Nottinghamshire County Council

Nottinghamshire County Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan county council of Nottinghamshire
Structure
Labour	33 / 67
Conservatives	21 / 67
Liberal Democrats	8 / 67
Others	5 / 67
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	2 May 2013
Next election	May 2017
Website
www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk

Nottinghamshire County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England.

The History of Nottinghamshire County Council

Sapienter Proficiens – progress with wisdom

Nottinghamshire County Council's coat of arms was granted in July, 1937. The elements in the arms reflect the Council's connections with:

• agriculture (corn)
• mining (shovel)
• royalty (crown)
• Dukes of Portland (black lion)
• Newcastle (white greyhound)
• the Major Oak (tree)
• River Trent (blue and white tresses)
• green space (green field)

The Council's motto 'Sapienter Proficiens' means "Progress with Wisdom".

Quick facts

• Nottinghamshire became a Shire in the tenth century
• County Councils were introduced by the Local Government Act of 1888
• in 1889 the gross expenditure of the County Council was £43,529
• the County Council was responsible for just 372 miles of road in 1889 – by 2012 this had risen by seven times to 2,610 miles
• Mrs Kathleen Kayser was the first female Member of the Council, elected in May 1930

First Meeting

• the first Nottinghamshire County Council meeting was held on April 1, 1889
• 68 members (51 Councillors and 17 Aldermen) attended the meeting
• at the time the value of the County was £1,211,384
• the meeting took place at the Shire Hall building in High Pavement, Nottingham.

In 1889 the County Council was responsible for weights and measurements. In the first quarter 379 weights and measurements were examined.

• 519 shops and public houses were visited
• 22 samples were forwarded to the Public Analyst for analysis

At the time the County Council was established, the Administrative County of Nottingham comprised:

• two Municipal Boroughs
• one Improvement Act District
• nine Urban Sanitary Districts
• 12 Rural Sanitary Districts
• 251 Rural Parishes.

New Organisation

In 1998 the County Council became a new organisation following the local government re-organisation.

• Nottingham City Council were made responsible for all services within the City boundary.
• 67 members are elected every four years to serve and represent 796,200 local residents.
• The County Council serves an area of 805 miles.

History of County Hall

• The first County Council meeting was held in 1889 at the Shire Hall in Nottingham
• Existing County Hall site, near Trent Bridge, purchased in 1936
• County Hall was designed by E Vincent Harris
• Construction work began on 19 April 1938
• Building work ceased in July 1941 due to the war
• The first departments moved in during March 1949

The Shire Hall building

The first County Council meeting was at the Shire Hall building in High Pavement in Nottingham on April 1, 1889. It was the first time that Councillors elected by the County of Nottinghamshire had sat with the authority to decide on their own affairs. The meeting marked the end of the Quarter Sessions system of administration by magistrates. The Shire Hall building was erected in 1770.

Recognising the need for additional office and meeting room space as early as 1928, the County Council approved the purchase of the existing County Hall site in May 1936 – at a cost of 5s and 6d a square yard for the 10.75 acre site. The site was originally occupied by the YMCA, Nottinghamshire Amateur Cricket Club, Trent Bridge Police Station and a cottage.

Architect E Vincent Harris designed the building incorporating a tall, elegant clock tower facing the River Trent. Building costs were set at £188,907. Harris also designed Surrey County Hall, Glamorgan County Hall and Leeds Civic Hall. The building was originally designed to provide accommodation for 365 staff.

Construction of County Hall

Construction work on County Hall began on the 19th April 1938 – building estimates had already risen to £292,000.

The laying of the foundation stone of the building was performed on November 21, 1938 by the Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, Lord Portland. This site was originally due to be the main entrance to the building with a grand Golden Falcon on the porch roof. The Falcon is three feet six inches high and is painted in gold leaf.

County Hall consists of a reinforced concrete frame, facings of Portland Stone and 6.5" random length hand made Dutch bricks. The order for these bricks was placed before the war and delivery completed in 1941 – at the time Holland was under German occupation.

In July 1941, building work ceased and a temporary roof was fitted to cover the site. The building was used for storage throughout the war.

Building restarted in 1947 and costs were noted to have risen again to £310,000.

The first departments moved in during March 1949 – surrounded by ongoing building work.

Final Design

In May 1954, a scheme first put forward just after the war was revived to extend the H shape design by adding a T shape extension to the building and clock tower. The tower was to have 17 floors available for storing library books. By February 1956, government restrictions on spending meant the clock tower and T block extension were withdrawn and the work to ground floor level was demolished.

The first Council meetings were held in what is now Committee D, which at the time was slightly larger in size, but was recognised as a great improvement over the old Shire Hall building.

In November 1957, the Salaries and Establishments Committee gave the go-ahead for the internal completion of County Hall.

As the site is 5 feet below flood level, the building stands on a reinforced concrete watertight raft or tray to prevent flooding from the River Trent.

The changing role of local government and an increase in responsibilities meant the overall space requirements increased. To help address this need, during the late 1950s plans were made for the CLASP block. Work on the block was completed in the mid-1970s.

