Barrow-in-Furness (borough)

Borough of Barrow-in-Furness
—  Borough  —

Logo
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Region North West England
Ceremonial county Cumbria
Founded
Admin. HQ Barrow Town Hall,
Barrow-in-Furness
Government
 • Type Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council
 • Leadership: Alternative - Sec.31
 • MPs: John Woodcock
Area
 • Total 30.1 sq mi (77.96 km2)
Area rank 247th
Population (2010 est.)
 • Total 70,700
 • Rank Ranked 299th
 • Density 2,348.8/sq mi (906.9/km2)
Time zone Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0)
 • Summer (DST) British Summer Time (UTC+1)
Postcode
Area code(s) 01229
ISO 3166-2
ONS code 16UC
OS grid reference
NUTS 3
Ethnicity 95.9%% White British
1.9% White Other
0.8% South Asian
0.7% Mixed Race
0.3% Black
0.2% Chinese
0.2% Other
Website barrowbc.gov.uk

Barrow-in-Furness is a local government district with borough status in Cumbria, England. It is named after its main town, Barrow-in-Furness. Other settlements include Dalton-in-Furness, Roose and Askam-in-Furness. It is the smallest borough in the county, but is the most densely populated, with 924 people per square kilometre. The population was 71,980 in 2001.[1]

Contents

Background

The area covered by the district is at the edge of the Furness peninsula. It jolts into the Irish Sea, being north of Morecambe Bay and south of the Duddon Estuary. The current borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the former county borough of Barrow-in-Furness and the Dalton-in-Furness urban district from the administrative county of Lancashire.

Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council

Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council sits at the Town Hall in Barrow. It is led by a mayor, who is elected by council members. In 2006, the Council was fined £125,000 for violation of health and safety laws that led to the deaths of seven people in the United Kingdom's worst outbreak of Legionnaires' disease. The council also became the UK's first public body to be charged with corporate manslaughter, but was found not guilty.[2]

Following boundary changes in 2008,[3] the council is composed of 36 seats, elected across 13 wards. From 2011 the council has switched from the previous system of elections occurring over a four year cycle, with a third of seats elected each year and one 'fallow' year, to one where full council elections occur every four years.[4]

Since its inception in 1973, the council has often been under Labour control, most recently from the 2011 election, but with three years of Conservative control (1976–1979) and ten years of no overall control (most recently from 2006-2011).[5]

Current Composition
As of the 2011 election[5]

Affiliation Members
  Labour Party 29
  Conservative Party 7

Council wards

The Borough of Barrow-in-Furness comprises thirteen electoral wards, all of which can be seen on the map below.

Barrow
Island
Central
Dalton North
Dalton
South
Hawcoat
Hindpool
Newbarns
Ormsgill
Parkside
Risedale
Roose
Walney
North
Walney
South

References