Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster

The Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster is a metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire in Yorkshire and the Humber Region of England.

Borough of Doncaster
Metropolitan borough
Doncaster shown within South Yorkshire
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionYorkshire and the Humber
Ceremonial countySouth Yorkshire
Admin. HQDoncaster
Government
 • TypeMetropolitan district council
 • BodyDoncaster Metropolitan Borough Council
 • Leadership:Mayor and Cabinet
 • MayorRos Jones (Lab)
 • MPs:Nick Fletcher (Con),
Ed Miliband (Lab),
Rosie Winterton (Lab)
Area
 • Total219.3 sq mi (568.0 km2)
Area rank80th
Population
 (mid-2019 est.)
 • Total311,890
 • RankRanked 39th
 • Density1,400/sq mi (550/km2)
Time zoneUTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
ONS code00CE (ONS)
E08000017 (GSS)
Ethnicity96.2% White
1.6% S.Asian[1]
Websitedoncaster.gov.uk

The largest towns in the borough are Doncaster, Thorne and Moorends, Hatfield and Mexborough, and it additionally covers the towns of Conisbrough, Bentley, Stainforth, Bawtry, Askern, Edlington and Tickhill.

The borough was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of the former county borough of Doncaster along with the urban districts of Adwick le Street, Bentley with Arksey, Conisbrough, Mexborough, Tickhill along with Doncaster Rural District and Thorne Rural District, the parish of Finningley from East Retford Rural District and small parts of the parish of Harworth from Worksop Rural District from Nottinghamshire.

Population statistics

According to the 2011 census, the estimated population of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster is 302,400.

Verified population statistics per Ward from the 2001 census are shown as

Doncaster population
Ward Population Households
Adwick 16,142 6,220
Armthorpe 16,977 6,495
Askern 11,414 4,293
Balby 14,336 5,514
Bentley Central 12,168 4,665
Bentley North Road 11,606 4,728
Bessacarr 13,652 5,425
Central 11,481 5,144
Conisbrough 14,894 5,837
Edlington & Warmsworth 12,291 4,641
Hatfield 15,048 5,630
Intake 10,994 4,417
Mexborough 15,282 6,281
Richmond 13,471 5,308
Rossington 12,647 4,705
South East 16,880 6,247
Southern Parks 14,439 5,520
Stainforth 15,447 5,825
Thorne 17,057 6,380
Town Field 11,131 4,587
Wheatley 11,497 4,877
Doncaster Total 288,854 112,739

Elected mayor

A referendum was held in 2001 to decide if a directly elected mayor should be appointed. The first mayor, Martin Winter, representing the Labour Party, was elected in 2002 and successfully defended his post in 2005.

In 2009 the English Democrat candidate, Peter Davies, won the election for mayor.[2][3] In January 2013 Davies left the English Democrats citing "a big influx of new members (of the English Democrats) joining from the British National Party".[4] In the May 2013 mayoral election he was defeated by Labour's Ros Jones.

Borough council

The council as a whole has been dominated by the Labour Party traditionally, but in the 2004 local elections, they lost overall control of the council (though they retained more councillors than any other single party). Labour regained overall control at the 2010 local elections.[5]

2010 Audit Commission report and central government intervention

In January 2010 the Audit Commission initiated a corporate governance inspection of Doncaster Council. This followed the sudden resignation of the Chief executive leading to a conflict between the mayor and council over the appointment of a successor. The Commission felt that this, along with evidence that the council had not been well run for 15 years, was leading to a loss of public confidence.[6]

The Commission's report was issued in April 2010. It found that Doncaster was a dysfunctional authority and that there were three factors preventing the council from providing good governance:[7]

  • The councillors' attempts to undermine the authority of the mayor and cabinet. There was evidence that councillors had never accepted the mayoral system and tried to use their overview and scrutiny powers to frustrate the mayor's policy objectives. In February 2010 the council had rejected the mayor's budget and voted in favour of their own proposals.
  • The lack of effective leadership shown by the mayor and cabinet. The mayor was described as "not averse to provocative and inflammatory statements" and it was felt that he "does not always act in a way which demonstrates the need for an elected mayor to lead his authority and represent all the people in Doncaster".
  • The failure of chief officers to deliver effectively services. Some senior officers were found to acquiesce in the councillors' misuse of scrutiny powers. There was also a lack of trust and impartiality.

On the recommendations of the commission, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, John Denham, used powers to appoint an acting chief executive and an advisory board to oversee the council.[6] A Doncaster Recovery Board, comprising four appointed commissioners and seven other members including the mayor and chief executive held its first quarterly meeting on 10 September 2010.[8]

Places

Settlements in the Borough of Doncaster include:

The nine largest settlements of the Borough of Doncaster
View from Cusworth Hall towards Doncaster

Media

Radio stations that can be received in Doncaster are Sine FM 102.6 (serving central districts of around 100,000 households in FM stereo), TMCR 95.3 (which serves Northeast Doncaster and other areas in FM stereo), Trax FM, Capital Yorkshire, Hallam FM and BBC Radio Sheffield, although both Viking FM and BBC Radio Humberside overlap into this area. Although the above stations can be received within various areas of Doncaster, the only stations actually owned by Doncaster-based companies are Sine FM 102.6 and TMCR 95.3.

The borough is also the base of Nova Productions who produce the syndicated TV series Walks Around Britain.

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Doncaster.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Individuals

[9]

  • 14 August 2017: Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson MBE, British Paratrooper wounded in Afghanistan.[10][11]
  • 25 February 2019: Tony Sockett, Former Mayor of Doncaster.[12][13]
  • 2019: Yvonne Woodcock BEM, Mayor of Doncaster 1998-1999.[14]

Military Units

[15]

References
  1. "Resident Population Estimates by Ethnic Group (Percentages); Mid-2005 Population Estimates". National Statistics Online. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
  2. English Democrat wins mayor vote BBC News 5 June 2009
  3. Mayoral results 2009 Archived 11 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine www.doncaster.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2009
  4. "Doncaster mayor quits English Democrats 'because of BNP'". 5 February 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  5. "Doncaster council". Election 2010. BBC News. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  6. Patrick Butler (19 April 2010). "Ministers take over 'dysfunctional' Doncaster council". The Guardian.
  7. "Corporate Governance Inspection: Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council" (PDF). Audit Commission. April 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  8. "Meetings". Doncaster Recovery Board. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  9. "Freedom of Doncaster". 7 June 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  10. "Hometown honours injured soldier". BBC News. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  11. "Ben Parkinson to receive the Freedom of the Borough | Business Doncaster". wearedoncaster.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  12. "Tony Sockett receives Freedom of the Borough". www.doncaster-chamber.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  13. "Doncaster resident receives 'Freedom of the Borough' Award". Doncaster Echo. 3 April 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  14. "The Queen's Birthday Honours List". Doncaster Council. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  15. "TOP BRASS: Lieutenant General Nick Parker receives(sic) the Freedom of the Borough scrolls from Chair of Council Tony Sockett and Mayor Winter, and right, veterans from the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and Light Infantry. Pictures: MARIE CALEY D8661".

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