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City of Doncaster Council
Council logo
Type
Type	Metropolitan borough
History
Founded	1 April 1974
Leadership
Civic Mayor	Julie Grace, Labour since 17 May 2024
Elected Mayor	Ros Jones, Labour since 2 May 2013
Chief Executive	Damian Allen since 2020
Structure
Seats	Elected mayor plus 55 councillors
Political groups	Administration (41)   Labour (41) Opposition (14)   Conservative (11)   Mexborough First (2)   Edlington and Warmsworth First (1)
Joint committees	South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority
Elections
Voting system	Plurality-at-large
Last election	6 May 2021
Next election	1 May 2025
Meeting place
Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BU
Website
www.doncaster.gov.uk

City of Doncaster Council is the local authority of the City of Doncaster, a metropolitan borough with city status in South Yorkshire, England. Prior to being awarded city status in 2022 the council was called Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council. The council is based at the Civic Office in Waterdale, central Doncaster. It is one of four local authorities in South Yorkshire and provides the majority of local government services in Doncaster. The council is a member of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

The council is led by a directly elected mayor. Since 2013 the post has been held by Ros Jones of the Labour Party.

History

The town of Doncaster was an ancient borough, with its first known charter dating from 1194. The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country. By 1927 the borough was considered large enough to run its own county-level services, and so it was made a county borough, independent from West Riding County Council.

The county borough was abolished in 1974 and replaced by the larger Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, which also took in the abolished urban districts of Adwick le Street, Bentley with Arksey, Conisbrough, Mexborough, Tickhill, the rural districts of Doncaster and Thorne, and (from Nottinghamshire) the parish of Finningley and part of the parish of Harworth (the latter being added to the parish of Bawtry). From 1974 until 1986 the council provided district-level services, with county-level services provided by South Yorkshire County Council. Following the abolition of the county council in 1986, Doncaster also took on county-level services, with some functions provided in joint arrangements with the other South Yorkshire boroughs.

Since 2014 the council has been a constituent member of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (called the Sheffield City Region until 2021), which has been led by the directly elected Mayor of South Yorkshire since 2018.

The borough was awarded city status in 2022, after which the council changed its named to City of Doncaster Council.

Governance

The council provides both district-level and county-level services. Some functions are provided through joint committees with the other South Yorkshire authorities. Much of the borough is covered by civil parishes, which form an additional tier of local government for their areas.

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2010.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:

Leadership

Prior to 2002, political leadership was provided by the leader of the council. Since 2002, political leadership has been provided instead by a directly elected Mayor of Doncaster. The council separately appoints a civic mayor each year, who is largely ceremonial.

The leaders from 1994 to 2002 were:

The directly elected mayors since 2002 have been:

Composition

Following the 2021 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to August 2024, the composition of the council (excluding the elected mayor's seat) was:

The next election is due on 1 May 2025.

Premises

The council is based at the Civic Office on Waterdale in Doncaster. It was purpose-built for the council and opened in January 2013.

From 1992 until 2013 the council was based at the Council House on College Road, formerly called Coal House, which had been built in 1966 as the headquarters of the National Coal Board. The Council House was subsequently demolished.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 55 councillors representing 21 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

From 1973 to 2014, the council was elected by thirds every year except the year in which county council elections took place in other parts of England. In 2015, the whole council was elected due to boundary changes to the wards and it was decided that the whole council would be elected every four years from 2017, so that the council elections would coincide with the election of the Mayor of Doncaster.

References

1. Mower, Shannon (20 May 2024). "Doncaster Council elects new Civic Mayor at annual ceremony". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
2. Torr, George (6 March 2020). "Former teacher formally appointed as Doncaster Council's chief executive with annual salary of £164,000". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
3. "Doncaster Borough Charter of King Richard I, 2 May 1194". Doncaster Library. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
4. Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the Municipal Corporations in England and Wales: Appendix 3. 1835. p. 1493. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
5. "Doncaster Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
6. "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 10 March 2024
7. "The Metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/137, retrieved 11 March 2024
8. "South Yorkshire Joint Authorities Governance Unit". Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
9. "Local Government Act 1985", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1985 c. 51, retrieved 11 March 2024
10. "Doncaster becomes one of UK's newest Cities!". Doncaster.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
11. "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
12. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
13. "Doncaster". BBC News Online. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
14. Humphries, Paul (20 April 2001). "'Donnygate' claims third leader". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
15. Kessen, David (8 September 2020). "Tributes after death of former Doncaster Rovers director and council leader". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
16. "Mayor expelled from Labour Party". BBC News. 29 May 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
17. BBC News "Doncaster mayor quits English Democrats 'because of BNP'", 5 February 2013
18. "Office of the Civic Mayor". Doncaster Council. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
19. Mower, Shannon (8 December 2023). "Former Mexborough First councillor announces move to Labour Party, pledging to 'continue to do my very best for the town'". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
20. "Your Councillors". City of Doncaster Council. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
21. "Multi-million pound council office development complete". Yorkshire Post. 8 October 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
22. "Explosive end for Doncaster Council's former headquarters". BBC News. 20 July 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
23. "The Doncaster (Electoral Changes) Order 2015", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2015/114, retrieved 25 March 2024
24. "Find Councillor". 31 August 2021.
25. "The Borough of Doncaster (Scheme of Elections) Order 2013". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2016.

• Local authorities in South Yorkshire
• Local authorities in England with elected mayor
• Local education authorities in England
• Billing authorities in England
• Metropolitan district councils of England
• Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster