Thanet District Council

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Thanet District Council is the local government body for the Thanet district. Its administrative centre is Margate. It is one of the district councils in Kent County Council. On a national level, Thanet forms part of two parliamentary constituencies at Westminster and is represented in Parliament by two MPs.

1 Responsibilities
2 Organisation
3 Parishes
4 Elections and the democratic process
- 4.1 May 2003 election results
5 External Links

[edit] Responsibilities

Thanet district council is responsible for providing clear leadership to the community and to continuously improve the delivery of local services. These services include: leisure, environmental health, housing — including the provision of social housing and housing benefit, rubbish collection, and local roads. Kent County Council is responsible for more strategic services such as education, libraries, main roads, social services, trading standards and transport.

[edit] Organisation

The powers of the council are specified in its constitution[1] in accordance with the Local Government Act 2000.

The council is a Cabinet-style council with a Leader and the Cabinet itself, which is formed by the majority party in the District. Decisions on the Council's services are made by the Executive (or cabinet) which comprises of 8 councillors. Each member of the Cabinet holds a separate portfolio. The Leader and Cabinet are responsible for policies, plans and strategies, and for recommending them to the overall Council, which is convened as a whole, at regular council meetings. The full council consists of 56 councillors.

The Cabinet is held to account by the remainder of the Councillors acting as Overview and Scrutiny which verify that decisions are appropriate and can prevent a decision taking immediate effect.

[edit] Current council

Chairman:

Councillor Jeffrey Kirkpatrick [2]

Cabinet:

Leader of Council, Cllr Sandy Ezekiel [3]
Deputy Leader of Council, Cllr Roger Latchford [4]
Councillor Mrs Ingrid Spencer [5]
Councillor Mrs Zita Wiltshire [6]
Councillor John Kirby [7]
Councillor Martin Wise [8]
Councillor William Peppiatt [9]
Councillor Michael Roberts [10]

[edit] Mayors

Elected mayors are ceremonial figures whose only real power is to chair sessions of their Councils.

Mayor of Margate: Councillor Douglas Clark [11]
Mayor of Ramsgate: Councillor Stephen Ward [12]
Mayor of Broadstairs: Councillor John Fullarton [13]

[edit] Officers

Councillors are responsible for the appointment and oversight of officers, who are delegated to perform most tasks. The Chief Executive Officer, has overall responsibility for council employees and operates in conjunction with department heads.

Chief Executive Officer: Richard Samuel

[edit] Parishes

The civil parishes located in the district are:

Acol
Birchington
Broadstairs and St Peter's (town)
Cliffsend
Manston
Minster
Monkton
St Nicholas-at-Wade and Sarre

[edit] Elections and the democratic process

Elections are held every four years. The last council election took place on 1st May 2003 and the next election is due in May 2007.

[edit] May 2003 election results

overall turnout: 33%
The Conservative Party won control of Thanet District Council with a total of 31 seats, the Labour Party taking 23 seats. One Liberal Democrat candidate and one Independent candidate were elected.[14]

Note: After the by-election 30/10/03 composition is now Conservative Party 30 seats, Labour Party 24 seats.