The impressive Portland Stone statues situated at either side of the entrances to County Hall reflect Nottinghamshire’s diversity. They represent ‘Agricultural’ and ‘Artistic’ work, ‘Industry’ and ‘Culture’.

The first female Member of the Council was Mrs Kathleen Kayser, who was returned unopposed in a by-election at Tuxford on May 26, 1930.

The Shire Hall building was sold in 1989 and now houses the Galleries of Justice museum.

The Council Chamber

The Council Chamber, Assembly Hall and public spaces were completed in 1973.

The Chamber is the place for debate and decision making on behalf of the residents of Nottinghamshire. The Chamber is the democratic heart of the Council. Every six weeks County Council meets, and the 67 Elected County Councillors debate and determine policies and decisions that affect everyday life in the County.

Facts and Figures about Nottinghamshire

• Nottinghamshire is the sporting county
• home of Robin Hood and Sherwood forest
• covers an area of 805 miles
• 801,400 people live in the county
• 376,200 people work in Nottinghamshire
• has the tallest Maypole in the country
• 87% of school leavers continue into further education
• includes 7 districts, 10 town councils, 52 parish councils and 41 parish meetings.

Geography

The County Council area, excluding the City of Nottingham, is 2,085 km² or 805 square miles.

Nottinghamshire's population is 1,091,500, of these:

• 801,400 live in the county
• 314,300 live in the city.

Local government

Nottinghamshire County Council governs the county area and works closely with other local councils - including district borough, town and parish councils - to deliver public services in the most cost effective way.

Local councils include:

• Ashfield district council
• Bassetlaw district council
• Broxtowe borough council
• Gedling borough council
• Mansfield district council
• Newark and Sherwood district council
• Rushcliffe borough council
• ten town councils
• 52 parish councils 41 parish meetings.

Nottingham City Council is a unitary Authority which means it is responsible for all local government services within the city area.

Other public sector bodies

There are several other public sector bodies which serve Nottinghamshire including:

• Nottinghamshire Police
• Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service
• East Midlands Ambulance Service (a regional body which includes Nottinghamshire)
• For health services, there are six Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in the county: Bassetlaw, Gedling and Hucknall, Highpoint (which covers Ashfield and Mansfield), Newark and Sherwood, Nottingham West (which covers Broxtowe), and Principia (which covers Rushcliffe).

Working together

Nottinghamshire County Council works closely with other local councils and public sector bodies to deliver public services in the most cost effective way.

Examples of joint working include:

• Safer Nottinghamshire Board – bringing councils, police, health and other partners together to help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in the county
• D2/N2 Local Enterprise Partnership – covering Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, this brings councils and the private sector together to help grow the economy through encouraging business growth and tackling unemployment
• Health and Wellbeing – a new Board has been formed between senior figures from local councils and health to help ensure social care and health services for the people of Nottinghamshire are well co-ordinated
• The Nottinghamshire broadband project – to bring superfast broadband to rural areas
• Gritting services to make sure roads are consistently gritted across geographic borders for the safety of all road users.

Work

Nottinghamshire’s working population is 529,100. 376,200 are in the County Council area.

• Claimant count unemployment is close to the national average. For June 2015, Nottinghamshire was 2.2% compared to a UK average of 1.8%. The County rate is 1.6%.
• We have 27,310 businesses (in 2014), just over 82% of which employ less than 10 people
• 49,900 people in the county are self-employed (year ending March 2015).

Learning

• The County Council has over 106,700 schoolchildren being educated in over 340 primary and secondary schools
• 87% of school leavers continue into further education
• Two universities, Nottingham and Nottingham Trent, offer places to 45,000 full and part-time students
• New College Nottingham is the second largest college in Europe with more than 50,000 full and part-time students.

Sport

The sporting county, home to:

• Nottingham Forest - two time winners of the European Cup
• Notts County – The Oldest Professional football Club in Britain, founded in 1862
• Mansfield Town Football Club
• Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club who play at the historic Trent Bridge Test Cricket Ground
• Nottingham Rugby Club
• Nottingham Panthers Ice Hockey Club
• Southwell and Nottingham racecourses
• The National Water Sports Centre at Holme Pierrepont.

Tourism

Sherwood Forest, once a Royal Hunting Forest, is visited by more than a million people every year and hosts the annual Robin Hood Festival – the biggest outdoor event celebrating the county’s world renowned outlaw.

History

• Scarrington, in the Vale of Belvoir, has a curious landmark. Outside the old smithy is a pile of horseshoes 17 ft high and five feet in diameter, started by the village blacksmith in 1945
• Wellow, near Rufford Abbey, boasts the tallest maypole in England. Maypole dancing and the crowning of the May Queen takes place each Spring Bank holiday
• The village of Laxton, in the east of the county, is the last place in England where the medieval open field system of farming is practiced. Village families still hold strips of land or ‘tofts’
• The village of Trowell in the west of the county was chosen as the UK’s festival village to mark the festival of Britain in 1952. It was said to represent a microcosm of life in Britain at the time and the village pub is still called The Festival.