Sheffield City Council

The town of Sheffield was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1843. The borough was run by the Corporation of Sheffield, also known as the town council. When elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, Sheffield 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.^[5] The town was awarded city status in 1893.^[6]

In 1974 the county borough of Sheffield was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, being replaced by a larger metropolitan borough of Sheffield, covering the area of the former county borough plus the abolished Stocksbridge Urban District and the parishes of Bradfield and Ecclesfield. Sheffield's city status was extended to cover the whole area of the new borough.^[7]

From 1974 to 1986 Sheffield was a district-level authority, with county-level services provided by South Yorkshire County Council. In 1986, the abolition of metropolitan county councils saw Sheffield City Council become a unitary authority, the modern equivalent of the county borough it had been before 1974.^[8]

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

In April 2014, the Sheffield City Council voted to recognize the right to self-determination of Somaliland, an autonomous region in northwestern Somalia, the first city council to do so. The gesture is purely ceremonial and carries no legal weight.^[9] The UK government and the international community officially recognise Somaliland as a part of Somalia.

In August 2019, a governance petition was submitted to the council, asking for a referendum on changing the council's governance system.^[10] The petition, organised by the Sheffield community group It's Our City!, was signed by over 26000 people (approximately 6.6% of the Sheffield City Council electorate). In September 2019 this petition was accepted as valid under the provisions of the Localism Act 2011, forcing the council to hold a referendum on changing the council's executive arrangements from the Leader and Cabinet system to a Committee system.^[11] The referendum was postponed from May 2020 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and took place on 6 May 2021, with 65% voting for change to a Committee system.^[12]

In 2023 the council leader Terry Fox stood down as leader at the request of the national Labour Party, amid controversy around the council's response to the Sheffield street tree scandal.^[13][14]

Since 2021 the council has been under no overall control. At the 2021 elections, Labour lost its majority on the council, and its leader, Bob Johnson, lost his seat on the council. A coalition between Labour and the Greens was formed to run the council, with Labour's new leader Terry Fox taking the role of leader of the council.^[15] Following the 2022 election, the Liberal Democrats joined Labour and the Greens in the ruling administration.^[16] The 'rainbow coalition' of Labour, The Liberal Democrats and the Green Party has continued following the 2023 election.

The first election to the reconstituted city council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:^[17]

The role of Lord Mayor of Sheffield is largely ceremonial and is usually held by a different councillor each year. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1901 have been:^[18][19][20]

County Borough

The last leader of the city council before the 1974 reforms, Ron Ironmonger, went on to be the first leader of South Yorkshire County Council.

Metropolitan Borough

Following the 2024 election the composition of the council was:^[22]

Six of the independent councillors sit together as the "Sheffield Community Councillors" group.^[23] The next election is due in May 2026.

 

The council meets at Sheffield Town Hall on Pinstone Street in the city centre. The building was purpose-built for the council and was completed in 1897. It is a Grade I listed building.^[24] The council also uses a modern office building nearby at Howden House, 1 Union Street, as additional offices and the main customer service centre. There are also smaller offices and area offices across the city.^[25]

Since the last boundary changes in 2016, the council has comprised 84 councillors representing 28 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) being elected each time for a four-year term.^[26]

Sheffield City Council provides approximately 550 services to its citizens. It is also a major employer in the city, with more than 8,000 employees, including all state school staff in its role as Local Education Authority (LEA). In April 2021 the Sheffield Star published a list of seven Council employees earning more than £100k-a-year.^[27]

Services and employees are organised into four portfolios:^[28]

• Resources Portfolio – responsible for corporate resources and organisational development.
• Children, Young People and Families's Portfolio – equivalent to an LEA and responsible for early years, primary, secondary and special schools, children and families' social care, looked-after children and youth offending.
• Place Portfolio – responsible for planning, housing, maintaining and repairing the social housing stock, environmental regulation, parks and countryside, street maintenance and cleanliness, and cultural activities.
• Communities Portfolio – responsible for libraries, local governance, community safety and adult social services, including physical disability, learning disability and older people.

The council is responsible for 16 cemeteries across the city.^[29]

• Lord Mayor of Sheffield

• Sheffield City Council
• Sheffield Labour Party
• Sheffield Lib Dems
• Sheffield Green Party
• Sheffield Conservatives