Poole Borough Council

Poole Borough Council was the unitary authority responsible for local government in the Borough of Poole, Dorset, England. It was created on 1 April 1997 following a review by the Local Government Commission for England (1992), becoming administratively independent from Dorset County Council, and ceased to exist on April 1, 2019.[1] Its council comprised 16 wards and 42 councillors and was controlled by a Conservative administration before it was merged into Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council.

Poole Borough Council
Whole council elected every four years
Council logo
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 1974
Structure
Length of term
4 years
Elections
Plurality-at-large
Last election
7 May 2015
Meeting place
Civic Centre, Poole
Website
www.poole.gov.uk

In February 2018 the 'Future Dorset' plan was approved by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid, which meant that Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole borough councils were merged into one unitary authority in April 2019.[2]

Composition

42 councillors were elected across 16 wards[3] and there were elections every four years. The last election, in May 2015, resulted in a Conservative majority.[4] The Mayor was Sean Gabriel, a Conservative councillor for the Canford Heath West ward since May 2015.[5] The Council was made up of 32 Conservative, 6 Liberal Democrat 3 Poole People and 1 UKIP councillors. After the election, a Conservative administration was formed[6] with a cabinet of seven councillors who were responsible for deciding how the Council's strategies and policies were implemented and how the budget was spent. The Council Leader was Janet Walton (Conservative).[7]

Wards
Ward Number of seats
Alderney3
Branksome East2
Branksome West2
Broadstone3
Canford Cliffs3
Canford Heath East2
Canford Heath West2
Creekmoor3
Hamworthy East2
Hamworthy West2
Merley and Bearwood3
Newtown3
Oakdale3
Parkstone3
Penn Hill3
Poole Town3

Unlawful use of surveillance

For three weeks in 2008 the Council carried out unlawful surveillance on a family following an allegation that they were living outside a particular school catchment area. The surveillance was carried out by one of Poole Borough Council's education officers, who followed the family's movements for 24 consecutive days between 10 February and 4 March 2008.[8] Tim Martin, the council's head of legal services, authorised the surveillance and initially argued that it was justified under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000,[9] set up to counter serious crime, including terrorism. However, at a subsequent tribunal, the Council's actions were ruled unlawful on multiple grounds: there was nothing, for instance, to suggest that the family's three young children had committed any criminal act, yet they were still made targets of the surveillance.[10] The tribunal also ruled that the surveillance "was not proportionate and could not reasonably have been believed to be proportionate".[11] The Council said that it accepted the judgment "fully".[12]

gollark: Nope.
gollark: I get about 20ms if I'm lucky. Which is rare.
gollark: Past some amount of bandwidth, at least.
gollark: Latency is probably more significant.
gollark: Impossible.

References
  1. "History of Poole". Borough of Poole. 2009. Archived from the original on 2010-01-05. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  2. Dorset For You (26 February 2018). "Government approves unitary councils for Dorset" (Press release). Dorset: Dorset County Council. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  3. "Borough of Poole - Wards". Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  4. "Borough of Poole- Results of 2015 Local Elections in Poole". Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  5. "Introducing Poole Welcomes 770th Mayor". Borough of Poole. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  6. "Borough of Poole- Results of 2015 Local Elections in Poole". Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  7. "Borough of Poole- New council leader for Poole". Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  8. "Judgment of Investigatory Powers Tribunal in the case of Ms Jenny Paton & four others v. Poole Borough Council", 29 July 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  9. "Council admits spying on family", BBC News, 10 April 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  10. "Judgment of Investigatory Powers Tribunal in the case of Ms Jenny Paton & four others v. Poole Borough Council", 29 July 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  11. "Judgment of Investigatory Powers Tribunal in the case of Ms Jenny Paton & four others v. Poole Borough Council", 29 July 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  12. "Poole Council loses school catchment 'spying' tribunal", BBC News, 2 August 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
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