Exeter City Council is the council and local government of the city of Exeter, Devon.
The City Council provides a range of services within the city including housing, refuse collections and recycling, planning, economic development, tourism, leisure and arts facilities and activities. The Council also provides housing and council tax benefits as well as collecting the council tax on behalf of the city council, county council, police and fire services. Services such as education, social services, transport and highways are provided in the city by Devon County Council.
The government proposed that the city should become an independent unitary authority within Devon, much like neighbouring Plymouth and Torbay. The statutory orders to set up the unitary authority were passed in Parliament and a new unitary city council was due to start in Exeter on 1 April 2011. However, following the 2010 general election the new government announced in May 2010 that the reorganisation would be blocked.[1][2] Planned elections for seats on the City Council due to be held May 2010 were cancelled and new elections were held on the 9th of September 2010.
The wards of the city for City Council purposes are listed below. Most of these correspond to traditional divisions of the city that would be recognised by local inhabitants. One or two, inevitably, are somewhat artificial creations:
All city wards return two councillors to the Council, except for Alphington, Exwick, Priory, and Whipton Barton, which return three. The council holds elections by thirds over a four year cycle - one third of seats being contested in each of three years, and elections to Devon County Council taking place in the fourth.
Four political parties are currently represented on the council: Labour with 11 seats, the Conservatives with 12 seats, the Liberal Democrats with 13 seats and the Liberals with 4 seats.
| Party[3] | Seats | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 19 | |
| Conservative | 11 | |
| Liberal Democrat | 9 | |
| Liberal | 1 | |