Bridgend County Borough Council
About us
How the council works
How the council is organised
Council tax and services
Demography
How to find us
The local economy
About us
Bridgend County Borough Council is a unitary authority that delivers a full range of key services to approximately 133,000 people.
The council is committed to making Bridgend County Borough a place where people want to live, work and visit.
Appointed in January 2007, Chief Executive Jo Farrar wants the council to be a modern organisation with a reputation for providing the best services in Wales. This will be achieved through better service delivery to local people and improved performance management.
The council is under undergoing a huge Programme of Change and has a Corporate Improvement Plan which sets out seven priority areas for improving the performance of the council and ensuring the delivery of the right services to the right people at the right time.
Caring For Our Future: Remodelling Adult Social Care Services | |
More information on the seven priority areas can be found in the Corporate Improvement Summary.
How the council works
There are 54 elected councillors representing residents of the county borough:
The authority has a Leader and Cabinet style of executive and every year, the council elects a Leader and appoints the members of Cabinet.
The Cabinet has to make decisions which are in line with the council's overall policies and budget. If it wishes to make a decision which is outside the budget or policy framework, this must be referred for Council as a whole to decide.
Decisions taken by the Cabinet are subject to scrutiny and must go before full council before ratification.
Following the county borough elections in May 2008, a Cabinet was formed comprised of Labour councillors.
Click here for more information about the structure of the council and how it works
How the council is organised
The Corporate Management Board, led by the Chief Executive, oversees the day-to-day running of the council. Approximately 7500 staff are employed to deliver or commission the delivery of services within the county borough. We also work in partnership with other bodies to deliver services.
The council is undergoing a modernisation programme to improve the way local services are delivered. Part of this programme has involved changing the way the council is structured to enable services to be more responsive to the needs of the boroughs’ residents, businesses and those who visit the area.
There are four directorates – each with a Director and a small senior management team responsible for leading and managing the delivery of services:
This structure is designed to:
Council tax and services
The authority has set a council tax rise of 3.87%, taking the average band D council tax to £961.14 (excluding police and community council precepts) for 2008/09.
The council budget for 2008/09 is £214 million and provides significant funding for some of the council’s key priority areas.
Where the money is spent
The Budget Book presents the estimates /spending plans for the Authority’s Revenue and Capital Activities as approved by council.
The council’s Final Accounts (statements of accounts) are prepared in accordance with statutory guidelines and the Local Authority Accounting code of Practice and provide details of the council’s financial activities and of the overall financial position.
Demography
With its Bristol Channel coastline and mix of urban and rural communities, the county borough lies at the geographical heart of south Wales. Its land area of 28,500 hectares stretches 20km from east to west and occupies the Llynfi, Garw and Ogmore valleys.
Bridgend County Borough has a population of just over 128,000. The largest town is Bridgend (pop: 39,773), followed by Maesteg (pop: 20,700) and the seaside resort of Porthcawl (pop: 19,238). * census 2001
2001 Census Information for Bridgend County Borough
How to find us
Bridgend County Borough has first-class road and rail communications and is just 12 miles from Cardiff International Airport.
There is easy access to and from Bridgend from the M4 motorway - three junctions from the M4 providing access to Bridgend.
Bridgend is one of the main stations on the First Great Western high speed rail service between London Paddington and Swansea.
How to find Bridgend County Borough Council offices
The local economy
Bridgend County Borough has secured some of the largest capital investment projects in Wales such as Bridgend Ford’s Engine Plant, and many international companies are located in the area including Logica, Lloyds TSB, Harman International and Rockwool.
Numerous UK-owned and foreign companies have been attracted to and are willing to re-invest in Bridgend, primarily due to its ideal business location, the flexibility of the work force and the range of incentives available.
For more information about the local economy, visit the Economic Unit Development pages.
