Borough of Guildford

Coordinates: 51°14′46″N 0°33′07″W / 51.246°N 0.552°W / 51.246; -0.552

Borough of Guildford
Non-metropolitan district

Guildford shown within Surrey
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Region South East England
Non-metropolitan county Surrey
Status Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ Guildford
Incorporated 1 April 1974
Government
 • Type Non-metropolitan district council
 • Body Guildford Borough Council
 • Leadership Leader & Cabinet (Conservative)
 • MPs Paul Beresford (Mole Valley[n 1])
Michael Gove (Surrey Heath)
Jonathan Lord (Woking)
Anne Milton (Guildford)
Area
 • Total 104.6 sq mi (270.9 km2)
Area rank 150th (of 326)
Population (mid-2014 est.)
 • Total 142,958
 • Rank 140th (of 326)
 • Density 1,400/sq mi (530/km2)
 • Ethnicity 93.5% White
2.1% S.Asian
1.3% Black
1.3% Mixed Race
1.7% Chinese or Other
Time zone GMT (UTC0)
 • Summer (DST) BST (UTC+1)
ONS code 43UD (ONS)
E07000209 (GSS)
OS grid reference TQ0105550700
Website www.guildford.gov.uk
See Guildford for the town in Surrey

The Borough of Guildford is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. Guildford is its largest settlement, only town and is the location of the council.

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 by an amalgamation of the municipal borough of Guildford and Guildford Rural District.

Functions

Borough councillors and officers work on devolved issues such as parks, leisure, older residents' services, youth services, streetscene, refuse collection, planning and aspects of business and tourism;[1] Surrey County Council deal with transport, publicly owned infrastructure planning and maintenance, education, social services and overall waste management. The Borough owns significant heritage assets that include monuments such as Guildford Castle, as well museums, art collections and civic regalia.[2]

Population

Guildford has the second largest population of Surrey's eleven districts (based on census statistics, only 600 residents behind Reigate and Banstead).[3] Approximately half of the Borough’s population live in the town of Guildford.[4]

Budget

To the year ending 31 March 2012, £106.629m was received by Guildford Borough Counil, plus £7.43m from its financing/investment arm, plus £17.571m in other taxation and non-specific grants.[2]

A large wholly exceptional overspend resulted from Guildford acquiring from central UK government all self-financing rights over housing for £192.435m, otherwise spending amounted to £136.778m. Of this spending the largest item was non-Local Authority housing benefits and services amounting to £33.93m however accounting for £32.74m of income. The largest item producing a net cost was Environmental and Regulatory Services costing £16,643m while contributing £6,861m. Spending on this item fell by 2.63% compared to the 2010-2011 period.[2]

Housing owned by the Borough

Housing stock owned by Guildford Borough Council is valued, as securely tenanted at £359.316m as at 1 April 2012.

If all of the housing stock were sold untenanted, or to present occupants at full value, then the correct value at that date was £995 million.[2]

Taxation

Of the eleven Surrey districts, Guildford has the third-lowest Band-D council tax for 2012-13 and fourth-lowest average overall council tax (the level of difference is a reflection on an area's skew as to higher band properties).[5]

Councillors

Borough elections take place for the whole council on a four-year basis.

5 May 2011 saw the most recent cross-borough election that produced 34 Conservative seats, 12 Liberal Democrat seats and 2 Labour borough councillors.[6]

For historic elections, elections for Surrey County Council (mid-term), and results by ward, see Guildford local elections.

2011 Election[1]
Party Seats
Conservative 34
Labour 2
Liberal Democrats 12
Independent 0

Composition

The central 'Guildford Town' area of the borough comprises the town centre and immediately surrounding areas, including: Bellfields, Boxgrove, Onslow Village, Park Barn, Stoughton, Westborough, and the (former) villages of Burpham, and Merrow.

Third tier of local government

Apart from the town of Guildford which has no third tier, the rest of the borough has civil parishes of unpaid councillors who are entitled to charge a small extra precept for services they pay out for:[7]

Map of Guildford Borough showing its parts: Guildford town and civil parishes which provide an additional layer of government for nearby villages

Notes and References

Notes

  1. ↑ Mole Valley UK Parliament Constitency and two of the others include some peripheral wards. Mole Valley will revert to its old name Mid Surrey, see The Independent Boundary Commission for England

References

  1. 1 2 Guildford Borough Council
  2. 1 2 3 4 Guildford Borough Council Statement of Accounts 2011-12, pp 4, 12 and 79
  3. ↑ List of English districts by population
  4. ↑ 2007 State of the borough report
  5. ↑ 2012-13 Council tax (average Band D and average per dwelling) and % change: individual local authorities
  6. ↑ "Guildford Local Election Results 2011". Retrieved 2011-05-09.
  7. ↑ Surrey Council
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