighton and Hove City Council. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
23. "Visit us in person". Brighton and Hove City Council. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
24. Vowles, Neil (17 February 2014). "Former council office in Bartholomew Square Brighton for sale". The Argus. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
25. "The Brighton and Hove (Electoral Changes) Order 2023", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2023/22, retrieved 7 May 2024
26. "Who we are". Royal Pavilion and Museums. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2020.

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• Brighton and Hove City Council
• Unitary authority councils of England
• Local education authorities in England
• Local authorities in East Sussex
• Billing authorities in England
• Brighton and Hove