Sheffield City Council

Sheffield City Council is the local authority for the City of Sheffield, a metropolitan borough with city status in South Yorkshire, England. The council consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under no overall control, with Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party each holding chair positions in a proportionate number of committees.^[4]

Sheffield City Council

Metropolitan borough

Jayne Dunn,
Labour
since 15 May 2024^[1]

Tom Hunt,
Labour
since 17 May 2023

Kate Josephs
since January 2021^[2]

84 councillors^[3]

Labour (36)

Liberal Democrats (27)

Green (14)

Independent (7)

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority

First past the post

2 May 2024

7 May 2026

Governance[edit]

Political control[edit]

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]

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.

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]

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

Sheffield City Council